About the School

Doctoral School of Humanities UW  was established in 2019 on the basis of many years of experience in educating doctoral students at the University of Warsaw. PhD students follow an interdisciplinary education program and gain knowledge, skills and competences that are the basis of their ongoing and future research work. The Doctoral School through its supervisors, supports doctoral students in the process of applying for a doctoral degree, which is the culmination of a four-year education cycle.

As a part of the education program, doctoral students participate in specialized classes (lectures, seminars) and courses shaping their scientific workshop and methodological competences. The Doctoral School  offers an interdisciplinary cooperation network, creating conditions for comprehensive scientific development.

Doctoral School of Humanities recruits in the following scientific disciplines:

• Archeology;
• Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology;
• Philosophy;
• History;
• Linguistics;
• Literary Studies;
• Culture and Religion Studies;
• Arts Studies.

About the discipline

The name ‘literary studies’ was introduced in 1938 by Franciszek Siedlecki, one of the founders of the Student Polonists' Circle at the inter-war University of Warsaw. Initially, it referred to a new discipline established as an alternative to the history of literature, concentrating on the study of poetics, theory and methodology of literary research. Today, this state of affairs belongs to the past; literary studies' boundaries encompass theoretical and historical research,  differentiated in terms of language, geography, culture and methodology. The field delimited by these boundaries can be structured in two ways:

At the vertical level, according to the linguistic criterion, literary studies are traditionally divided into philological disciplines (such as Polish studies, English studies, German studies, Romance studies, German studies, German studies, Hungaristics, Italian studies, Bohemian studies, Latin studies) or into larger fields of study based on geographic and cultural criteria (e.g. Iberian studies, Slavonic studies, Classics or Oriental studies, which study many literatures written in Asian and African languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, Indian, etc.). (e.g. Iberian studies, Slavonic studies, Classics or Oriental studies, which explore literature written in the languages of Asia and Africa, such as Arabic, Chinese, Indian literature, etc.).

At the horizontal level, literary studies can focus on historical studies, comparatistics, translatology, cultural studies, theoretical-methodological studies, text editing and criticism. The vertical and horizontal levels are not disconnected but intersect (in translation studies, for example, one can specialise in all philologies, undertake translatological historical and theoretical-methodological studies, and combine them with linguistics, gender and postcolonial studies). 

The boundaries of literary studies are neither airtight nor set once and for all. They overlap with the boundaries of other disciplines and fields of study, be they humanities and arts, social sciences (all philological studies can include research into, for example, economics and literature or literature and law), natural sciences (neurosemiotic studies or topics related to literature and medicine - e.g. the work of the deaf and dumb) or sciences (e.g. mathematical poetics or digital humanities). Literary scholars are keen to undertake multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research - on the one hand, while on the other hand, the terminology they develop (such as text, narrative, heteroglossia, chronotope, hybridity) and research methods serve different disciplines.

Education

Education program

The education lasts 4 years. It includes obligatory classes (no more than 300 hours in total during the whole period of education) and the implementation of an individual research program, carried out under the supervision of a supervisor. 

Supervisor

PhD student works under a supervisor. The declaration of a planned supervisor shall be submitted to the IRK system by 29 May 2025. The dissertation supervisor can be a person with a postdoctoral degree (doctor habilitatus or professor) and must be:

1) an employee of the University of Warsaw,

2) or a person having the status of a Professor Emeritus of the University of Warsaw.

The supervisor database is available at: link. The planned supervisor can also be a person not included in the database.

Scholarships

During the four years of study, each PhD student receives a scholarship in the amount of 4242 zł gross (brutto) before the mid-term evaluation (the first two years of studies) and 5340,9 zł gross (brutto) after the mid-term evaluation.

The disability stipend for the entire duration of the School’s education is 1040.07 PLN gross.

Admissions procedure

 Admissions procedure schedule 

• registration and subsmission of the application in the IRK system: 15 April – 29 May 2025
• qualification proceedings:
  • 1st stage: 11 June – 23 June 2025,
  • publication of the 1st stage results: by 26 June 2025,
  • publication of the interview schedule (2nd stage): by 26 June 2025,
  • 2nd stage: 3 July – 15 July 2025,
  • publication of the ranking list: by 21 July 2025,
  • acceptance of the documents from candidates recommended to be admitted to the School: 28 July – 22 September 2025,
  • publication of the list of admitted candidates: 30 September 2025.

 Start of education – 1 October 2025.

Admission fee

300 PLN

Qualification proceedings form

Two-stage proceedings:

• 1st stage: assessment of the description of the initial research project proposal and scientific activity (0-40 points);
• 2nd stage: interview (0-20 points). 

The maximum number of points to be awarded in qualification proceedings – 100 points:

• 1st stage: – 60 points (the number of points required to qualify for the 2nd stage – 30 points).
• 2nd stage: – 40 points (the number of points required to be recommended to be admitted  – 20 points).

Language of the qualification proceedings, including the interview 

The interview is held in Polish with elements of English or entirely in English, according to candidate’s preferences indicated in the IRK system.

Required documents 

The candidate submits a School admission application only through the IRK system. The application contains: 

• indication of the selected discipline in which the candidate plans to pursue education or in the case of applying for the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School, the fields of science with the specification of the leading field (and where there is no leading field, at least two equivalent disciplines), PESEL number or passport number, nationality, contact information (residence address, e-mail address, telephone number), information whether the candidate agrees to receive administrative decisions by means of electronic communication, consent for processing of personal data for the purposes of the admissions procedure;
  
• a scan of the graduation diploma of long-cycle studies or second-cycle studies or an equivalent diploma obtained under separate regulations, or in the case of candidates pursuing education in the European Higher Education Area, a certificate of holding a master's degree or a statement that the diploma or certificate conforming the award of a master's degree will be delivered by 22 September 2025 (template available below -> legal acts and document templates); If the diploma was issued in a language other than Polish or English, the candidate shall attach its certified translation;
  
• a description of the initial research project proposal with a title. The description should be no longer than 6000 characters including spaces and a summary of the research project no longer than 1000 characters including spaces; the description shall include references relevant for the research objective which shall not be included in the character limit;
• a resume or CV outlining the candidate’s scientific activity during the five calendar years preceding the application. If a candidate became a parent during this time, as evidenced by a scan of the child’s birth certificate attached to the application, this period shall be extended by two years for each child;
• scans of materials evidencing scientific activity mentioned in their CV and/or resume;
• declaration of at least B2 level of proficiency in English;
• a scan of a declaration by the planned supervisor, confirming their agreement to undertake the duties of a supervisor and of the number of doctoral students, for whom they perform the duties of a designated supervisor (template available below -> legal acts and document templates); 
• the photograph of a candidate’s face that allows for their identification and meets the same quality criteria as ID document photo;
  
• a declaration confirming whether the candidate was or is a doctoral student or a participant of doctoral studies or whether they have initiated a doctoral dissertation process or whether proceedings to award them a doctoral degree have been initiated – and if yes, the title of their doctoral dissertation or the research project prepared by a candidate, including the name and last name of the candidate’s tutor or supervisor;
• a declaration confirming that they have reviewed the Resolution No. 17 of the Senate of the University of Warsaw of 20 January 2021 on rules of admission to the doctoral schools at the University of Warsaw and Articles 40 and 41 of the Code of Administrative Proceedings.  

The admission procedure is initiated upon a candidate's application for admission to the School, who has registered in the IRK system and paid the admission fee by the deadline.

The declaration by the planned supervisor may be submitted by a person who remains the designated supervisor for no more than five doctoral students or persons applying for the award of a doctoral degree. In particular cases and upon the justified request of the planned supervisor, the Director may increase this limit for the purposes of the admissions procedure 

Assessment criteria

Description of the initial research project proposal (maximum number of points – 40)

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

1. purpose of the research (0–10 points);
2. novelty and originality of the research project (0-10 points);
3. methodology appropriate for the objective pursued, consistency of argumentation, transparency of reasoning (0-10 points);
4. description of the current status of research with references relevant for the research objective (0-10 points).

Scientific activity of the candidate  (maximum number of points – 20)

When evaluating scientific activity, the following elements, confirmed by means of scanned documents, shall be taken into account:

1. scientific publications, including scientific articles, sections in multi-author monographs, single-author monographs, publications in peer-reviewed international conferences materials (0-8 points);
2. presentations at national and international scientific conferences with an approved paper (0-8 points);
   
3. other elements of the evaluation of the candidate’s experience and scientific achievements, including awards, honourable mentions, certificates, professional experience, teaching experience, activity in an academic scientific movement, training, promotion of science, etc. (0–4 points).
   

Interview (maximum number of points – 40)

When assessing the interview, the following shall be taken into account: 

1. the candidate’s competencies relevant for the research conducted, including an understanding of the research topic to be undertaken and subject knowledge (0-20 points);
2. ability to justify the appropriateness of the choice of discipline and linguistic correctness, including in particular fluency in the use of scientific language appropriate to the discipline of the research being undertaken (0-20 points). 

Conditions for admission to the School   

The conditions for admission to the School, which shall be fulfilled cumulatively, are:

1. obtaining at least 50 points in the entire qualification proceedings, including at least 30 points in the 1st stage and at least 20 points in the 2nd stage, 
2. be ranked within the limit of places determined for a given  discipline.

Legal acts and document templates

1. Admission resolution -LINK;
2. Order on admission schedule -LINK (Polish only); 
3. Order on admission fee -LINK (Polish only);
4. Declaration by the planned supervisor -LINK;
5. Declaration on the delivering the diploma at a later date -LINK.