Rules on Recruitment to the Poznań Doctoral School of Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences
valid from 01.10.2023
§ 1
1. Recruitment to the Poznań Doctoral School of Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, hereafter
“PDS IPAS”, takes place by way of a competition that fulfils the requirements of a substantive, open and
transparent recruitment procedure, on the principles laid down in these rules.
2. A recruitment procedure is carried out by request of the director of an institute (among the institutes
making up PDS IPAS) depending on needs and the availability of funds. The procedure is conducted by the PDS IPAS discipline coordinator (hereafter “coordinator”) for the unit making the request, or by the coordinator’s deputy.
§ 2.
1. A person admitted to PDS IPAS must hold a master’s, master of engineering or equivalent degree, or be a person as referred to in Article 186(2) of the Act of July 20, 2018 titled Higher Education and Science Law (Dz.U. 2018 item 1668 as amended), hereafter “the Act”.
2. Foreigners may study at PDS IPAS under the terms laid down in the Act and in the rules of PDS IPAS.
3. A person not holding the qualifications described in paragraph 1 may take part in a competition, but must obtain those qualifications before commencing study at PDS IPAS.
4. Candidates’ applications to PDS IPAS are accepted by the individual institutes according to the procedure and form indicated in the announcement of the recruitment procedure.
5. Once a candidate is selected in one recruitment procedure for the position of a doctoral student, such a
candidature shall immediately be excluded by a relevant coordinator from all other ongoing procedures at a given institute.
§ 3.
The following documents are required in the recruitment process:
1. An application to PDS IPAS, including consent for the processing of personal data for the purposes of the recruitment procedure, and a declaration of familiarity with these rules. The application form constitutes Appendix 1 to these rules.
2. A copy of the degree certificate confirming graduation or a certificate of graduation; in the case of degree certificates issued by foreign higher education institutions, the certificate referred to in Article 326(2)(2) or Article 327(2) of the Act, giving the right to seek to obtain a doctoral degree in the country under whose higher education system the issuing institution operates. Should the document be submitted as a scanned copy, the scanned image should be in color. A candidate who does not have the aforementioned documents will be obliged to supply their originals before being admitted to PDS IPAS, and no later than on the doctoral training commencement date.
3. A curriculum vitae showing previous education and employment.
4. A motivation letter, containing a short description of interests, scientific accomplishments, a list of
publications, information on involvement in scientific activity (membership of student scientific groups,
participation in scientific conferences, completed internships and training courses, prizes and distinctions
received) and reasons for wishing to study at the doctoral school.
5. Certificates or other documents confirming the candidate’s knowledge of English, if the candidate has such.
6. Contact details of at least one previous academic supervisor or other academic employee who has agreed to provide an opinion regarding the candidate. The opinions must not be attached to the application.
§ 4.
1. Recruitment committees, consisting of at least three people with a representative gender balance whenever possible, are appointed by the coordinator for each competition separately. In special cases, when it is required by the Regulations of the institution financing the doctoral scholarship, the composition of the committee may be appointed by the Director of a given institute. The recruitment committee is chaired by the coordinator or deputy coordinator, or another person holding at least a PhD degree appointed by the coordinator or deputy
coordinator. The committee includes a potential supervisor or supervisors. At least one member of the
committee should hold a PhD, DSc degree.
2. Announcements of recruitment procedures are made public through display on the noticeboard, through publication in two language versions on the website of the relevant institute, on the PDS IPAS website, and through publication in English on the Euraxess portal, at least one month before the deadline for applications for admission to PDS IPAS expires.
3. The announcement of an recruitment procedure contains at least:
a) information on the proposed subject matter and the research group in which the work will be carried out;
b) descriptions of the required knowledge and qualifications and formal requirements for candidates;
c) conditions of work and amount of scholarship;
d) information on the recruitment process, method of registration and criteria for selection of candidates;
e) information on the number of available places;
f) information on the deadline for application;
g) information on the decision date;
h) information that following completion of the procedure, unsuccessful candidates will be provided with
feedback regarding the number of points obtained at given stages of the procedure.
4. In the event of no applications being received, the deadline for application may be extended.
§ 5.
1. The recruitment procedure takes place in two stages. In the first stage the recruitment committee assesses the applications submitted by candidates. In the second stage the recruitment committee conducts interviews, which may be in English.
2. In the first stage the recruitment committee assesses the applications submitted in terms of compliance of the candidate’s educational profile with the project subject matter, taking account of:
a) the candidate’s academic accomplishments, based on grades attained during studies, scientific and
popular science publications, scholarships, awards and distinctions resulting from research or student
activity, and other achievements;
b) the candidate’s academic and professional experience, based on participation in conferences,
workshops, training courses and internships, participation in research and commercial projects, involvement in scientific groups and associations, international and professional mobility, and experience in other fields, including in industry.
The candidate may obtain 0–12 points in total for the aforementioned achievements.
3. No more than 3 candidates, whose applications obtained 6 or more points in the first stage, shall be
qualified for the second stage. If no application received at least 6 points, the recruitment procedure may be repeated.
4. A candidate will be informed of his or her qualification for the second stage by e-mail not later than 14 days after closure of the competition and at least 7 days before the planned interview. The candidate may be asked to give a presentation on an assigned topic during the interview.
5. During the interview, the recruitment committee assesses:
a) the candidate’s knowledge in the discipline represented by the institute at which the candidate wishes
to study (0–9 points);
b) knowledge of the subject matter referred to in the announcement of the recruitment procedure (0–9
points).
6. Based on the sum of points obtained in the first and second stages of the recruitment procedure, a ranking list of candidates is prepared.
7. Candidates who obtain the highest total number of points in the recruitment procedure will be admitted to PDS IPAS, subject to paragraph 8 of this section.
8. The minimum number of points required for enrolment to PDS IPAS is 15. Candidates whose cumulative number of points at both stages falls below 15 cannot be enrolled to PDS IPAS. In case of resignation of the candidate who scored best during the recruitment procedure, the call administrator reserves the right to repeat the recruitment procedure, or to admit a candidate who was ranked in the subsequent place on the ranking list of candidates, provided that this candidate received a relevant number of points, entitling to admission to PDS IPAS. In the case when none of the candidates receives 15 or more points, the recruitment procedure may be repeated,
9. The institute informs candidates about the results of the recruitment procedure within 45 days of the date of receiving the application documents, as stated in the competition announcement.
10. The results of the recruitment procedure regarding enrolment to PDS IPAS are public and shall be
published on the website of a given institute and the website of PDS IPAS, in the form of a ranking list featuring the number of points obtained at both stages as well as the cumulative number of points, and showing the approved candidates.
11. The final decision on admission to PDS IPAS is made by the director of the relevant institute based on the recommendations of the recruitment committee.
12. Admission to PDS IPAS takes place by way of entry on the list of doctoral students. In the case of foreign doctoral students, admission to PDS IPAS takes place through an administrative decision.
13. Decisions on admission or non-admission are to be signed by the Director of a relevant Institute.
14. Refusal of admission to PDS IPAS takes place by way of an administrative decision. The candidate is entitled to submit a request for reconsideration of the decision to the director of the institute concerned.
§ 6.
1. Matters not covered by the stipulations of the rules herein, and not covered by the legal regulations
mentioned in §2 of the Rules of the Poznań Doctoral School of Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, shall be concluded by the Program Council, Director of a given institute or the Board of Directors.
2. The form entitled “Application for admission to the Poznań Doctoral School of Institutes of the Polish
Academy of Sciences” constitutes Appendix 1 to the rules herein.
3. As of September 30th, 2023, the Rules on Recruitment to the Poznań Doctoral School of Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences that entered into force on October 1st, 2022 shall be repealed.
4. The stipulations of the rules herein shall enter into force from the commencement of the 2023/2024
academic year.