Admission to GSSR’s PhD Programmes is competitive and consists of two stages. A candidate must successfully pass Stage I to qualify for Stage II of the admission process.
Assessment in both competition stages is conducted by an Admissions Commission from one of the School’s constituent institutes – IFiS, ISP andr IP, respectively – depending on the candidate’s choice of doctoral programme. The Admissions Commission is appointed by the Director of the respective institute.
The Admissions Commission evaluates on formal grounds the documents that constitute the Application Package (see Documents Checklist). If formal requirements are met, the Commission assesses the potential contribution of each candidate to the Doctoral School, as reflected in the following documents:
- The description of the planned research
- The letter of intent
- The MA thesis or scientific publication
- The Academic CV
- The recommendation letter(s)
Based on these documents, the Commission also evaluates the degree to which a candidate’s research project matches the research themes and academic profile of IFiS PAN, IP PAN or IPS PAN, respectively.
The strength of applications is assessed through an independent and anonymous evaluation process. Each member of the Commission evaluates the applications via secret ballot, assigning a score on a scale from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest) points. The score each candidate receives at the end of Stage I is the arithmetic mean of all individual scores provided by the commission members. Candidates are then ranked based on the Application Scores, and only the highest-ranking candidates are selected to proceed to Stage II of the admission process.
On July 25, 2025, GSSR sends out notification emails about the Stage I evaluation outcome to the email addresses that candidates provide in the Application Package. Candidates who have successfully passed the selection process’ 1st Stage receive details about the date of the interview, and, if applicable, the time and mode of the Psychology test (cf. details below).
Stage II. Interview conducted in English
Stage II. Interview conducted in English
Interviews are scheduled in the interval July 28 – July 31, 2025. They are conducted generally online.
During the interview, each PhD candidate will be asked questions related to their research project and academic achievements. Regardless of a candidate’s academic background, the Admissions Commission of the respective Institute may also test a candidate’s knowledge of concepts and issues fundamental to the discipline within which the candidate seeks a PhD degree.
Candidates who fail to attend the scheduled interview without prior notification of the School and documented justification are considered to have withdrawn their application.
The Decision Process
Following each interview, all members of the Admissions Commission independently assess the candidate’s performance through a secret ballot, assigning a score on a scale from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest) points. The candidate’s score at Stage II is the arithmetic mean of these individual scores.
The assessment at Stage II is then combined with the results from Stage I to calculate the candidate’s Final Admission Score. The Application Score from Stage I contributes two-thirds of the total weight, while the Interview Score from Stage II accounts for one-third of the total weight. This weighted approach ensures that the Final Admission Score reflects both the quality of the candidate’s submitted documents and their performance during the interview.
Once all interviews are completed, the Admissions Commission ranks the candidates based on their Final Admission Score. The Commission conducts a secret ballot to vote on the ranking, ensuring the process remains impartial and transparent. The voting outcome is recorded, and the Commission forwards the results to the Graduate School for Social Research (GSSR). Alongside the ranking, the Commission also proposes potential supervisors for candidates recommended for admission.
On the basis of the Admissions Commission’s recommendation and the minutes of the evaluation process, the Director of IFiS, ISP and IP, respectively, decides whether a candidate is admitted to GSSR.
The rules for admissions for the AY 2025/2026, as approved by the scientific councils of IFiS PAN, IP PAN and IPS PAN, are available here.
