Candidates may apply to the IEDS for research topics announced on the IEDS website or for topics outside the list.
If you are interested in applying to the IEDS, please contact the supervisors of your planned PhD project before submitting your application. Contact details for supervisors can be found in the call for proposals for doctoral projects or on the websites of the institutions that make up the IEDS. (us.edu.pl; www.igf.edu.pl; www.impan.pl; www.iopan.pl).

In order to participate in the admission process for the IEDS, before the deadline set out in the schedule, the candidate must:

• create an account in the irk.us.edu.pl system and completed the registration form;
• pay the recruitment fee of PLN 450.

The candidate the IEDS must submit:

• application for admission to the IEDS (personal questionnaire);
• curriculum vitae;
• ORCID number;
• information about the scientific discipline or disciplines, in the case of interdisciplinary work, in which the candidate intends to prepare a dissertation;
• consents and statements required by the IRK system;
• a copy of the diploma of graduation from a master’s degree program with a supplement, or another document authorizing the candidate to undertake education at doctoral school in accordance with Section 8(5)(6) and Section 8(5)(7) ;
• an outline of the doctoral project, a list of the candidate’s academic achievements in the discipline of the planned doctoral dissertation and documents certifying these achievements, as well as other documents specified in the admission process (may be submitted to the IEDS office, via polarknow@us.edu.pl).
• The doctoral project form and list of scientific achievements

1. Assessment of the PhD project outline (max. 40 points). Candidates who have submitted an outline of the doctoral project together with the supervisor’s opinion within the time specified in the schedule and obtained above 20 points are admitted to further proceedings.
2. Assessment of documented scientific achievements (max. 20 points). Candidates who have submitted the scientific achievements form within the time specified in the schedule will be admitted to further proceedings.
3. Qualification interview (max. 40 points). A candidate who does not enter the interview or receives less than 20 points will not be admitted.

June 22, 2026  — opening registration of candidates through the online registration system (IRK, https://irk.us.edu.pl/ )
August 24, 2026 — deadline for completing candidate registration in the IRK online recruitment system, including creating an account in the system, paying the recruitment fee (the date of the bank transfer is binding), and entering the required information and documents.
August 24, 2026 — the deadline for submitting the documents referred to in § 8(5)(8) of Resolution No. 42 of the Senate of the University of Silesia in Katowice of 21 January 2025 on the conditions and procedure for admission to the International Environmental Doctoral School associated with the Centre for Polar Studies, University of Silesia in Katowice (MŚSD) as of the 2025/2026 academic year (outline of the doctoral project, list of the candidate’s academic achievements, documents certifying academic achievements and other documents specified in the admission criteria)
September 3, 2026 – evaluation of the outline of doctoral projects (1 st stage of the recruitment procedure) and assessment of the scientific achievements of the candidates (2 nd stage of the recruitment procedure) by experts of the recruitment committee.
September 4, 2026 – providing the candidates (via e-mail addresses provided by the candidates in the IRK system) with the results of the 1^st and 2^nd stage of the admission procedure, as well as informing them if they have been invited to the admission interview and about the time and place of the interview.
September 7–10, 2026 — interviews with candidates (3rd stage of the recruitment procedure).
September 1, 2026 r. — notifying the candidates about the admission resultss.
September 14–17, 2026 — receiving documents from candidates qualified for admission and entering them on the list of doctoral students.
September 18, 2026 – notifying the candidates on the reserve list about the admission results.
September 22-25,  2026  – dates of submission the documents by the candidates qualified for admission from the reserve list and entering them on the list of doctoral students..
September 30, 2026 — the date of announcing the results of the recruitment procedure on the IEDS website.

• The maximum number of admitted candidates is 12 (excluding those whose studies will be financed from external sources).
• Education in the first year at IEDS will be started provided that at least 3 candidates are qualified for admission no later than September 30, 2026.
• Based on the results obtained by the candidates in the recruitment procedure, the recruitment committee creates a ranking list. It determines the order of admitting candidates to the doctoral school within the limit of places.
• IEDS admission committee specifies the minimum point limit for admission of candidates from ranking lists.
• A doctoral student who does not hold a degree of doctor shall receive a doctoral scholarship in accordance with Article 209 of the Act of 20 July 2018 – Law on Higher Education and Science.

Members of the Admission Committee

The president of the asmission committee:

The secretary of the admission committee: Magdalena Makola

Experts in the disciplne of Earth and related environmental sciences:

• Dr hab. Małgorzata Błaszczyk, prof. UŚ (Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Silesia in Katowice); 
• Dr hab. Katarzyna Grzelak (Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences); 
• Prof. dr hab. Wojciech Dębski (Institute of Geophyscics of the Polish Academy of Sciences).

Experts in the disciplne of biological sciences:

• Prof. dr hab. Karina Wieczorek (Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia);
• Dr hab. Katarzyna Kasperkiewicz, prof. UŚ (Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Silesia in Katowice);
• Dr hab. Edyta Sierka, prof. UŚ (Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Silesia in Katowice).

Experts in the disciplne of mathematics:

• Dr. hab. Tomasz Cieślak (Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Scinces); 
• Dr hab. Aneta Wróblewska-Kamińska, prof. IM PAN (Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Scinces).
• Prof. dr. hab. Łukasz Stettner (Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Scinces);

Experts in the disciplne of materials engineering:

• Dr hab. Aneta Hanc-Kuczkowską, prof. UŚ (Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Silesia in Katowice); 
• Dr hab. Małgorzata Karolus, prof. UŚ (Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Silesia in Katowice); 
• Dr. hab. Jacek Krawczyk, prof. UŚ (Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Silesia in Katowice).