DOCTORAL STUDENT ZONE

On 15 February 2024, a new Regulation amending the regulation on the minimum monthly basic remuneration for a professor employed in a public higher education institution has been signed (Dz.U. – Journal of Laws, item 235). It states 30% increase of remuneration since 1 January 2024 which means that the basic salary of a professor has risen from PLN 7210 to PLN 9370. The provisions of the regulation has entered into force in the day following its announcement, that is on 22 February 2024 as applicable from 1 January 2024. The regulation has been published under item no. 235 in the Dziennik Ustaw (abbreviated „Dz. U.”) or the Polish Journal of Laws.

Why is this important for doctoral students? It affects the amount of scholarship (stipend) grant that you receive each month – since its amount is steadily proportional (pegged) to the value of professor’s salary, it has now increased accordingly, and you may even expect an extra balance payment once, due to the increase being applicable from January.

Pursuant to Article 209 clause 4 of the Act of 20 July 2018 – Law on Higher Education and Science (Journal of Laws 2023, item 742, amended) the amount of monthly doctoral scholarship should be at least:
1) 37% of a professor’s salary – gross amount of PLN 3466,90 – up to the month in which the mid-term evaluation was conducted; 
2) 57% of a professor’s salary – gross amount of PLN 5340,90 – after the month in which the mid-term evaluation was conducted.

By virtue of the amendments made to the aforementioned Act by the Act of 28 July 2023 amending the Act - Teachers' Charter and certain other acts (Journal of Laws 2023, item 1672), as of 1.10.2023, the prohibition on employing doctoral students of a doctoral school as academic teachers or research staff does not apply any longer (because Article 209(10) has been repealed and the related Article 203(1)(5) has been amended). The Act does not prohibit doctoral students from taking up employment in any other capacity.

In addition, the provision making the stipend payout conditional on the amount of remuneration received has been changed. It used to refer to project participants specifically, but now it only refers to a certain form of employment.

A doctoral scholarship will not be awarded to a doctoral student whose:

- curriculum at a doctoral school involves a mandatory employment contract in an entity running that doctoral school,
- employment contract provides a remuneration exceeding the amount of the minimum monthly professor’s salary (currently PLN 9 370.00 gross).

The doctoral scholarship is not subject to income tax. However, doctoral students studying at doctoral schools and receiving a doctoral scholarship are covered by compulsory pension and accident insurance. Sickness insurance is voluntary.

A doctoral student may apply for a student loan. The provisions on student loans shall apply accordingly, except that:

•    the loan may be obtained by a doctoral student under the age of 35;
•    the loan shall be granted for the duration of training at the doctoral school only once and for no longer than 4 years.

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Dr Przemysław Kubiak (from UL Faculty of Law and Administration) has been appointed as the Doctoral Student Ombudsman of the University of Lodz. The researcher is a doctor of jurisprudence, assistant professor at the Department of Roman Law. He has been passionate about Roman criminal law for many years, exploring ancient legal thought as expressed in the writings of philosophers and rhetoricians. He is currently writing his habilitation thesis on the legal qualification of acts committed in a state of agitation and intoxication.

For years, Dr Przemysław Kubiak has been conducting psychological workshops for students, as well as for employees of the University of Łódź and lawyers in Poland and abroad. Every year, he also organises classes for doctoral students on the psychology of teaching, in particular on interactive and modern teaching methods. As part of the Law Clinic at the Faculty of Law and Administration, he introduces students to mediation as an alternative method of dispute resolution.

Anyone interested is invited to contact the Ombudsman: pkubiak@wpia.uni.lodz.pl

UL DOCTORAL SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Secretary

Room 114
Matejki 21/23  
90-237 Lodz

(Floor 1 of UL Dormitory No. 14 – XIV DS)

T. 42 635 62 42, 601 083 029

E. office.sdns@uni.lodz.pl

Office Hours: Tue, Fri 9am - 3pm

Faculty of Management, UL 

ul. Matejki 22/26  
90-237 Lodz  
room 329  

T. +48 42 635 52 37  

E. dyrektorsdns@uni.lodz.pl  

Meetings to be arranged via email: dyrektorsdns@uni.lodz.pl

Head of the board

dr hab. Ilona Świątek-Barylska, prof. UŁ

Legal Sciences

dr hab. Sylwia Wojtczak, prof. UŁ

dr hab. Mirosław Włodarczyk, prof. UŁ

Sociological Sciences  

dr hab. Alicja Łaska-Formejster, prof. UŁ

dr hab. Tomasz Ferenc, prof. UŁ

Economics and Finance

dr hab. Ewa Kusideł, prof. UŁ

dr hab. Maciej Kozłowski, prof. UŁ

Political and Administrative Sciences

prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Pietrasiak

dr hab. Andrzej Dubicki, prof. UŁ

Socio-economic Geography and Spatial Management

dr hab. Ewa Szafrańska, prof. UŁ

dr hab. Marcin Wójcik, prof. UŁ

Management and Quality Studies 

prof. dr hab. Jan Jeżak

dr hab. Tomasz Czapla, prof. UŁ

Pedagogy

prof. dr hab. Danuta Urbaniak-Zając

dr hab. Mariusz Granosik, prof. UŁ

Psychology

prof. dr hab. Eleonora Bielawska-Batorowicz

dr hab. Agnieszka Lipińska-Grobelny, prof. UŁ

Representatives of the Doctoral Students

mgr Sebastian Czechowicz

mgr Marcin Jaworski

mgr Monika Wilanowska

International office

ul. Matejki 21/23  
90-237 Lodz 
room 114

P. +48 42 635 62 42  / tel. +48 601 083 029
E. office.sdns@uni.lodz.pl  

PhD students of the University of Lodz Doctoral School of Social Sciences receive a scholarship of at least:

• 3150 PLN (approx. 720 EURO) gross per month (first and second year of study - before mid-term evaluation), and
• 4500 PLN (approx. 1030 EURO) gross per month (third and fourth year of study - after mid-term evaluation).

Under the guidance of your potential supervisor, prepare a concept for your doctoral dissertation, which is one of the required documents in the recruitment process.

If the candidate has obtained from the supervisor (an academic employee of the University of Lodz) a consent to take him/her under supervision, he/she submits a statement of the potential supervisor on his/her willingness to take on the supervision (sample available at step 4).

If the candidate has not obtained such a consent, he/she submits an application for appointing a selected person who has the right to act as a supervisor as a supervisor of his/her doctoral dissertation (template available at step 4).

Information about competitions for doctoral students within NCN grants (together with the research topics) is available at http://ncn.gov.pl

List of supervisors and topics of PhD seminars in the academic year 2024/2025 for each discipline:

Enrollment/Registration - Electronic registration for studies is possible between 4 June - 13 June 2024

Remember to print out the application form from the Electronic Recruitment System!

Go to the Electronic Recruitment System

Prepare legible scans or photos of all the paper documentation you are to submit as part of the admission process, and attach them by uploading them to the IRK system within the time frame allowed in the Admission Timetable for submission of your documents. Each scan file should include the applicant's full name and an indication of the kind of the document that was scanned, according to the following scheme: Forename_Surname_Heading of scanned document

For an applicant who has completed his/her Master's degree studies abroad, the degree document must be legalised or apostilled, and it should state the right to apply for the award of a doctoral degree in the country whose higher education system includes the institution which has awarded it. In the case of a diploma issued in a language other than Polish or English, a translation into one of these languages must also be submitted. You are to submit a statement with obligation to provide a sworn translation of the aforementioned diploma into Polish which must be ready within the time limit specified in the statement (Annex 2 to the Recruitment Rules).

During the deadline period for delivery of original documents (6 June - 14 June 2024), the international applicant should send to: office.sdns@uni.lodz.pl an application for delivery of original documents upon arrival in Poland, before the day of signing the oath (sample application below)

Please remember to sign all your documents (incl. your application, dissertation concept, questionnaire)

English language test date: 21 June 2024

If you are interested in sample language tests, please send an email requesting the tests through the public information mode to office.sdns@uni.lodz.pl.

During the interview the following are assessed:

a) Presentation of the dissertation concept, including:

1) demonstrating the originality of the scientific problem presented in the concept

2) demonstration of the research contribution to the development of the lead and additional discipline(s), in the case of an Industrial PhD programme the practical utility of the solutions

3) clarity of concept presentation

4) ability to justify the chosen methodology

b) knowledge of research methods used in scienificwork in the discipline

c) knowledge of the literature on the subjects to be dealt with in the candidate's research

d) knowledge of specialist terminology, ability to compose a speech, communicativeness, interaction during discussion

Total: 25 points

Each member of the recruitment committee will assess independently with 25 points. The final amount of points awarded to a candidate shall be the arithmetic mean of the points awarded by the members of the committee. Presentation of the concept in the form of a multimedia presentation is not accepted.

Interviews will be held from 3 July to 8 July 2024.

The candidate will be informed of the interview date via email.

Information on acceptance to the studies is visible in the Electronic Registration System on the candidate's account, and the Recruitment Committee's decision on non-acceptance is sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt.