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Degrees and titles

Professional titles, academic degrees and the title of professor in Poland – who awards them and in which disciplines.

The Polish system distinguishes professional titles earned at university (licencjat, inżynier, magister), academic degrees awarded for research achievements (doktor and doktor habilitowany) and the academic title of professor, conferred by the President of the Republic of Poland. Below: the whole ladder, who may award degrees and the list of 166 doctoral schools.

PhD, habilitation and professorship

Most doctoral candidates are trained in doctoral schools – see Doctoral schools: how to get a PhD in Poland. Habilitation and the professor title, with deadlines and the role of the Council for Scientific Excellence, are explained in How to obtain a habilitation and the title of professor. Note that “profesor uczelni” (university professor) is a job position, not an academic title.

From bachelor’s degree to professorship

  1. First-cycle studies – end with the professional title of licencjat or inżynier (bachelor's level).
  2. Second-cycle studies – end with the title of magister or magister inżynier (master's level); some programmes are run as long-cycle master's studies.
  3. Doctoral degree (doktor) – the first academic degree; candidates prepare in a doctoral school or externally.
  4. Habilitation (doktor habilitowany) – the second academic degree, awarded for significant research achievements.
  5. Title of professor – the academic title conferred by the President of the Republic of Poland.

How studies came to be divided into cycles and what ECTS credits are is explained on Bologna.science.

Fields and disciplines

Degrees are awarded and research is evaluated in disciplines, grouped into 10 fields. For each of the 55 disciplines assessed in the 2022–2025 evaluation we list the institutions and their categories.

Fields and disciplines

Who awards degrees

Doctoral and habilitation degrees are awarded by a university or institute in a discipline in which it holds research category A+, A or B+. According to the 2022–2025 evaluation, 257 institutions have such rights, in 1105 institution–discipline pairs. The rights of each institution are listed on its page.

Doctoral schools (166)

Since 2019 doctoral candidates have been trained in doctoral schools run by universities and institutes. Doctoral schools in operation according to the POL-on register: 166.

Data: RAD-on (OPI PIB), POL-on register, as of 2026-11-06. Names of institutions and degree programmes are given in Polish, as in the register.