Recruitment 2020/2021

Announcements

• Registration of candidates to the Doctoral School has ended. Recruitment procedure is being continued.
• Template of supervisor’s declaration– declaration form
• Declaration of the delivery of the diploma at a later date – declaration form
• Selection teams in the academic year 2020/2021 – Selection teams

General Information

The establishment of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School at the University of Warsaw is a response to the challenges faced by academic researchers today. Those challenges consist in conducting innovative research crossing the boundaries between academic disciplines and fields. At the School, doctoral students prepare theses based on achievements in at least two freely elected fields of academic research, with the leading field indicated, or single-field projects without any leading discipline specified.

Under the IDS, there is also the Quantitative Psychology and Economics program, which was developed as part of the University’s Integrated Development Program, with financial support from the European Social Fund within PO WER, Action 3.5. The QPE program, co-created by three leading faculties of the University of Warsaw, includes classes in the field of economics, psychology and data science. Its purpose is to prepare participants to conduct analyzes of large data sets on choices and human behavior, with particular emphasis on irrationality and cognitive limitations. Graduates will be able to find employment primarily in scientific institutions and research departments of innovative corporations.

Limits:

IDS – 20
QPE program – 10

Contact

Interdisciplinary  Doctoral School
Krakowskie Przedmieście 1, 00-047 Warsaw
E-mail dedicated to the recruitment process: rekrutacja.msd@uw.edu.pl

Recruitment schedule

• registration in the Internet Recruitment of Candidates, referred to as “IRK”, submission of an application in the IRK for admission to the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School: 5 May – 28 June, 2020;
• recruitment procedure
  a) 1st stage of the recruitment procedure: 1-12 July, 2020,
  b) publication of the results of the 1 st stage of the recruitment procedure: 13 July 2020,
  c) publication of the interview schedule (2nd stage): 13 July 2020,
  d) 2nd stage of the recruitment procedure: 21 – 25 July 2020,
  e) publication of the ranking list: 28 July 2020,
  f) reception of documents from qualified candidates: 28 July – 18 September, 2020,
  g) announcement of the list of persons admitted to the School: 21 September 2020.

NOTICE!

Due to the epidemiological situation, the above schedule may be subject to change. The relevant information will be posted on the website and in IRK.

More information: Rector’s resolution (in Polish)

Required documents

The candidate shall submit the application for admission to the School only in IRK. It shall include:

• the application for admission to the School stating the discipline in which the candidate plans to pursue education or, if applying for admission to IDS – the disciplines and the leading scientific discipline (and if there is no leading discipline – disciplines);
• scan of a diploma of completion of the long-cycle Master’s degree programme or second-cycle programme or an equivalent diploma obtained under separate regulations or –in the case of candidates pursuing education within the European Higher Education Areas –a declaration that the diploma or certificate of obtaining a Master’s degree shall be provided by 18 September 2020 (Declaration of the delivery of the diploma at a later date);
• a description of the initial research project proposal, which comprises no more than 14,000 characters including spaces; the description shall contain the bibliography that is not included in the character limit; the research project proposal shall include the doctoral dissertation draft including information on leading areas of study; the research project proposal may also refer to a single area of study, but multidisciplinary, provided that discipline included therein are equal – in such the case, the candidate shall enclose a justification to the application filed to the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School;
• a resumé or curriculum vitae containing information about scientific activities, including scientific interests and scientific achievements during five calendar years preceding the submission of the application;
• scans of materials confirming scientific activities referred to in the resumé or CV;
• declaration about the command of English at least at B2 level with documents confirming the command of English or other foreign languages;
• a scan of the declaration of the supervisor candidate about their willingness to be the candidate’s supervisor and the number of doctoral students, for whom them are appointed as the supervisor (declaration form);
• one photograph of the candidate’s face, allowing their identification;
• declaration whether the candidate is or was a doctoral student or participant of doctoral studies, and if yes – title of doctoral dissertation or the research project prepared by the candidate, as well as first name and surname of the academic tutor or the supervisor;
• declaration on familiarising themselves with the content of the Resolution, as well as Article 40 and Article 41 of the Code of Administrative Procedure.

Form of the selection process and the number of points that can be obtained

Two-stage process:

• Stage I: evaluation of the research project and scientific activities of the candidate;
• Stage II: interview.

The interview shall comprise a presentation related to a research project, although the presentation shall not repeat the content of the project. Its purpose is presenting the research question, showing it in a broader context, etc., together with the evaluation of the candidate’s research suitability. In justified instances (e.g. where the candidate stays abroad), based on the written request of the candidate addressed to the Recruitment Coordinator, the interview may be carried out remotely, using generally available online tools.

Maximum number of points that can be obtained in the selection procedure – 100 points:

• Stage I – 40 points (the number of points needed to qualify to stage II – 20 points).
• Stage II – 60 points.

Evaluation criteria and method

Research project (maximum number of points – 30)

When evaluating the project, the following shall be taken into account:

• definition of the research problem, including objective, research questions, hypotheses (0-10 points);
• novelty and originality of the research project (0-5 points);
• methodology appropriate for the objective, application of the methodology going beyond the leading area of study (0-10 points);
• status of research and the bibliography relevant to achieving the research objective (0-5 points).

Scientific activity of the candidate (maximum number of points – 10)

Interview (maximum number of points – 60)

The following shall be taken into account when evaluating the interview:

• prestation of the scientific question related to the research project prepared by the candidate (0-30 points);
• discussion with the candidate pertaining to the justification of the selection of the research areas in the context of research problems and methods proposed, knowledge of the subject, substantive knowledge, linguistic correctness and the ability to use a scientific language (Polish and/or English) (0-30 points).

The interview shall be carried out in Polish or English – in accordance with the candidate’s preferences presented in IRK. If the Polish language is selected, the interview may include parts in English.

Condition of admission to the School

Obtaining at least 50 points in the whole selection process, including at least 20 points in stage I and at least 30 points in stage II of the selection process.

Supervisors

It is worth starting the recruitment process to a Doctoral School at the University of Warsaw by finding a supervisor, who will be willing to provide care for the doctoral student  and perform scientific supervision over their research project. The name of the supervisor and the scan of their declaration about their willingness to be the candidate’s supervisor shall be submitted in IRK.

In order to find a supervisor, candidates for the Doctoral Schools are encouraged to search through the database of supervisors available  here. The database contains the list of University of Warsaw researchers, who are willing to perform the function of the dissertation supervisor.

The candidates are also encouraged to consult the websites of the University of Warsaw faculties and academic units for the information on academic teachers conducting their research.

Important links

Resolution no 500 of the Senate of the University of Warsaw of 22 January 2020 on the rules of recruitment for Doctoral Schools at the University of Warsaw in the 2020/2021 academic year – resolution no 500 (amendment 1) (amendment 2) (amendment 3)  (amendments are in Polish)

Internet Recruitment of Candidates – irk.uw.edu.pl