On 15 February 2024, a new Regulation amending the regulation on the minimum monthly basic remuneration for a professor employed in a public higher education institution has been signed (Dz.U. – Journal of Laws, item 235). It states 30% increase of remuneration since 1 January 2024 which means that the basic salary of a professor has risen from PLN 7210 to PLN 9370. The provisions of the regulation has entered into force in the day following its announcement, that is on 22 February 2024 as applicable from 1 January 2024. The regulation has been published under item no. 235 in the Dziennik Ustaw (abbreviated „Dz. U.”) or the Polish Journal of Laws.

Why is this important for doctoral students? It affects the amount of scholarship (stipend) grant that you receive each month – since its amount is steadily proportional (pegged) to the value of professor’s salary, it has now increased accordingly, and you may even expect an extra balance payment once, due to the increase being applicable from January.

Pursuant to Article 209 clause 4 of the Act of 20 July 2018 – Law on Higher Education and Science (Journal of Laws 2023, item 742, amended) the amount of monthly doctoral scholarship should be at least:
1) 37% of a professor’s salary – gross amount of PLN 3466,90 – up to the month in which the mid-term evaluation was conducted; 
2) 57% of a professor’s salary – gross amount of PLN 5340,90 – after the month in which the mid-term evaluation was conducted.

By virtue of the amendments made to the aforementioned Act by the Act of 28 July 2023 amending the Act - Teachers' Charter and certain other acts (Journal of Laws 2023, item 1672), as of 1.10.2023, the prohibition on employing doctoral students of a doctoral school as academic teachers or research staff does not apply any longer (because Article 209(10) has been repealed and the related Article 203(1)(5) has been amended). The Act does not prohibit doctoral students from taking up employment in any other capacity.

In addition, the provision making the stipend payout conditional on the amount of remuneration received has been changed. It used to refer to project participants specifically, but now it only refers to a certain form of employment.

A doctoral scholarship will not be awarded to a doctoral student whose:

- curriculum at a doctoral school involves a mandatory employment contract in an entity running that doctoral school,
- employment contract provides a remuneration exceeding the amount of the minimum monthly professor’s salary (currently PLN 9 370.00 gross).

The doctoral scholarship is not subject to income tax. However, doctoral students studying at doctoral schools and receiving a doctoral scholarship are covered by compulsory pension and accident insurance. Sickness insurance is voluntary.

A doctoral student may apply for a student loan. The provisions on student loans shall apply accordingly, except that:

•    the loan may be obtained by a doctoral student under the age of 35;
•    the loan shall be granted for the duration of training at the doctoral school only once and for no longer than 4 years.

 

The application for funding, together with the cost estimate and the promoter's opinion, will enable the funding of the scientific activity of the doctoral students of SDNSiP of the University of Lodz from the budget of the doctoral school.

File name: Name_Funding application _discipline, e.g. Kowalski_Funding application_chemistry.

 

Attention:

please do not include the following costs in your applications:

• highway tolls
• car travel

The objective of the Awards is to: 
1) promote active participation in University life; 
2) stimulate the creative and organisational potential of doctoral students; in doctoral programmes at the University of Lodz; 
3) recognise doctoral students for their contributions to the development and promotion of the University’s academic community; 
4) recognise doctoral students for other outstanding activities or achievements.

When a call for applications is announced, a doctoral student wishing to partake shall submit, within the deadline specified in the Rector’s announcement: 
1) an application form, being an Annex to Rules and Regulations of granting Rector's Awards; 
2) documents supporting the partcipant's activities or achievements, such as certificates, references, diplomas, or attestations, in the appropriate format specified under the call.

Please note that scientific activities or achievements do not apply to this competition (see Research Award of UL Rector instead)

A financial prize will be awarded in this competition to a number of best performing final-year students of UL Doctoral Schools for their outstanding achievements, especially as far as publication activity, internationalization and research contribution to UL community are concerned.

Any active four-year student of each UL Doctoral School may apply for the Research Award of the Rector (NNRUŁ), in accord with specifications and to the deadline stipulated in Rector's Announcement relating to the competition.

Doctoral Research Grants are an internal competition at the University of Lodz intended for researchers working at our university and implementing innovative research projects. The competition is addressed to doctoral students of the University of Lodz Doctoral Schools and the financing of winning projects is based on government subsidy. IDUB provides an opportunity to conduct research abroad, purchase research equipment and publish scientific papers in best international journals.

2024 – Result of the Call

A total of 19 winning projects, financed from the subsidy, have been selected, including those by Bio-Med-Chem doctoral students (marked bold):

Exact and Natural sciences

• Kinga Kołacz, Charakterystyka transkryptomu komórek poliploidalnych w poszukiwaniu genów odpowiedzialnych za repopulację komórek nowotworowych oraz nieskuteczność chemioterapii [Characterisation of the transcriptome of polyploid cells in search of genes responsible for cancer cell repopulation and chemotherapy ineffectiveness]
• Karolina Kozal, Zależna od O-GlcNAc transferazy regulacja czynnika indukowanego hipoksją w raku piersi [O-GlcNAc transferase-dependent regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor in breast cancer]
• Rafał Grulke, Zmienność warunków hydrochemicznych wód rzecznych na drodze przepływu hyporeicznego na odcinku meandrowym rzeki Miazgi [Variability of hydrochemical conditions of river waters along the hyporheic flow path in the meander section of the Miazga River]
• Marta Gaweł, Stworzenie chromatograficznych narzędzi do oceny zawartości niektórych związków bioaktywnych w owocach jagodowych w kontekście ich walorów prozdrowotnych [Creation of chromatographic tools for assessing the content of some bioactive compounds in berries in the context of their health-promoting properties]
• Aleksandra Nadolska, Defect engineering of two-dimensional transition metal oxides for hydrogen production.
• Margarita Zalinian, Naturalne i antropogeniczne czynniki odpowiedzialne za formowanie osadów stokowych, gleb kopalnych oraz archeologicznych warstw kulturowych w pradziejach i średniowieczu w kompleksie archeologicznym Ostrowite (Pojezierze Północno krajeńskie) [Natural and anthropogenic factors responsible for the formation of slope sediments, fossil soils and archaeological cultural layers in the prehistoric and medieval times in the Ostrowite archaeological complex (North Krajna Lakeland)]
• Urszula Sudomir, Zastosowanie ekstrakcji na nanocząstkach magnetycznych do oznaczania związków biologicznie ważnych w niekonwencjonalnych płynach biologicznych techniką elektroforezy kapilarnej [Application of magnetic nanoparticle extraction for determination of biologically important compounds in unconventional biological fluids by capillary electrophoresis technique]
• Adrian Olszewski, Opracowanie metod oznaczania mykotoksyn w żywności  i paszach z wykorzystaniem chromatografii cieczowej sprzężonej z detektorem mas [Development of methods for determining mycotoxins in food and feed using liquid chromatography coupled with a mass detector]

Humanities

• Katarzyna Ciszewska, Hiszpański tryb łączący (‘subjuntivo’) w interjęzyku osób włosko- i polskojęzycznych uczących się języka hiszpańskiego jako obcego: empiryczne badanie porównawcze [Spanish ‘subjuntivo’ in the interlanguage of Italian- and Polish-speaking learners of Spanish as a foreign language: An empirical comparative study]
• Abdul Awalm, Impact of English language imperialism in Bangladeshi learner’s perception and attitude.
• Irena Podolska-Rutkowska, Identyfikacja warsztatów rzemieślniczych na podstawie wybranych przykładów biżuterii w strefie C osadnictwa kultury wielbarskiej [Identification of craft workshops based on selected examples of jewellery in Zone C of the Wielbark Culture settlement]
• Patrycja Chuszcz, Sposoby postrzegania reprezentacji zwierząt tzw. gospodarskich w filmie dokumentalnym [Ways of perceiving the representation of the so-called farm animals in a documentary film]

Social sciences

• Agata Dąbrowska, Komunikacja nieprofesjonalistów o prawie w mediach społecznościowych [Laypeople communicating about law on social media]
• Aleksandra Olbryk, Prawne granice ingerencji w autonomię decyzyjną konsumentów w środowisku internetowym [Legal limits of interference with consumer decision-making autonomy in the online environment]
• Małgorzata Juraś-Darowny, Style przywiązania w dorosłości, biologiczne wskaźniki przywiązania oraz retrospektywnie oceniane postawy rodzicielskie jako kontekst kształtowania się rysu osobowości borderline [Attachment styles in adulthood, biological indicators of attachment and retrospectively assessed parental attitudes as the context of the development of the borderline personality trait]
• Michał Byczyński, Znaczenie wskaźników praw człowieka dla prawnomiędzynarodowej ochrony praw człowieka. Analiza praktyki Światowej Organizacji Zdrowia w dobie pandemii COVID-19 [The importance of human rights indicators for international human rights protection. Analysis of the practice of the World Health Organization during the COVID-19 pandemic]
• Jan Okoński, Eric Voegelin: Staatslehre wobec pozytywizmu. Recepcja voegelinowskiego projektu teorii państwa na tle czystej teorii prawa [Eric Voegelin: Staatslehre and Positivism. Reception of Voegelin's Project of State Theory Against the Background of Pure Legal Theory]
• Andrzej Frączysty, Podział pracy terapeutycznej a hipoteza kulturalizacji różnic klasowych: socjologiczne badanie terapeutycznej ekspertyzy w Polsce [The division of therapeutic labour and the culturalisation of class differences hypothesis: Sociological study of therapeutic expertise in Poland]
• Kamil Jański, Sitios de Memoria Uruguay i Museo de la Memoria jako przykłady realizacji polityki pamięci o autorytaryzmie i dyktaturze w Urugwaju (1967–1985) [Sitios de Memoria Uruguay and Museo de la Memoria as examples of the implementation of the policy of memory of authoritarianism and dictatorship in Uruguay (1967–1985)]

 

The Doctoral Schools Centre at the University of Lodz implements the project "Smarter, Faster, Better - Internationalization of Doctoral Schools at the University of Lodz" from 1/1/2024 to 31/12/2026 under the STER programme funded by the National Agency for Academic Exchange. Please find more information on the project website.

Results of competition no. 1/2024 (Action 2 – mobility placements) of 27.05.2024:

 

PROM – short-term academic exchange programme finances short mobilities for doctoral students and academic employees from Poland and abroad.

If you are interested in participating in the Project, you can start planning the mobility assignments you want to complete between February and August 2025. At the application stage, you will need the consent of the host institution abroad. Each planned trip is intended to improve your scientific or professional competences.

The submission of applications will begin in mid-January 2025 and will last 14 days.

You can find more details on the project website (link)