The best place to start your carrier in the Science!

Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences at NCU

NCU in Torun with a long tradition of high academic standards and very good rankings in numerous disciplines is one of the best Polish universities. Learn more about its 5 Doctoral Schools and especially one of them: Academia Scientiarum Thoruniensis.

Alicja Mrugal: First, I would like to ask what NCU's doctoral schools can offer?

Prof. dr hab. Wiesław Nowak, AST Director: At NCU we have five doctoral schools:

1. Doctoral School of Humanities (archaeology, philosophy, history, linguistics, literature studies, studies in arts, theology, fine art, conservation of works of art, art).

2. Doctoral School of Social Sciences (economics and finance, political and administration studies, management and quality studies, legal studies, sociological studies, pedagogy, psychology, social communication and media studies, human geography and land management, safety sciences).

3. Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences (astronomy, mathematics, biological sciences, chemical sciences, physical sciences, earth and environmental sciences, veterinary medicine).

4. Doctoral School of Medical and Health Sciences (pharmaceutical sciences, medical sciences, health sciences).

5. Interdisciplinary Doctoral School Academia Copernicana, in which one can join any two of enumerated disciplines to prepare interdisciplinary PhD thesis. NCU schools are offering over 30 PhD programs. This list is growing every year.

We offer also a number of Joint Degree or Double Diploma projects, when young researchers prepare PhD in Torun and one of foreign partner universities.

WHY?

Why is it worth to join one of your doctoral schools?

We have very bright academics, fully devoted to top-notch research and teaching. The PhD curriculum is fully oriented towards research, only a small fraction of time is necessary to prepare a classical coursework. We have excellent facilities in majority of research groups, modern computer network with WiFi access in both campuses in Torun and Bydgoszcz. We have fantastic library and access to major bibliographic databases and most important full text journals.

Many PhD students are involved in NCN, FNP, NCBiR, or EU research projects. We actively promote international collaboration within well-funded NAWA STER and IDUB programmes.

I heard that you care a lot about your PhD candidates?

Yes – they are considered the most precious part of our academic community. PhD candidates have their representatives in Doctoral Schools Scientific Councils, we consult all major issues with doctoral students’ representatives. We encourage social live and networking among young researchers. I believe our schools are unique.

Benefits

Do you offer benefits – like scholarships – to all admitted students?

Yes, according to Polish law all admitted PhD students receive a scholarship. Typically it lasts for 48 months. Moreover, basically there is no tuition, nor exam fees. A scholarship initially is not high (ca. 500–600 euro), but after two years those who positively pass a midterm evaluation receive a rise. There is also a good chance to get inexpensive accommodation in academic houses.

You’ve mentioned some research opportunities. Is it also possible to get a research grant?

Well, our PhD students quite often are laureates of national competitive grant calls, for example NCN Preludium, Perls of Science, etc. But in some schools everybody is eligible to apply for so called minigrants, a small funds aimed at helping in buying research materials, chemicals, or attending international conferences.

EXACT and NATURAL SCIENCES

Let me ask about Academia Scientiarum Thoruniensis – AST. What are the principal research fields at Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences?

At AST we offer over 50 research project in astronomy, mathematics, biological sciences, chemical sciences, physical sciences, earth and environmental sciences and –quite unique – veterinary medicine. Majority of topics are related to modern branches of chemistry, physics and biology. We have very strong astronomy, quantum physics, quantum optics - photonics, biophysics, mathematical physics, quantum information theory, microbiology, ecology etc. We run extremely precise optical clocks, at FAMO national lab our colleagues study Bose-Einstein-Condensate. Astronomers run 30m huge radio telescope.

We offer a chance to become an expert in all sorts of computer modelling and AI related problems. Many projects are related to biomedicine.

Could you mention some of the most interesting courses at AST?

One of the recent initiatives is a course in Open Science and Open Innovations, this is a result of European DIOSI project. I am not sure how many schools offer “Creative Thinking” course. In my opinion quite useful is our interdisciplinary seminar in which doctoral candidates discuss general problems with experienced or distinguished professors. NCU host numerous events, winter or summer schools, STER workshops, YUFE initiatives etc. It is really the university so every open mind will find interesting classes, for example, Cognitive Science taught by prof. Włodzisław Duch.

What is the teaching language – Polish or English? Should a candidate speak Polish or not necessarily?

In AST school more and more courses are offered in English and one can pass the whole recruitment procedure in English, and then individual curriculum will be established, based on courses offered in English.

Opportunities

Could you mention open PhD-student positions at grants?

Very recently we admitted a lady from Turkey for a position in a 3-year grant related to statistical biophysics. New positions arrive and are filled quickly. Currently, we will be looking for a candidate interested in microbiology.

What are the opportunities for international collaboration at AST?

Numerous. A standard way is that mentors have established ties with laboratories in other countries and PhD student goes to Germany, Hungary, Spain or Italy to continue research using new methods, resources or facilities. After COVID such activity is booming. Sure enough grants for mobility are essential, we offered recently quite a few long-term foreign internship grants within NAWA STER, YUFE or IDUB projects. Our AST PhD students visit USA (Harvard), Brazil, Spain, Marocco, France, Germany and even Japan.

START YOUR CAREER!

What infrastructure does AST have and can be proud of?

Our 120 current PhD students have access to all facilities that are available at NCU, provided their projects need them. AST itself has a brand new office space. But in my opinion our best infrastructure are friendly and smart mentors and a beautiful medieval city of Torun, located on the banks of the Vistula river and in the UNESCO list of World Heritage!

Please tell us also more about National Laboratory of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics. This facility, located at NCU, is run by leading groups from Warsaw University, Jagiellonian University and NCU. The main goal is to run top-notch research on low temperature physics and quantum communication. Research groups related to this lab had developed the most accurate optical clocks and ultra-precise spectroscopy methods.

Recent paper in Nature Physics proposes an original approach for detection of dark matter.

This is a fantastic place to start your carrier in physical sciences! Notably, Torun has a very long tradition in molecular physics and spectroscopy, since the whole Institute of Physics has been founded by the late professor Aleksander Jablonski, who over 100 years ago explained luminescence of organic molecules.