How do you obtain a habilitation and the title of professor?

Who can apply for habilitation

The degree of habilitated doctor may be obtained by a person who holds a doctoral degree and has achievements constituting a significant contribution to the development of the discipline. The Act lists three types of such achievements: a scholarly monograph published by a publisher on the ministry’s list, a series of thematically related articles in journals or peer-reviewed proceedings of international conferences on the list, or a completed original design, engineering, technological or artistic achievement.

The third condition is substantial research or artistic activity carried out at more than one university or institution, including abroad. An achievement may be part of a collective work if the candidate’s individual contribution can be identified.

Who awards the degree

The degree is awarded by a habilitation-granting entity (podmiot habilitujący): a university, a Polish Academy of Sciences institute, a research institute, an international institute or the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education (Centrum Medyczne Kształcenia Podyplomowego) that holds a scientific category of A+, A or B+ in the given discipline. The categories of each unit are shown on its profile page and in the Classification of fields and disciplines section.

The habilitation procedure step by step

The candidate submits an application through the Council for Scientific Excellence (Rada Doskonałości Naukowej, RDN), naming the habilitation-granting entity. Within 4 weeks the RDN checks the application for formal requirements and passes it on; the entity then has another 4 weeks to refuse to conduct the procedure – in that case the RDN designates another one.

The opinion is prepared by a 7-member habilitation committee. The RDN appoints 4 members: the chair and 3 reviewers, from outside the habilitation-granting entity and outside the candidate’s workplace. The entity appoints the secretary, a committee member and a fourth reviewer, who also may not be its employee.

The reviewers have 8 weeks to submit their reviews. A habilitation colloquium then takes place – unless at least 2 reviews are negative; in that case no colloquium is held and the committee’s opinion cannot be positive. The committee has 6 weeks from receiving the reviews to adopt a resolution with a statement of reasons, and the habilitation-granting entity awards or refuses the degree within one month.

A refusal may be appealed to the RDN. A new application may be submitted after at least 2 years or, if the candidate’s output has increased significantly, after 12 months. The entity publishes the resolutions with their statements of reasons and the reviews in its Public Information Bulletin (Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej).

The title of professor

The title of professor may be awarded to a person holding the degree of habilitated doctor who has outstanding research achievements, national or international, and experience in research teams carrying out competitively funded projects, research placements or participation in research and development work. In the arts, outstanding artistic achievements are required. In exceptional cases, for achievements of the highest quality, the title may be awarded to a person holding a doctoral degree.

The application is submitted to the RDN. The Council appoints 5 reviewers who, within 3 months, give their opinion on whether the candidate meets the requirements. Within a further 3 months the RDN either requests the President of the Republic of Poland to award the title or refuses to do so. A refusal may be followed by a request for reconsideration; in that case opinions are prepared by 2 other reviewers.

Titular professor vs university professor

The title of professor is not the same as the post of university professor (profesor uczelni). The post depends on the university’s statutes and can be held without the title – we explain the difference in the glossary. The first level, the doctorate, is described in the article Doctoral schools – how to obtain a PhD.

Sources

• Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym i nauce – tekst jednolity, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1362
• Rada Doskonałości Naukowej

Sources are in Polish. Figures from the register as of 6 November 2026; checked: 2026-11-06.