The Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences (IS PAN), is a leading Polish academic institution engaged in interdisciplinary education and research on arts, music, theatre, and film in historical and theoretical perspectives. In July 2025, IS PAN has been awarded Erasmus Charter for Higher Education 2021-2027. Erasmus+ programme supports learning and training mobility, the development of international cooperation, and the exchange of practices among partner institutions. Following our international cooperation strategy, we prioritise long-term partnerships with academic institutions, based on compatibility of research interests, attention to high quality and inclusiveness of academic culture, and mutual support in strengthening the links between research, education, and innovation. Our ECHE and Policy Statement for download in PDF format:
ERASMUS CHARTER FOR HIGHER EDUCATION (ECHE) 2021-2027 - English version for download
ISPAN's ERASMUS POLICY STATEMENT 2025-2027 - PDF for download
Under Erasmus+ at IS PAN, doctoral students can undertake traineeships (internships), staff members can carry out teaching or training assignments (teaching/training mobility), and incoming international mobility participants are welcomed to the Institute. Participation in the programme fosters skills development, internationalisation of the Institute’s activities, and the building of long-lasting relationships with foreign partners. Our institution actively supports applicants and participants with fewer opportunities.
Detailed information regarding incoming and outgoing mobility, rules of participation, documents, and current calls for applications is available in Polish (see: https://www.ispan.pl/erasmus) and soon will be available in English on this site. Official guide prepared by European Commision for download: Erasmus+ Programme Guide.
You are welcome to contact our Erasmus+ Team at erasmus@ispan.pl
- Incoming Mobility at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences
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Doctoral candidates and staff from institutions abroad may visit the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IS PAN) to undertake academic, teaching or training mobility. The specific participation requirements, documents, funding arrangements and practical aspects of the stay are agreed individually, depending on the type of mobility, the sending institution and the Erasmus+ rules applicable to the project. Travel support and the Erasmus+ grant are generally paid by the sending institution.
The opportunities available to incoming doctoral candidates, together with information on learning outcomes, ECTS credits — where assigned to particular activities — and assessment requirements, are presented in the ECTS catalogue for incoming doctoral candidates in the tab below.
Practical information about arriving at the Institute, the library and collections, transport in Warsaw and medical assistance is available in the information card for Erasmus+ guests ford download— Practical Guide & Information for Erasmus+ Guests & Visiting Researchers.
Further information about Erasmus+: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/
Who can visit
- Doctoral candidates from higher education institutions abroad — to undertake an agreed programme of study mobility or a traineeship.
- Staff from institutions abroad — to deliver teaching or participate in training, in accordance with the rules governing the relevant type of Erasmus+ mobility.
The purpose, scope and format of the visit must comply with the rules applicable to the mobility. Acceptance depends on the feasibility of implementing the agreed programme at IS PAN and on meeting the relevant formal requirements.
Arrangements before arrival
A visit to IS PAN requires prior agreement between the sending institution, the incoming participant and IS PAN on the purpose of the mobility, the planned activities, the dates and the required documents. The formalities depend on the type of mobility and the programme requirements applicable to the sending institution.
The programme is agreed with the academic supervisor or the person responsible for hosting the mobility at IS PAN, in cooperation with the Institute’s Erasmus+ Coordinator and, where necessary, the Inclusion Coordinator.
Before the mobility begins, the incoming participant, the sending institution and IS PAN approve the relevant agreement setting out the programme, the intended outcomes and how these will be documented:
- Learning Agreement for Studies — for doctoral study mobility;
- Learning Agreement for Traineeships — for doctoral traineeships;
- Mobility Agreement for Teaching — for teaching mobility;
- Mobility Agreement for Training— for training mobility.
Where required by the programme rules, cooperation between the institutions is also covered by an Inter-institutional Agreement. This applies in particular to study mobility and teaching mobility.
Changes to the programme during the stay must be agreed by the relevant parties and documented in accordance with the rules applicable to the type of mobility.
Language requirements and language support
The language of the mobility and the required level of language competence are agreed before arrival and specified in the relevant Learning Agreement or Mobility Agreement. Information about the language of instruction and other elements of the offer for doctoral candidates is available in the ECTS catalogue.
For information about language preparation or support opportunities, please contact the Erasmus+ Coordinator at erasmus@ispan.pl. Information about available options is provided according to the type of mobility and individual needs. We also recommend the free Online Language Support programme.
Fees and access to resources
IS PAN does not charge incoming doctoral candidates undertaking Erasmus+ study mobility any fees for tuition, registration, examinations or access to the library and laboratories.
Participants are given access to the resources and services necessary to implement the agreed programme, in accordance with the Institute’s rules and the principle of equal treatment. Details of access to the library and collections are provided in the information card for guests.
Accommodation
IS PAN provides information and guidance to help participants find accommodation, particularly by sharing information about available options and ways to look for accommodation. If you would like assistance, please contact us before your arrival at erasmus@ispan.pl.
Assistance with finding accommodation does not constitute a guarantee of accommodation or financial support for accommodation costs.
Visas and insurance
Entry and residence requirements in Poland depend on your nationality, the documents you hold, and the purpose and duration of your mobility.
EU citizens do not need a visa. However, for stays exceeding three months, they should check the residence registration requirements and the rules applicable to their individual circumstances.
Non-EU citizens should check the appropriate legal basis for entering and staying in Poland before arrival. A visa or residence permit issued by another EU country may not be sufficient for the planned stay. In certain cases, a student or researcher mobility procedure may apply and may require action by the receiving institution.
IS PAN provides information and organisational assistance with arrival formalities and issues documents confirming acceptance for mobility. Please contact the Erasmus+ Coordinator well in advance at erasmus@ispan.pl. Decisions concerning entry and residence rights are made by the competent authorities.
Please consult official sources for up-to-date information: Polish diplomatic missions, the relevant Voivodeship Office and the Office for Foreigners’ Case Handling Module — MOS (available in several languagues).
Before starting the mobility, incoming participants should have valid health insurance covering their stay in Poland. Participants entitled to use a European Health Insurance Card — EHIC — should check the scope of their coverage. Depending on the conditions of their insurance and the nature of the mobility, an additional policy may be needed.
For doctoral traineeships, accident insurance covering the workplace and liability insurance covering damage caused during the traineeship must be arranged. Before the mobility begins, the parties agree and specify in the Learning Agreement for Traineeships who provides the required insurance and what it covers.
The Erasmus+ Coordinator assists with identifying insurance requirements and clarifying the parties’ responsibilities for providing coverage.
Accessibility and individual needs
IS PAN promotes equal access to mobility and equal treatment of programme participants.
If you need adjustments related to a disability, health condition or other individual needs, please contact the Erasmus+ Coordinator or the Inclusion Coordinator before your arrival via erasmus@ispan.pl.
The support and adjustments that may be available are discussed individually, taking into account the programme and the Institute’s facilities and resources. In your initial message, it is sufficient to describe the support you need. If additional information or documents are required, we will agree with you how they should be provided.
Information about access to the buildings, library and rooms used during the mobility can be obtained before arrival by contacting erasmus@ispan.pl.
If you require adjustments, please let us know in advance what support you need. This will allow us to check the available arrangements with the relevant staff and discuss possible options before you finalise your travel plans.
Support during your stay
During their stay at IS PAN, participants receive academic or professional guidance from the host unit or team, together with organisational support provided in cooperation with the Erasmus+ Coordinator and, where necessary, the Inclusion Coordinator. This includes:
- agreeing on the schedule and practical arrangements for the stay;
- academic or professional supervision within the host unit;
- support with integration;
- confirmation of completion at the end of the mobility;
- for traineeships — monitoring the implementation of the agreed programme and completing the relevant sections of the Learning Agreement for Traineeships and the documentation required at the end of the traineeship.
After the mobility
At the end of the stay, IS PAN issues documents confirming the dates and completion of the agreed mobility programme:
- for doctoral study mobility — a Transcript of Records or an appropriate record of achievements, including the programme components completed and learning outcomes achieved, together with ECTS credits and grades where applicable;
- for traineeships — a Traineeship Certificate specifying the dates, tasks completed and outcomes achieved;
- for teaching or training mobility — confirmation of the dates and completion of the programme, including the information required for the relevant type of mobility.
The documentation is provided to the participant and, as appropriate, the sending institution. The Traineeship Certificate is normally issued within five weeks of the end of the traineeship. The timeframe for providing other documents is agreed before arrival and should allow timely recognition of the mobility.
Recognition of achievements within the participant’s programme of study is the responsibility of the sending institution, in accordance with the arrangements set out in the Learning Agreement.
Participants’ rights and reporting concerns
Doctoral candidates participating in Erasmus+ mobility can find information about their rights and responsibilities in the Erasmus Student Charter, an official European Commission document available in several languages.
Incoming participants at IS PAN are entitled to equal treatment, information about the arrangements for implementing their agreed programme, and appropriate academic or professional guidance and organisational support. They are required to follow the Institute’s rules, particularly those concerning safety, non-discrimination and research integrity, and to implement the programme set out in the relevant Learning Agreement or Mobility Agreement.
Questions or concerns about preparing or undertaking the mobility, access to agreed resources, support needs or unequal treatment can be reported to the Erasmus+ Coordinator at erasmus@ispan.pl. Questions about the academic or professional content of the programme may also be addressed to the mobility supervisor or host at IS PAN.
If a concern involves the person who would normally be your first point of contact, or if the matter remains unresolved, it may be referred to the Director of IS PAN using the contact details provided on the Institute’s website.
In an immediate emergency involving a threat to life or health, call 112.
Important information
Incoming Erasmus+ mobility is organised in accordance with the current programme documents, the rules applicable at IS PAN and the scope of cooperation with partner institutions. IS PAN supports participants with fewer opportunities. Please contact us at erasmus@ispan.pl.
- Inclusion and Diversity
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IS PAN promotes equal access to mobility and equal treatment of programme participants. We are committed to addressing the needs of participants with fewer opportunities.
If you need adjustments related to a disability, health condition or other individual needs, please contact the Erasmus+ Coordinator or the Inclusion Coordinator before your arrival via erasmus@ispan.pl.
The support and adjustments that may be available are discussed individually, taking into account the programme and the Institute’s facilities and resources. In your initial message, it is sufficient to describe the support you need. If additional information or documents are required, we will agree with you how they should be provided.
Information about access to the buildings, library and rooms used during the mobility can be obtained before arrival by contacting erasmus@ispan.pl.
If you require adjustments, please let us know in advance what support you need. This will allow us to check the available arrangements with the relevant staff and discuss possible options before you finalise your travel plans.
- ECTS Catalogue for Incoming Doctoral Students
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General Information
The Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences offers an interdisciplinary doctoral program in the Anthropos Doctoral School of the Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences founded jointly by nine institutes. The general curriculum at the Anthropos enables the student to acquire interdisciplinary knowledge in the humanities and social sciences, and to implement an individual research plan. The School Director, in consultation with the coordinators from the individual institutes that make up the School, determines the course schedule each year. Within this, PhD students choose seminars and other classes.
During the first two years, doctoral students attend joint interdisciplinary seminars conducted by researchers from the institutes that make up Anthropos Doctoral School and invited guests from Poland and abroad. The doctoral students also participate in a joint doctoral seminar, which puts them in contact with different supervisors, topics, types of seminar work and research methods. Another block of common classes in Academic and Specialized Skills is devoted to the development by doctoral students of their scientific work and soft skills. This block includes, among other things, exercises in writing different types of academic texts, presenting research results, copyright law, research ethics and securing funds for research. Doctoral students learn to organize conferences and present the results of their work at doctoral conferences held annually (each doctoral student will co-organize such a conference at least once). In addition to attending classes together, doctoral students pursue an individual training track at the institute of their choice – through participation in group work, departmental seminars and consultations with their supervisor. In the first and second year, each doctoral student is required to attend at least one seminar organized by one of the co-founding institutes of the Anthropos Doctoral School other than the student’s main affiliation at the start of studies.
COURSE CATALOGUE 2026/2027
Winter semester courses for the first year – course schedule in PDF version for download
Winter semester courses for the second year – course schedule in PDF version for download
List of seminars conducted at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IS PAN) – partly in Polish, partly in English; information regarding the possibility of completing the program in English is available from the coordinators (each seminar 2 ECTS):
- Theatre Colloquium, online, coordination: dr hab. Patryk Kencki, prof. IS PAN(patryk.kencki@ispan.pl), dr Jakub Chachulski (jakub.chachulski@ispan.pl)
- Theatre History Seminar of the Early Theatre Section, online, coordination: dr hab. Patryk Kencki, prof. IS PAN (patryk.kencki@ispan.pl)
- Interdisciplinary Seminar "Artistic Migrations in the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries", online, coordination: dr hab. Jolanta Guzy-Pasiak, prof. IS PAN (jolanta.guzy-pasiak@ispan.pl), dr hab. Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska, prof. IS PAN (beata.boleslawska@ispan.pl). More information in the Musicology Department tab: Music History Research Centre – Polish Music Abroad
- Seminar of the Artistic Crafts and Design Section, online, coordination: dr hab. Anna Kostrzyńska-Miłosz (anna.kostrzynska-milosz@ispan.pl)
- Seminar of the Departments of Art History, in-house, coordination: dr Marcin Zgliński (marcin.zglinski@ispan.pl)
- Seminar of the Department of Film Studies, Audiovisual Arts and Cultural Anthropology, online, coordination: dr Karolina Kosińska (karolina.kosinska@ispan.pl)
You can also choose courses offered by other institutes that co-organize the Anthropos Doctoral School. For details contact us at erasmus@ispan.pl.
Curriculum Framework
- During the program of study, each doctoral student shall be required to obtain at least 32 ECTS credits.
- During the first two years of training, a PhD student is obliged to prepare for publication one monographic article meeting the requirements for publication in scientific peer-reviewed journals and one text the type of which (article/review/polemic) should be agreed upon with the dissertation supervisor and the appropriate coordinator of the Doctoral School.
- Excess credits earned in one year can be rolled over into the next year of studies.
Year I Year II Year III Year IV Anthropos doctoral seminar (2 ECTS)
Institutional seminars (3 ECTS)
Consultation with supervisor (1 ECTS)
Academic skills and soft skills (1 ECTS)
Interdisciplinary Colloquium in humanities and social sciences (1 ECTS)
Article / review / chapter / edition / polemic (3 ECTS)
Anthropos doctoral seminar (2 ECTS)
Institutional seminars (3 ECTS)
Consultation with supervisor (1 ECTS)
Monographic article (4 ECTS)
Academic skills and soft skills (1 ECTS)
Interdisciplinary Colloquium in humanities and social sciences (1 ECTS)
Practice and dissemination of research (1 ECTS)
Institutional seminars and independent study (3 ECTS)
Consultation with supervisor and advisor (1 ECTS)
Institutional seminars and independent study (3 ECTS)
Consultation with supervisor and advisor (1 ECTS)
Total credits: 11 ECTS Total credits: 13 ECTS Total credits: 4 ECTS Total credits: 4 ECTS Public Individual Research Plan (prospectus) defense Organization of and participation in a conference Total ECTS credits: 32 Learning Outcomes
The Anthropos Doctoral School educational program guarantees the attainment of a level II qualification at level 8 of the Polish Qualification Framework, as defined in the Regulation of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of 14 November 2018 on characteristics of level II learning outcomes for qualifications at levels 6-8 of the Polish Qualification Framework (Journal of Laws 2018, sec. 2218).
The training program is designed so that graduates of the Anthropos Doctoral School acquires the necessary knowledge, skills and social competences for success in their careers within and beyond academia. Completion of the minimum number of classes and various activities, as indicated in the curriculum, and confirmed by obtaining the appropriate number of ECTS credits, is equivalent to the achievement of level II qualification at level 8 of the Polish Qualification Framework.
By passing the classes of the Interdisciplinary Colloquium in the Humanities and Social Sciences (P8S_WG), seminars offered by the institute where the student’s individual research plan is implemented (P8S_WG), seminars at an institute other than their affiliation (P8S_WG), as well as Practice and Dissemination of Research classes (P8S_WK) and Academic and Specialised Skills courses (P8S_WK), the doctoral student acquires knowledge of the global achievements of a given scientific discipline, the main developmental trends of this discipline and its methodology, the dilemmas of modern civilization, as well as the economic, legal, ethical and other conditions of scientific activity and the principles of dissemination of research results.
In doctoral and supervisor seminars (P8S_WK), doctoral students develop skills, such as the formulation and verification of research hypotheses, argumentation and discussion. The students also improve their scientific and mainstream communication skills during the classes Academic and Specialized Skills courses (P8S_UK), during scientific conferences, seminar talks, and preparation for publication of articles and other scientific texts (reviews/polemics) (P8S_UK). By preparing a work schedule and an individual research plan (P8S_UO), as well as by cooperating with research teams operating within individual institutes, PhD students learn how to organize scientific work (P8S_UU).
Specific learning outcomes are verified during the four-year training program. A student is obliged to pass classes in the form indicated by the instructor (the grading format should be indicated no later than during the first class).
Specific learning outcomes for doctoral students are also assessed through:
– evaluation of an article prepared by the doctoral student and an academic text of a different nature,
– public defense of the prospectus (IRP) outlining the concept for the dissertation,
– a paper presented at an academic conference,
– evaluation of the implementation of the doctoral student’s individual research plan (at a midterm and annual review).
Grading scale Polish grade ECTS grade Definition 5 A Very good (bardzo dobry) 4+ B Better than good (dobry plus) 4 C Good (dobry) 3+ D Better than satisfactory (dostateczny plus) 3 E Satisfactory (dostateczny) 2 F Unsatisfactory / Failed (niedostateczny) - Contact
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Erasmus+ Team at the Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences: erasmus@ispan.pl
dr Anna Wiśnicka - Coordinator
mgr Emilia Switat - Director's Representative for External Funds
dr hab. Ewa Partyga, prof. IS PAN - Director's Representative for International Cooperation
mgr Anita Szklarska - Inclusion Coordinator