The Jagiellonian University Senate adopted Resolution No. 5/I 2020 of January 29th, 2020 regarding the rules of recruitment to Doctoral Schools in the academic year 2020/2021.

We are happy to announce that on June, 29th the Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences will be opening the registration that will be held via the OAS website - the Jagiellonian University Online Application System (irk.uj.edu.pl).

Interview for the PhD Programme in Biology - Schedule:

• Registration  IRK: 29.06.2020-7.09.2020
• Interviews: 9-14.09.2020
• Results: 16.09.2020
• Enrollment: 17-22.09.2020

Detailed terms and procedures of admission

Formal requirements for entering the admission procedure

Candidates eligible for admission to the PhD Programme in Biology at the Doctoral School of Exact

and Natural Sciences are the holders of Magister, Magister inżynier, or equivalent professional title

awarded in the field of natural and exact sciences.

In exceptional cases, given the outstanding quality of candidate's academic achievements, a person

referred to in Article 186 of the Act who does not hold a Magister title, who has completed the

undergraduate (first-cycle) programme, or who has completed the third year of long-cycle graduate

programme but holds the status of student of a programme in the field indicated above or has

graduated from a programme in that field, may also apply for admission to the programme.

In order to confirm the fulfilment of the condition referred to in Article 186, section 2 of the Act,

the candidate shall be obliged to submit:

1. two opinions confirming the high quality of the research work carried out and the high level of advancement of such work, issued by academic tutors holding at least the postdoctoral degree or being employees of a foreign university or scientific institution who have significant achievements in scientific issues related to the curriculum, or
2. a certificate of being a beneficiary of the "Diamond Grant" programme of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Whether the candidate meets the condition referred to in Article 186 section 2 of the Act shall be

decided by the Director in consultation with the chair of the committee.

Qualification criteria

Candidates are placed on the ranking list in order determined by their final result calculated on the

basis of the interview result (0–100 points).

Admission procedure

Upon registration in the OAS, candidates for this doctoral school programme choose no more than

two research topics which they would like to pursue, assigning priorities reflecting order of

preference. Research topics are published on the doctoral school website at least a week before the

admission procedure begins.

The interview is conducted in English and assessed on a scale from 0 to 100. During the interview,

candidates will be asked to shortly present in speech their doctoral research project, including the

reasoning for choosing the research topics. Next, they will answer committee's questions regarding

the doctoral thesis subject and related problems. Then, they will be presented with a summary of a

paper and they will be asked to discuss the text. Assessment will focus on candidate's knowledge in

the area of planned research and on their English language proficiency.

Final result from the whole admission procedure equals the number of points awarded as the

interview result.

Candidates are assigned to pursue the research topics in accordance with the priorities declared in

the OAS, following the procedure outlined below:

1) candidate placed first on the ranking list pursues the research topic to which they have

assigned the first (highest) priority;

2) candidate placed second on the ranking lists pursues the research topic to which they have

assigned the first (highest) priority, unless the topic has been chosen by a candidate placed

above them on the ranking list; in this case, they pursue the research topic to which they have

assigned second priority, etc.

Final result calculation

The final admission procedure result W is expressed as a number on a scale from 0 to 100, calculated

for all candidates as a number of points awarded during the interview.

Required documents

Academic researcher recommendation

Limits of places available in the 2020/2021 academic year:

Institute of Botany - 1

Institute of Environmental Sciences - 4

Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research - 4

List of topics offered in 2020

IB – 1: In vitro-derived polyploids of the metallophyte Arabidopsis halleri to enhance its heavy metal hyperaccumulation ability – domestication of wild plant for phytoextraction procedure (Institute of Botany)

IB – 2: Pollinator-plant-pathogen interaction (Institute of Botany)

IES – 3: Population genomics of outbreaks - neutral evolution in spruce bark beetle (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 4: The role of environment in maintaining polymorphism of a sexual conflict gene (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 5: Echolocation and vocal communication of lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 6: Rescue behavior among Formicidae: contributing factors and mechanisms (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 7: Climate crisis: a new paradigm for addressing minimization of plastic harm in the era of COVID-19 pandemic (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 8: Reimagining River Stewardship- the role of values embedded in leisure activities ‘with’ rivers (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 9:  Experimental evolution of the thrifty and spendthrift genotypes, and its consequence for susceptibility to adverse effects of “Western diet”: insights from a selection experiment on bank voles (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 10: The ecological dynamics of insect microbiomes (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 11: The diversity and evolution of the microbial symbioses of sap-feeding insects (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 12: Plant friends and foes under extreme conditions and climatic changes (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IES – 13: Avian energetics under the influence of the microbiome (Institute of Environmental Sciences)

IZBR –14: Midbrain dopaminergic and GABAergic neurons' responses to the aversive stimulus across alternating brain states of urethane anaesthetized rat - electrophysiological in vivo studies (Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research)

IZBR –15: Effects of reproductive mode and cryptobiosis on tardigrade dispersal, speciation and extinction rates (Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research)

IZBR –16: Interactions between circadian and immune systems in Drosophila (Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research)

IZBR –17: Role of new regulators - adipokines in female physiology and pathology of reproduction (Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research)

IZBR –18: Infant social development, breastfeeding, and breast milk composition (Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research)