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SWPS University - Main page

Unique Teaching Program
SWPS University’s Doctoral School - Our Difference

We have developed a unique doctoral education model, which we offer in collaboration with international institutions that support universities in providing professional development for researchers. We accept candidates intent on academic and research careers. We provide them with optimal conditions for realizing their research aspirations, and we help them to launch their scientific careers. We understand that the most effective format of education, which ensures successful defense of doctoral theses requires several components such as: mentorship, collaboration with other researchers, networking, and sharing knowledge and experience with international colleagues.

Candidates wishing to obtain a doctorate in literary studies should demonstrate an above-average interest in literature in the context of contemporary global culture. They must understand socio-cultural issues related to literature, and have a grasp of the place and the role of literature in popular culture.

The skills, which you will acquire during your literary studies will become a starting point for research, reflection, and initiatives you will undertake in a broadly understood public sphere.

  1. Top specialists

    You will have an opportunity to work with renowned experts who specialize in literary studies, for example: Professor Jerzy Sobieraj – history and literature of the United States, Professor Tadeusz Rachwał – literary theory, Professor Mikołaj Wiśniewski – the 19th and 20th century literature written in English, writer Jeremy Tambling – comparative literature, and writer and translator Professor David Malcolm – the 19th and 20th British and Irish literature. Working with expert researchers will help you to acquire theoretical knowledge, as well as methodological and practical research skills.

  2. Collaboration with thesis advisors

    If you choose literary studies as your leading discipline, you will learn terminology and research methodology specific to humanities. You will also become familiar with the concepts of contemporary literary and critical theory. The seminars, lectures and classes focused on practical skills, will prepare you for active participation in the process of culture creation. As a doctoral student, you will collaborate with a team of thesis advisors who carry out interdisciplinary research concerning various aspects of literary studies, such as literature written in English, literary and cultural comparative studies, contemporary critical theory, postcolonialism, psychoanalysis, feminist criticism, and translation theory.

  3. Interdisciplinary approach

    Our program combines elements of classic literary studies and interdisciplinary reflections. The academic staff includes lectures from the Faculty of Humanities in Warsaw and SWPS University’s Institute of Humanities. Research topics of your doctoral thesis may pertain to the following areas: literature written before the 19th century or contemporary literature written in Polish, English, Spanish or Swedish, comparative literary studies, problems in literary translation, and historical and modern critical and theoretical tendencies in literary studies.

  4. Mentoring program

    As a student of the Doctoral School you can take advantage of our innovative mentoring program, which provides you with additional guidance on your way to a doctoral degree. The program offers group workshops, peer-mentoring meetings conducive to integration of doctoral students, exchange of knowledge and best practices among doctoral candidates, and individual consultation with mentors, who advise you on the development of your research career.

  5. Funding for research-related activities

    Doctoral students are eligible to receive funding for participation in conferences and other research-related activities deemed crucial for their doctoral research. You can also take advantage of various opportunities concerning collaboration with research centers abroad, which organize international conferences and symposia, and offer fellowships.

  6. Partnering with the European University Association (EUA)

    We are a member of the European University Association (EUA), which represents more than 850 universities and national conferences of rectors in 49 European countries. EUA plays a key role in the Bologna process and influences EU policy on higher education, research and innovation. Through constant interaction with a range of other European and international organizations, EUA ensures that the independent voice of European universities is heard.

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Download study program

Doctoral scholarships
Funding of your doctoral education

We offer free of charge doctoral studies for full-time students. Throughout the whole period of doctoral studies, students receive tax-free scholarships in the amount equal to 37%, and 57% after the mid-term assessment, of a professorial remuneration specified in the government’s regulation. The scholarships are subject to social insurance deductions, which means that doctoral students contribute to their state pension capital over the period of doctoral studies. In practice, the amount of doctoral scholarships, after pension deductions, amounts to at least: net PLN 3,076.53 (before the mid-term assessment), and net PLN 4,739.51 (after the mid-term assessment).

Our Doctoral School also accepts doctoral fellows who receive scholarships from research programs carried out by researchers from SWPS University. Detailed information is available in the Admissions Regulations.

Select a research center and thesis advisor
Step by step instructions

  1. Review our research centers

    Before you apply to our Doctoral School, review our Research Centers and choose a center or team, whose area of expertise is aligned with the topic of your doctoral thesis. Review the biographies of thesis advisors, in particular their research interests and requirements concerning doctoral candidates. Choose an expert with whom you would like to collaborate.

  2. Contact your chosen research center

    E-mail the head of the center/research team, where your thesis advisor works. Present the scope of your proposed research project, and indicate the researcher whom you have chosen as your thesis advisor. You may also contact the selected thesis advisor directly.

  3. Obtain recommendation of the Head of the Center

    Once you receive initial approval of your potential thesis advisor, submit a request for a formal recommendation to the Head of the Research Center. You will need this document while registering in our Application Portal.

Guide to Doctoral Studies
Before you apply to SWPS University’s Doctoral School

What is a doctorate? What does the research process look like? What are the steps to writing your doctoral thesis? How does a collaboration between a doctoral student and a research center looks like? Review our Guide to Doctoral Studies to learn more about our doctoral program, mentoring, scholarships, and grants for doctoral students.

Review our Guide to Doctoral Studies

Thesis advisors
available in 2024/2025

Review profiles of the available thesis advisors. Read the attached overviews describing their research interests and thematic scope of doctoral thesis, which they can supervise.

Thesis advisors

Currently, there are no Thesis Advisors taking on doctoral students in 2024/2025 academic year.

Application
step by step

Review detailed rules and regulations
  1. Fill in the Application Form.
    (June 3-17, 2024)
  2. Submit copies of the required documents to the Office of the Doctoral School by June 17, 2024
  3. Attend an interview (July 9-24, 2024).
  4. Wait for the admission announcement (by September 30, 2024)
  5. Submit original documents for review to the Office of the Doctoral School as soon as you are admitted (mandatory condition).

Required
documents

  • personal data form
  • application and motivational letter, addressed to the Admissions Committee appropriate to a particular discipline
  • Master’s degree diploma, including a diploma supplement or a university transcript, and your Grade Point Average (GPA) (copy)
  • documents confirming your achievements (copy)
  • overview of your proposed doctoral dissertation
  • confirmation of the application fee payment
  • formal approval of a research center or a research team
 

Documents

Rules and regulations

Forms

Fees
and scholarships

Application fee

Application fee is PLN 400

The application fee is nonrefundable regardless of the admission decision. Graduates of SWPS University are exempt from the application fee.

 

Funding of doctoral education

Full-time
Free of charge as it is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science (MEiN).
Scholarships for doctoral students
Over the period of doctoral studies, students who do not already hold doctoral degrees, receive tax-free scholarships in the amount equal to 37% (before the mid-term assessment), and 57% (after the mid-term assessment), of a professorial remuneration specified in the Minister’s regulation.
before mid-term assessment after mid-term assessment
net PLN 3,076.53 net PLN 4,739.51