Awarding of doctoral degree

The rules of procedure for the awarding of doctoral degrees at the University of Warsaw are defined in Resolution No. 157 – LINK to the website with the Order

The administrative service of the activities of the Scientific Councils of Disciplines and the Scientific Council of the Areas of Study at the University of Warsaw and provides organisational conditions for the functioning of the Councils is provided by the The Scientific Councils Office (BRN) – LINK to the website in Polish

The Scientific Councils of Disciplines and the Scientific Council of the Areas of Study may determine their own document templates and formulate guidelines on the number, scope and form of doctoral examinations, so we recommend that you follow the Councils’ websites on the BRN website.

Q&A – doctoral students of the UW Doctoral Schools from The Scientific Councils Office – LINK to the A&Q created by BRN

[in Polish] Order No. 144 of the Rector of the University of Warsaw of 19 September 2023 on defining the conditions for the use of research and IT infrastructure of the University of Warsaw by persons who have prepared their doctoral thesis in the doctoral programme at the University of Warsaw – LINK to the website with the Order

Alumni Club of the University of Warsaw – LINK to the website of the Alumni Club of the University of Warsaw

You are obliged to complete your 4th year of education.

At the beginning of September you will receive your transcript of records to clear the year. Please note that if a subject is not linked, it will not appear on your transcript. If a subject is linked, but there is no grade, the subject will appear on the transcript of records with a blank space instead of a grade.

It is the doctoral student’s responsibility to check the completeness of the transcript.

If the transcript is complete, information on its completeness should be sent back to the Secretary’s Office (in the form of an e-mail). At the same time, when sending back the transcript, one of the following actions should be taken:

• either send in an application to extend your studies by one year – form of application for extension of the dissertation submission deadline – Download printable Application for extension of the dissertation submission deadline – docx document
• or send information that you will submit your dissertation to the relevant discipline or field council by the end of September.

If you do not apply for an extension of education and fail to submit your thesis by the end of September – then you will be removed from the list of doctoral students on 1 October. Consequently, the Office of the Scientific Councils will treat you as applying for an extramural mode doctoral degree which involves a doctoral dissertation fee – around 20,000 PLN.

It is not possible to apply to extend your studies beyond 30 September.

Please note that 30 September 2024 falls on a Monday and the The Scientific Councils Office is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Please also note that an annual report (LINK to information on MSD website) is required to complete the year’s. The deadline set by the Director is 30 September but you are strongly encouraged to submit your report earlier.

The procedure for the award of a doctoral degree shall be initiated upon a complete application from a candidate submitted to the Chairperson of the Council.

The decision on the choice of the Scientific Council that will conduct the proceedings for the award of the doctoral degree should be preceded by thorough reflection and discussion with the supervisors, submitting to consideration the extent of the interdisciplinarity of the dissertation and the consequences that the choice entails (among other things, in the form of entries on the doctoral diploma).

[In Polish] Template application for doctoral students (from BRN website) – download template application – docx document – created by BRN

The application shall be accompanied by:

1. a doctoral dissertation;
2. a positive opinion of the supervisor or supervisors on the doctoral dissertation in particular as regards to the candidate’s presentation of his or her general theoretical knowledge in the discipline or disciplines, and his or her ability to carry out scientific work independently. The subject of the doctoral thesis is an original solution to a scientific problem or an original solution to the application of the results of the candidate’s own research in the economic or social sphere;
3. a declaration indicating the scientific discipline or area of science in which the candidate is applying for the award of a doctoral degree, or a statement that it is not possible to indicate a single discipline in which a doctoral degree is awarded;
4. a scientific curriculum vitae, including information on major scientific publications, projects and research internships, in particular those funded by The European Research Council, the National Science Centre, the National Centre for Research and Development, the National Academic Exchange Agency or the Foundation for Polish Science or the minister responsible for higher education and science;
5. a copy of at least one publication:
   • one scientific article published in a scientific journal or in the peer-reviewed proceedings of an international conference or
   • one scientific monograph published by a publishing house
6. a copy of a certificate or diploma attesting to knowledge of a modern foreign language of at least B2 proficiency level;
   NOTE: For your part, please ensure in advance that you have a certificate or diploma attesting to your knowledge of a modern foreign language of at least B2 level. If you are unsure about your certificate, please contact The Scientific Councils Office.
7. a copy of the diploma showing that the candidate holds a master’s degree, a master’s degree in engineering or equivalent, or the diploma referred to in Article 326, section 2, point 2 or Article 327, section 2 of the Act which confers the right to apply for the award of a doctoral degree in the country in the higher education system of which the higher education institution awarding it operates;
8. a certificate from the body in charge of the School that the candidate has achieved the learning outcomes for the qualification at level 8 of the PQF (PRK).

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The Scientific Council, having determined that the candidate: holds the title or diploma, achieved learning outcomes for the qualification at level 8 of the PQF, holds a certificate or diploma of completion of studies, has a scientific track record, received a positive opinion from the supervisor on the doctoral dissertation – shall decide by resolution to initiate the procedure for the award of a doctoral degree.

If the candidate does not meet these requirements, the Scientific Council shall refuse to initiate the procedure providing justification.

A resolution of the Scientific Council refusing to initiate the procedure for the award of a doctoral degree may be appealed against to the Scientific Council within seven days of its delivery. The Scientific Council shall, without undue delay, decide, by resolution, either to uphold the contested resolution or to revoke the contested resolution and to initiate the procedure for the award of a doctoral degree.

If the doctoral dissertation is a written thesis, the candidate shall, together with the application, submit it in at least one printed copy
together with an electronic copy saved in PDF format. The doctoral dissertation shall include an abstract in English, whereas a
doctoral dissertation prepared in a foreign language – an abstract in Polish.

In the case when the dissertation is not in written form, its description in Polish and English shall be attached.

The Scientific Council may specify the detailed requirements for the dissertation abstract and the description of the dissertation, including their volume.

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If the doctoral dissertation is a written thesis, it is subject to checking using the Uniform Anti-plagiarism System (in the Archive of Diploma Theses, this process is initiated by one of the supervisors). The report confirming the verification of the doctoral dissertation using the Uniform Anti-plagiarism System shall be signed by the supervisor or supervisors, and then forwarded to the Chairperson of the Council.

In procedures for the award of a doctoral degree, the Scientific Council shall appoint three reviewers from among persons who are not employees of the University and an academic institution, a PAN institute, a research institute or an international institute of which the candidate is an employee.

The reviewer may be a person holding a habilitated doctor degree or a title of professor.

A reviewer may be a person who does not meet these conditions who is an employee of a foreign higher education institution or a research institution if the Scientific Council considers that the person has significant achievements in the scientific field associated with the doctoral dissertation.

While selecting a reviewer, the Scientific Council shall take into account the scientific specialisation to which the doctoral dissertation relates.

The reviewer shall prepare a review of the doctoral dissertation within two months of its submission, together with a copy of the report from UA-pS

The doctoral dissertation review is forwarded to the Chairperson of the Council and it may be.

1. positive;
2. conditional, indicating issues that need to be improved in the doctoral dissertation;
3. negative.

The Chairperson of the Council shall forward the doctoral dissertation reviews to the candidate as soon as they have been received from all reviewers.

In the event of receiving a review with a conditional conclusion, if the other reviews are not negative, the candidate shall submit to the Chairperson of the Council:

1. a revised doctoral dissertation, together with a written response to the review containing a conditional conclusion, within a maximum of six months of receipt of the review, or
2. a written statement of refusal to improve the doctoral dissertation.

Once the Doctoral Committee has been appointed or designated, the candidate will sit the doctoral examination or examinations to verify knowledge of the methodology and scientific output of the scientific discipline in which the academic degree is sought, and the ability to critically evaluate this output.

The candidate takes one or two examinations.

The Doctoral Committee, determines by resolution and presents to the candidate the number, scope and form of the doctoral examinations and their schedule. The Doctoral Committee, in consultation with the candidate, shall also determine the language in which the examination or examinations shall be conducted. The examination may be conducted in more than one language.

The candidate is informed of the date and place of the examination at least 30 days before the examination. A candidate may not take more than one examination on any given day. At the request of the candidate, the 30-day period referred to in the first sentence may be shortened.

In grading the examination, the Doctoral Committee uses the following marks:

1. pass with distinction, or
2. pass, or
3. negative

Passing grades or passing grades with distinction in all examinations means passing the doctoral examination and confirms fulfilment of the condition for the award of a doctoral degree.

A failing grade in any of the doctoral examinations means that the candidate does not meet the condition for the award of a doctoral degree. In such a case, the Doctoral Committee shall request the Scientific Council to adopt a resolution to refuse to award a doctoral degree.

At the request of the candidate submitted to the Chairperson of the Doctoral Committee within 14 days of receiving a failing grade, a retake of the examination shall be held. The retake of the examination shall take place no sooner than three months after the previous examination. The examination may only be retaken once in connection with the respective application.

A candidate who has received positive reviews from at least two reviewers and has passed the doctoral examinations may be admitted to the defence of the doctoral dissertation.

The Doctoral Committee shall set the date, time and place of the defence of the doctoral defence of the doctoral dissertation. In addition, the Doctoral Committee may specify a language for the defence of the doctoral dissertation other than Polish if this is known to the candidate and the members of the Doctoral Committee.

The defence of the defence of the doctoral dissertation may not take place earlier than 30 days after the information is made available in the BIP bulletin, and earlier than 7 days from the date of the resolution on admission to the defence of the doctoral dissertation.

In special cases, the defence of the doctoral dissertation may be conducted remotely, providing the following:

1. real-time transmission of the defence for its participants,
2. real-time, multi-stakeholder communication, where participants in the defence can express themselves in the course of the defence – while observing the necessary safety rules.

The conduct of the defence of the doctoral dissertation remotely shall be decided by the Doctoral Committee in consultation with the Chairperson of the Council after obtaining the consent of the candidate or at the candidate’s request.

The members of the Doctoral Committee participating remotely in the defence of the doctoral dissertation are required to have a camera on during the defence and, at the request of the Chairperson, a microphone.

The timeframe of the doctoral degree procedure for each doctoral student is individual, depending on the reviewers (their appointment and the preparation of the review – a conditional review alone prolongs the whole process), the appointment of the members of the Doctoral Committee, the dates of the examinations and also the correctness and completeness of the application submitted by the doctoral student to the Scientific Council.

It should be reckoned that the proceedings will last from 3 months ( if everything goes smoothly) to even a year. It is safe to assume a period of between 6 and 9 months.

Approval of the application by the Chairman of the Council – 0 to 7 days

Decision of the Council to initiate proceedings – at a meeting of the Discipline Council or the Area Council, depending on the dates of the meetings – from 2 weeks to 1.5 months

Preparation of reviews by 3 reviewers – up to 2 months after appointment of reviewers

In the case of conditional reviews that the candidate wishes to include in the thesis, possible extension of the deadline for a further 8 months – up to 6 months for amendments by the candidate + up to 2 months for re-reviews

Council meeting with appointment of examinations – 2 weeks to 1.5 months

Examinations – 30 days after the Council meeting

Receipt of at least one negative examination result – candidate may apply for re-examination within 14 days.

Re-examination (if required) – after 3 months at the earliest

Resolution to award/not award doctoral degree at Council meeting – between 2 weeks and 1.5 months

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Summary:

• The shortest – 3 months after acceptance of the application
• The longest – more than a year
• The average time to anticipate is approximately 6 months