Internationalization of Lublin University of Technology Doctoral School II

Program name: STER - Internationalisation of Doctoral Schools

Project title: Internationalization of Lublin University of Technology Doctoral School II

Agreement number: BPI/STE/2024/1/00025/KW/00001

Edition of the competition: 2024

Project implementation period: 01.01.2025 - 31.12.2027

Project value: 1 844 230,00 PLN

Funds granted for Lublin University of Technology: 1 844 230,00 PLN

Principal Investigator: dr hab. inż. Tomasz Kołtunowicz

Abstract: Internationalization of Lublin University of Technology Doctoral School II” is a multidimensional project aimed at improving the quality of education at the School, firstly by providing doctoral students with extensive opportunities for cooperation with foreign entities and scientists, and secondly by building the School's human and organizationalpotential to enable and support foreign cooperation, the promotion and dissemination of results and teaching offer, as well as promotional, image-building and recruitmentactivities undertaken on an international scale.

Six tasks are planned to be carried out as part of the Project, coinciding with activities possible under the STER programme. These tasks firstly include scholarship support for the best foreign doctoral students and the best doctoral students from Poland implementing doctoral projects in international cooperation. At the same time, the proposed project will support the mobility abroad of the best Polish and foreign doctoral students pursuing their education at the Doctoral School at the Lublin University of Technology. This mobility includes internships in foreign institutions.

Apart from mobilities, the project also includes activities related to internationalisation "at home", which, in addition to doctoral students, will involve other representatives of the academic community of Lublin University of Technology, including the staff of the School. Internationalisation 'at home' will be expressed primarily through the organisation of International Research Workshops, to which students of the Doctoral School, promoters from Lublin University of Technology, but above all current and potential promoters from foreign institutions will be invited. The effect of the Workshops will be, on the one hand, the exchange of experience and knowledge and the establishment of contacts, and, on the other hand, direct work on the research conducted by doctoral students. Besides, the organisation of the School's Open Days, which is an event that promotes international education.

Another activity envisaged within the project is the development of international cooperation with other doctoral schools. At the essence of this activity will be meetings conducted in an online format with foreign institutions providing doctoral education, thanks to which it will be possible to assess their organisational and scientific potential, learn about good practices and establish cooperation in promoting theses and accepting doctoral students as part of internship programmes. It is planned to formalise cooperation with several units by concluding agreements on the joint realisation of research and doctoral theses and on possible joint training. This will be supported by a system of micro-grants for doctoral students to enable cooperation with a foreign unit.

The implementation of the project will also include a communication layer, as part of which an information campaign will be conducted concerning the School's offer and achievements, and an English-language version of its website will be created, along with the necessary materials, including guides and instructions for students. The aim of this task will be, on the one hand, to build awareness and the image of the School in target groups, above all potential candidates for doctoral studies, and, on the other, to publicise its educational offer and selected achievements.

The last planned task is focused on the monitoring and control of the project. To this end, an information-gathering system will be developed as a first step, systematizing the reporting of subsequent activities and providing access to the necessary knowledge to those responsible for the school and the project. Within this system, databases of publications, presentations and research data will be created. At the same time, this task will include the organisation of evaluation workshops, summarising the consecutive periods of project implementation and the activities and work undertaken by project participants.

The project will take into account the various horizontal policies in its activities. These will primarily concern the principles of sustainable development, which will be achieved, inter alia, by reducing the consumption of resources and minimising the burden on the environment by transferring part of the processes (lectures, the possibility of participation in selected events, access to content, circulation of documents) to a virtual environment, which is also a way to improve access for people with special needs both to the project activities and to the teaching process itself. At the same time, all recruitment and competition activities for individual activities will be conducted on merit, in accordance with the University's principles of equal access and non-discrimination.