Upon completion of doctoral studies, students are awarded certificates that confirm that they have successfully met the requirements of the programme and completed third-cycle studies. However, they are not awarded the title of Doctor.

In order to be awarded the title of Doctor, students need to go through the conferment procedures: they are formal procedures during which the Board of respective Faculty votes whether their PhD research proposals are viable and good enough to become PhD theses. After positive evaluation of the proposals, students write their theses and prepare for public defense.

In order to start conferment of PhD, students need to be engaged in research and produce innovative, original piece of work which shows their contribution to a given field. They need to:

-        have a book either already published or accepted for publication

or

-        have at least one article published in a peer-reviewed academic journal recognized nationally or internationally

or

-        have at least one article published in a peer-reviewed report from an international scientific conference

It is important to remember that publishing process may take some time so it is best to plan ahead and start to do the research as soon as possible upon admission to the programme.

The conferment procedures usually start at the end of the second year of studies to give students time to prepare their PhD theses.

In order to be awarded the title of Doctor, PhD students need to:

1)     have the title of Master or equivalent

2)     pass doctoral examinations (in the field of PhD theses, in additional field and in a foreign language)

3)     present and defend their PhD theses

4)     pass the foreign language examination or submit a certificate confirming knowledge of a foreign language