About us

Concept of the Copernicus Graduate School

Copernicus Graduate School (CGS) is a mobile international network of young scientists who work on research subjects towards a PhD. Internationally acknowledged scientists who are members of the school as its fellows are responsible for the graduates. They carry out a structured doctorate program through common research, education and communication, with the aim of improving the chances for the academic careers of the members and participants.

Research

The CGS has a thematic profile and makes possible the interdisciplinary access to the key subject areas of social sciences research. The fields of work of the fellows and doctoral thesis are integrated into the thematic orientation of the graduate school. The thematic profile can change cyclically. The fellows form a research group that works on the subject from various perspectives and presents it internationally. Their research work is an essential basis for establishing the graduate school as an excellence initiative.

Education

The doctoral candidate of the graduate school completes an education program worked out and realised by the fellows. This program contains consultations and agreements with the tutors, common seminars, conferences, workshops and summer schools. The CGS supports its members in participating in international conferences, gives opportunities to publish research results and takes care of scholarships. The work with third-party funds is an integrate part of the education. The education program of the CGS has a supplementary function to doctoral studies realised at home universities.

Communication

The internationalisation of graduate education will be realised through a systematically structured education program, and academic communication between doctoral candidates and within different generations of scientists at international level will be supported. In addition, the Graduate School offers a basis for long-term academic cooperation and close connections between various universities.

Organisation

The CGS is led and coordinated by the Chair of History of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences and International Studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Prof. Ralph Schattkowsky) and it is supported by the fellows. The Graduate School is financed from third party funds. The project is prepared on the basis of Toruń International PhD Students' College (TMKD) (www.tmkd.umk.pl), which is the central institution of the educational programme and is already established as a summer university. The organisers have experience in operating with third party funds and in international projects.

Membership

The members of the CGS are fellows and doctoral candidates. The fellows come from different countries and are internationally acknowledged for the profile of the graduate school. They cooperate with other scientists in the scope of the excellence of research and the doctorate program. Any young scientist who is matriculated as a PhD candidate at their home university can become a member of the Copernicus Graduate School. The thematic orientation has to be compatible with that of the graduate school. The application for membership of the CGS is internationally announced and the fellows decide on the admission. The graduate school is designated for approximately 20 doctoral candidates. The membership ends after a successful defence of the doctoral dissertation and is confirmed by a certificate.