The Doctoral School at Wrocław University of Science and Technology has started the recruitment process. Candidates who wish to enrol in the university's elite unit can submit their documents until 2 June – 300 places are waiting for them.

Attractive scholarships and forms of financial support

This year, there are 300 places available to candidates. The greatest number of places were prepared in the disciplines Environmental Engineering, Mining and Energy – 38, Information and Communication Technology – 37, Mechanical Engineering – 36, and Automation, Electronic and Electrical Engineering and Space Technologies – 33.

Additional recruitment is also open for 30 places in the Ministry's "Implementation Doctorate" program.

Doctoral students can expect much higher scholarships than the minimum specified by law. Before the mid-term evaluation, the scholarship is 4,171 PLN net per month, and after a positive mid-term evaluation, it increases to 5,058 PLN net. A doctoral student can also receive an additional scholarship for academic achievements, a research scholarship under a research project, win the Rector's Award for organizational activities, or become a laureate of the Primus Program, which rewards authors of good publications.

The Doctoral School was open on 1 October, 2019. It currently teaches 812 early-career researchers, including 117 students from abroad.

International internships and work-life balance

One of the current doctoral students is a graduate of our Faculty, Dominika Kunc, who is preparing her doctoral thesis in the discipline of Information and Communication Technology. She admits that after defending her master's thesis, she needed a short break and initially she was not convinced about pursuing a doctorate.

“The passion for research finally prevailed and here I am. I’m particularly happy to be involved in a program which allows internships in best research centres. It was the right decision,” she concludes. “I am carrying out a unique and demanding research project, taking advantage of many opportunities offered by the Doctoral School and our department, I have completed research internships in Los Angeles and Singapore, I teach classes to students, but still manage to maintain balance work-life balance. I live in Kudowa Zdrój, which is quite a distance from Wrocław, but I managed to arrange everything in such a way that I come to the university on some days and work remotely,” she adds.

As part of her doctoral studies, she uses machine learning and other techniques to recognize emotions in everyday life from physiological signals. In her research, she combines computer science and psychology, which – as she herself admits – can be a challenge.

“I am constantly learning new things, trying to find a common language for engineers and psychologists, exploring new paths. I feel like I'm creating something completely new. And moreover, my research and the data that I have collected seem very interesting to the scientific community. It is encouraging,” admits Dominika Kunc.

She gives a more detailed picture of her student career in the second episode of the series dedicated to studying Artificial Intelligence at our Faculty. She recalls that from the very beginning she knew she wanted to create solutions with real significance – such that are not technology for the sake of itself, but can actually help people. You can watch the video material on YouTube and TikTok.

Interdisciplinary research

Another student, Arkadiusz Lipiecki, is preparing his dissertation in the discipline of Management and Quality Studies. As part of his doctoral studies, he carries out interdisciplinary research at the intersection of social sciences, physics, and IT. He is looking for answers on what impact interactions between individuals and groups have on macroscale phenomena, such as opinion polarization.

“My adventure with research began during my undergraduate engineering studies. It was then, during one of the faculty's seminars, that I became fascinated by the topic of simulating social behaviour with the use of models known from physics. I used to read about this topic in science fiction books, and now that's what I do every day,” says Arkadiusz.

He adds that studying at the Doctoral School provides freedom and opportunities for self-development in the chosen direction, with an invaluable support from supervisors who are open to new ideas and ready to share experience at every stage of work.

“The engagement of my supervisors and participation in grant projects carried out at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology enabled me to go on research trips to Oxford and Melbourne, as well as to present the results of my work at numerous international conferences, including those in Japan, the United States, and Australia,” emphasizes Arkadiusz Lipiecki.

Research programs in 13 disciplines

Doctoral studies last eight semesters and are offered in thirteen scientific disciplines. They are:

• architecture and urban planning,
• automation, electronic and electrical engineering and space technologies,
• information and communication technology,
• biomedical engineering,
• chemical engineering,
• civil engineering, geodesy and transport,
• material engineering,
• mechanical engineering,
• environmental engineering, mining and energy,
• mathematics,
• chemical sciences,
• physical sciences,
• management and quality studies.

The language of instruction at the Doctoral School is English. The learning programs are designed in such a way that doctoral students have the opportunity to study in their disciplines, but above all to acquire skills for conducting research at the intersection of two or more disciplines.

Therefore, you can choose from a wide range of classes, and thanks to the flexibility of course schedules, most of them can be completed in the first two years of the doctoral program. The elective courses include those related to grant preparation, modern teaching techniques, the use of AI, or the popularisation of science.

Research across borders: internships and international cooperation

A mini-grant program was also launched in 2024. Doctoral students can receive up to 20,000 PLN for the implementation of their projects, and the funds can be used for the purchase of equipment, research trips, or training.

PhD at WUST is also an opportunity for international cooperation. Our university is part of the Unite! alliance, in which we cooperate with eight partner universities from France, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Austria.

In effect, doctoral students can take part in summer and winter schools abroad, go on research internships at partner universities, participate in courses for doctoral students at another university, and work on their dissertation under the supervision of researchers from partner universities (so-called joint supervision).

Important dates

The recruitment procedure has several stages. You can submit your documents until 2 June, candidates will be interviewed from 25 June to 10 July, and the results will be made available on 24 July. Successful candidates will be enrolled in the list of PhD students starting from 21 September.

If you are interested in the details of studying at the Doctoral School of our university, you may want to watch the video coverage of the Open Day. You will find out about the recruitment rules, the form of the qualifying interviews, and what a day in the life of a doctoral student looks like.