Doctoral School of Humanities

At the University of Lodz Doctoral School of Humanities, you will be able to deepen your knowledge in the field of a selected scientific discipline in the interdisciplinary environment, thanks to which you will be able to place your competence related to a given discipline in a wider context. Also, you will develop your research and teaching workshop and acquire soft skills that can be used in the future both in academic work as well as in non-academic professional activities. The University of Lodz Doctoral School of Humanities prepares doctoral students to be awarded a PhD degree in either of the following six scientific disciplines: archaeology, history, philosophy, linguistic knowledge, literary studies, and cultural and religious studies. 

 a) registration in the IRK system (from 17/6 until 24/6/2024) – registration guide (PDF file),

b) submitting a set of documents listed in Section 8 of the Recruitment Rules (from 17/6 until 25/6/2024),

c) taking a foreign language proficiency examination at B2 level (2/7/2024) applies to: candidates who do not have a document confirming their knowledge of a foreign language compliant with the List of Documents Confirming the Knowledge of a Modern Foreign Language (Annex 5 to the Recruitment Rules),

d) an interview with the candidate (between 9/7 and 12/7/2024).

The University provides conditions for persons with disabilities to participate fully in the recruitment process, including by providing a sign language interpreter or being accompanied by an assistant during the interview, but the candidate should report such a need during the IRK registration process.

Rules of admission updated for 2024/2025 with all attachments are available at: https://www.uni.lodz.pl/en/sdnh/admission

The recruitment procedure is initiated on the day on which the following two conditions are fulfilled jointly:

·        receipt by the SDNH Doctoral School of a signed Application for admission to the Doctoral School in written form, printed on a form generated from the IRK system,

·        and payment of the recruitment fee of PLN 200 (citizens of Ukraine who crossed the Polish border after February 24, 2022 do not have to pay the recruitment fee) and assignment to the chosen Doctoral School. Online registration does not constitute an activity initiating the recruitment procedure.

·        If the application for admission to SDNH is not submitted in paper form and/or if the aforementioned fee assigned to SDNH is not paid, no procedural action shall be taken.

a) selecting a doctoral school and identifying the discipline(s) in which the doctoral dissertation will be prepared. If the doctoral dissertation is to be prepared in more than one discipline, the candidate shall indicate the lead discipline,

b) filling in the registration form,

c) entering the grade from diploma of completion of the Uniform Master's Studies or the Bachelor’s and Master’s studies or equivalent. In the case of candidates who have completed their studies outside the Republic of Poland, the above results shall be converted by the doctoral school into the system applicable in the Republic of Poland proportionally, according to a percentage of the maximum possible number of points. The data entered by the candidate shall be verified on the basis of the documents provided,

d) uploading to the system the current photograph taken in a format meeting the requirements specified for ID cards in case of citizens of the Republic of Poland or for passports in case of foreign nationals,

e) making legible scans in PDF format of all the paper documentation (and the photograph that has been uploaded to the IRK system) that the candidate submits as part of the recruitment procedure, and then uploading them to IRK within the timeframe provided in the recruitment schedule for online registration. Each scanned file should include the candidate's full name and an indication of a document which has been scanned, as follows: Surname_Forename_name of the scanned document,

f) attributing one’s academic record to the discipline(s) to which the candidate's research and publication activities pertain, by submitting a statement to this effect in the IRK,

g) submitting by the candidate being a foreign national a statement concerning his/her wish to use a place in the UL Student Dormitory after admission to SDNH. UL does not guarantee the granting of a place in the UL Student Dormitory,

h) after registration in IRK - checking IRK account on a daily basis to receive any messages.

The documents that the candidate is obliged to submit are listed in § 8 of the Recruitment Rules to the University of Lodz Doctoral School of Humanities for the academic year 2024/2025.

All the candidates are to:

• register in the IRK system;
• submit an application form for admission to SDNH printed from the IRK system and signed (a template is set out in Annex 1 to the Recruitment Rules) and a set of documents listed below:

1) a copy of the diploma (degree) certificate of completion of the Bachelor’s and Master’s studies or the Uniform Master's Studies or equivalent, together with a copy of the diploma supplement (original or a copy certified by an UL employee to be a true copy of the original,

2) if a candidate has completed his/her studies abroad, the diploma must be legalised or apostilled, and must confer the right to apply for the award of a doctoral degree in the country in whose higher education system the higher education institution which issued the diploma operates. 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 (if, for justified reasons these documents are not available now, the candidate may apply to provide them till the beginning of the academic year – please see the note at the bottom of the page). The candidate shall submit a statement with a commitment to provide a sworn translation of the aforementioned diploma into Polish within the time limit specified in the statement (Annex 2 to the Recruitment Rules). Candidates who have have obtained a diploma outside the Republic of Poland should provide the grading scale applicable in the country where they have completed their studies,

3) an outline of the proposed doctoral dissertation with a statement confirming that the candidate has never previously prepared or defended a doctoral dissertation in the proposed topic (the obligation to submit the aforementioned statement does not apply to cases of transfer from another doctoral school and to persons who will be studying under a cotutelle agreement and are already studying at a foreign university at the time of recruitment). The outline, including the bibliography, must not exceed 5 pages in A4 format; font - Times New Roman 12, spacing 1.5; margins 2.5. The outline must include:

a) proposed topic of the dissertation,

b) defining the research objective,

c) presentation of the state of research to date – indicating a gap in the science that the candidate intends to fill,

d) indication of research methods to address the problem posed,

e) bibliography outlining the state of the research (maximum 20 items),

4) a statement of an UL employee on his/her readiness to act as a supervisor (if the candidate has such a consent) - according to the template (download here) available in the IRK system or an application for the appointment of a selected person, who is qualified to act as a supervisor, as a supervisor of one’s doctoral dissertation (Annex 3 to the Recruitment Rules). SDNH shall make available on its website a list of potential supervisors with an indication of their area of research interest, at the latest one month before the start of the recruitment procedure. The list shall be drawn up by the Director of SDNH in consultation with the persons he/she intends to include in the list. A written consent of a person concerned shall be a condition for inclusion in the above list,

5) a questionnaire for evaluation of the candidate's documentation (Annex 4 to the Recruitment Rules), which is the candidate's declaration of achievements to be evaluated,

6) a document confirming the candidate's knowledge of a foreign language (applies to foreign languages referred to in Section 9 of the Recruitment Rules) of at least B2 level (in the case of a certificate or diploma - a copy - an original for inspection, in the case of certificates - an original) in accordance with the List of Documents Confirming the Knowledge of a Modern Foreign Language (Annex 5 to the Recruitment Rules), if the candidate does not have the aforementioned document, he/she shall take the foreign language examination under the principles laid down in Section 9 of the Recruitment Rules,

7) confirmation of previous research activities (during the recruitment procedure, an account shall be taken of the candidate's documented research and organisational activity corresponding to the disciplines in which SDNH is conducted, from the last 5 years preceding the recruitment, and in the case of the industrial doctoral programme - 10 years - until the end of the online registration):

a) publications (up to 5 selected items) - in the case of texts already published, photocopies of the title page, the editorial page, the table of contents of the publication and the title page of own text should be attached; in the case of publications waiting to be printed - a certificate from the editorial office stating that the text has been accepted for publication should be attached,

b) participation in scientific conferences with an oral presentation (3 conferences may be listed) - a certificate from the organisers confirming that the oral presentation has been conducted or attached official conference programme with own presentation marked,

c) scientific and research projects - appropriate certification must be attached,

d) a certificate (copy - original for inspection) confirming knowledge of languages other than the language declared for the examination referred to in Section 9 of the Recruitment Rules or exempting from the abovementioned examination (from the list specified in Annex 5 to the Recruitment Rules),

e) attestation of other achievements, in particular: a certificate of having won a prize / honourable mention in a competition for the best Master’s thesis, a copy of the diploma(s) of completion of the second study programme, attestation of a study visit abroad (for a period of at least 3 months), attestation of social, organisational and popularisation activities (attestation of the type of activity and its duration),

8) a candidate with a certificate of disability / degree of disability issued based on the provisions of the Act on Vocational and Social Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities (consolidated text Journal of Laws of 2023, item 100 as amended) shall submit a copy of the certificate with other recruitment documents if he/she intends to exercise additional rights under the law,

international candidates (foreign nationals) shall also submit:

(a) a document confirming the legality of their residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland in the form of a copy of a current visa or residence card immediately after obtaining one of the aforementioned documents, at the latest by the end of the first semester of study at SDNH,

(b) for candidates who do not have their domicile or habitual residence or registered office in the Republic of Poland, another Member State of the European Union, the Swiss Confederation or a Member State of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) being a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area  – a written designation of an address for service in the territory of the Republic of Poland or appointment of a representative ad litem (for the purposes of service of letters and administrative decisions). If the above obligation is not fulfilled, decisions and letters shall be left in the candidate's file with effect of having been served..    

The language test will take place on 2 July 2024.

 Detailed information about the test will be provided to candidates registered in the IRK system via a system message.

The interview will take place from 9/7/2024 to 12/7/2024

 Detailed information on the interview will be provided to candidates registered in the IRK system via a system message.

Documents are to be delivered (as paper originals) within the following time frame:

from 17/6/2024 until 25/6/2024

between 9am and 12:30pm on weekdays,

and between 11am and 2pm on 25/6 (last day of submissions).

- with postal delivery, the date of delivery of documents is deemed the date of receipt by the doctoral school.

Documents should be delivered in person to the doctoral school office or sent by post to the following address:

University of Lodz

Doctoral Schools Centre

Ms. Agnieszka Kosicka-Jóźwiak

Secretary of UL Doctoral School of Humanities

Matejki 21/23, room 113

90-137 Lodz

 A candidate residing abroad may direct a request via email address: sdnh@uni.lodz.pl to the Director of the Doctoral School of Humanities for the opportunity to submit documentation in paper form after the deadline resulting from the recruitment schedule, with a commitment to deliver the original documents before the date of signing the oath. Please bear in mind that if a set of original documents is not provided, then an administrative decision to deny admission to the Doctoral School will be issued.