Doctoral studies are the third-cycle study programmes that aim to develop the knowledge and skills required for carrying out independent research.
The Doctoral degree is awarded to a doctoral student who completes the doctoral programme and defend their doctoral dissertation (art project). The Doctor of Science (Doctor of Art) degree allows access to the world of scientific research, not limited to the academic world, but also in independent research centres and production facilities.
Duration: 4 years
Language of study: English
Scholarships and funding: state-funded or self-funded positions
Academic recognition:
Documents for academic recognition:
Fill in the application online and upload all required documents*:
Participate in motivational interview (mandatory)
Sign your learning agreement with Kaunas University of Technology
(Passport or ID is required, as well as originals or apostilled/notarized copies of diplomas).
2023 Regulations for admission to doctoral studies (programmes coordinated by KTU)
Regulations for admission to doctoral studies (programmes coordinated by partner universities (not by KTU)):
| Procedures of admission to doctoral studies | Dates |
| Submission of documents for the recognition of qualification obtained abroad in Lithuania (for those applicants who have obtained their education at a foreign higher education institution and do not have a document confirming the recognition of their diploma in Lithuania) | 1–15 May 2023 (no later than 5 p.m.) |
| Submission and registration of admission documents | 5–23 June 2023 (no later than 5 p.m.) |
| Administrative verification and revision of the admission documents | No later than 26 June 2023, 5 p.m. |
| Submission of appeals regarding incorrect evaluation of the admission documents and the announcement of the verdict(s) |
27 June 2023: 8 a.m. –10 a.m. submission of appeals 4 p.m. announcement of the verdict(s) |
| Interviews with the doctoral committees of science fields | 28–30 June 2023 |
| Information to the applicants regarding the final results of the competition in the Admission Information System of the University (the institutions of joint doctoral studies notify their applicants in person) | 30 June 2023, from 4 p.m. |
| Submission of appeals regarding the admission results and announcement of the verdict(s) |
3 July 2023: 8 a.m. –10 a.m. submission of appeals 4 p.m. announcement of the verdict(s) |
| Information to the applicants regarding the final results of the competition in the Admission Information System of the University (the institutions of joint doctoral studies notify their applicants in person) | 3 July 2023, 5 p.m. |
| Signing of agreements with the applicants invited to doctoral studies | 4-5 July 2023, 9 a.m. –4 p.m. |
| Procedures of admission to doctoral studies | Dates |
|
Submission and registration of documents |
2023 05 01 – 2023 08 27 |
| Doctoral Committee Meeting (motivational interview with applicants) | 2023 09 01 – 2023 09 15 |
| Doctoral Committee Meeting (calculation of the competition results) | 2023 09 01 – 2023 09 15 |
| Notification of applicants about the competition results | 2023 09 18 |
| Submission of motivated appeals to Doctoral Committee | 2023 09 19 – 2023 09 21 |
| Submission of appeals to the Head of the Doctoral Institution to which the applicant applied | 2023 09 22 – 2023 09 26 |
| Announcement of a list of invited candidates | 2023 09 27 |
| Signing agreements with the Doctoral Institution | 2023 09 28 – 2023 09 29 |
| Procedures of admission to doctoral studies | Dates |
|
Submission and registration of documents |
2023 06 01 – 2023 08 27 |
| Doctoral Committee Meeting (motivational interview with applicants) | 2023 09 01 – 2023 09 15 |
| Doctoral Committee Meeting (calculation of the competition results) | 2023 09 01 – 2023 09 15 |
| Notification of applicants about the competition results | 2023 09 18 |
| Submission of motivated appeals to Doctoral Committee | 2023 09 19 – 2023 09 21 |
| Submission of appeals to the Head of the Doctoral Institution to which the applicant applied | 2023 09 22 – 2023 09 26 |
| Announcement of a list of invited candidates | 2023 09 27 |
| Signing agreements with the Doctoral Institution | 2023 09 28 – 2023 09 29 |
| Procedures of admission to doctoral studies | Dates |
|
Application documents must be submitted |
5-7 of September 2023 Admission documents are submitted in one pdf. by e-mail (doktorantura@vda.lt) |
| Assessment of Creative Work and Professional Development – Review. Announcement of participants invited for an interview with admission commission | 14th of September 2023, 5 pm |
| Admission commission meeting (applicant’s participation is obligatory) | 20th of September 2023, 10 am |
| The list of invited applicants to doctoral studies will be announced | 20th of September 2023, 5 pm |
| Reception and analysis of appeals | 21st of September 2023 |
| The announcement of the list of the admitted to doctoral studies | 25th of September 2023 |
The acknowledgement of the applicant’s education documents is performed by the University under the procedure set out by the University.
Documents required for the recognition of qualification:
Documents for recognition are submitted from 1 till 15 of May
Provisional degree certificates may be submitted for the procedure of the recognition of qualification if the study process is not complete at the time of submission or in cases when the document certifying the qualification is not awarded immediately after graduation. For the admission process only the final documents certifying the qualification and the supplements thereof are submitted, a temporary (provisional) degree certificate is not accepted.
More information is available here: KTU Academic Recognition
Application fee is 40 EUR for the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and any other country of the European Union, and 100 EUR for the citizens of all other countries. The invoice with the bank details is issued as soon as the applicant starts his/her application online.
Students admitted to state-funded positions are exempted of tuition fee.
Self-funded doctoral students pay the tuition fee (will be announced in June):
| Science Area | Annual tuition fee, EUR |
| Technological Sciences | |
| Natural Sciences | |
| Social Sciences | |
| Humanities | |
| Visual Arts |
Students admitted to state-funded places of doctoral studies receive a scholarship of the amount established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania during the period of studies.
During the first year of studies a state-funded doctoral student receives 19 BSI/month, during 2-4 year of studies the scholarship is 22 BSI/month.
BSI – basic social benefit. Starting from 1 January 2023, the size of BSI = 49 Eur.
For those studying in a state-funded position, there are no tuition fees, but a student is responsible for taking care of the costs of living.
Doctoral students may expect additional funding.
Doctoral School
Kaunas University of Technology
Studentu 50, Kaunas, Student Infocenter
LT-51368, Lithuania
Phone: +370 608 15 609, +370 608 13 726, +370 626 22 701
Email: phd@ktu.lt
ktu.edu/phd
Consultation hours:
I-IV 13:00-17:00
V 13:00-15:45
On this page are answers to some of the questions that applicants frequently ask us.
If you have questions that are not answered here, or elsewhere on our website, please contact us by e-mail phd@ktu.lt
Diploma recognition is the alignment of Lithuanian and foreign education. In order for you to be accepted for study in Lithuania, your previous education needs to be evaluated against the Lithuanian degree structure.
The acknowledgement of the applicant’s education documents is performed by the University under the procedure set out by the University. More information is available at academic-recognition.
You will be informed by email about the results of recognition within ~1 month.
When we receive documents required for the recognition of qualification, the process of your foreign degree documents evaluation and recognition will be started.
More information about important dates here: Dates and deadlines
For the admission process you have to submit your final degree diploma, a temporary (provisional) degree certificate is not accepted.
A temporary (provisional) degree certificate is a document issued by an institution to a student who has been awarded or conferred an academic degree. The temporary (provisional) degree certificate is issued as a replacement for the actual degree certificate e.g. in case the actual degree certificate cannot be given to the student immediately after the studies have been completed due to technical or administrative reasons. As far as all foreign degree diplomas must be evaluated and recognized, only final certificates are processed, and therefore any temporary / provisional diplomas will be considered as insufficient for final evaluation and recognition.
If your Master’s diploma was issued outside Lithuania, then according to the regulations it must be evaluated and recognized. For diploma recognition process both Bachelor and Master diplomas and their supplements are mandatory.
More information is available on KTU Academic Recognition
All Master’s degree documents issued in languages other than English or Lithuanian should be supplemented with an official translation.
All documents (original language and translation) necessary for the evaluation must be officially certified!
Usually, a translation contains, in addition to the translation, a copy of the certificate in original language. However, translators are only allowed to certify the document issued by themselves. Take both the translation and the original certificate with you to the certifying authority. By this you can ensure that both documents (translation and document in original language) can be certified.
It is required that you list all post-secondary institutions you have attended: you need to list details about your both Bachelor’s and Master’s studies (and PhD, if applicable). If you are currently pursuing your PhD research, you must also indicate that information.
Yes, in such cases is required to provide a notarized name change certificate.
Provided that your studies are in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and if the Graduation Ceremony is later than the application deadline, you should contact the your Faculty/Academic Office with the request to issue:
– a document certifying the fact that you have completed certain Master programme, and the date of diploma awarding must be indicated;
– an academic transcript of all study semesters in that Master programme, including credits and evaluations, as well as the results of Master thesis defence.
The recommendations have to be issued in the same calendar year when the candidate’s application is submitted. Therefore, if you are applying in 2023, the recommendation is considered valid if issued in 2023.
A recommendation must explicitly specify the institution and the doctoral programme to which the candidate is being recommended. That means, that the refereee should clearly indicate that he/she recommends you for PhD studies in, for example, Informatics Engineering, at Kaunas University of Technology.
In such case, for those programmes where it is mandatory to provide a recommendation by the supervisor of the topic, your application will be considered as incomplete and will be withdrawn from the competition.
According to the Admission Regulations A recommendation by the supervisor of the topic to which the candidate is applying is required in the science fields of Physics, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Informatics Engineering, Materials Engineering,Mechanical Engineering and Economics; a consent of the supervisor of the topic to which the candidate is applying to supervise the candidate if he/she is invited to studies is required if the candidate is applying to the science field of Informatics Engineering; if the candidate is applying to the positions of doctoral studies funded in the framework of the invitation to doctoral studies under the competition of the Research Council of Lithuania, a recommendation of the topic to which the candidate is applying is required.
A consent of the supervisor of the topic to which the candidate is applying to Informatics Engineering is required to confirm that the supervisor agrees to supervise the candidate if he/she is invited to studies.
That means that a candidate has to communicate with that researcher (future supervisor) well before the application deadline.
A list of the research works has to be submitted with the unabridged bibliographic description. You may search the internet on “bibliographical references on a list of references” to see what it looks like.
No, only PDF format is acceptable.
Failure to follow the requirements may result in rejection of application.
No, research proposal ≠ research paper.
Note! 2 topics = 2 research proposals, that means if you choose two different topics in the programme that requires research proposal, you will have to write two different proposals, for each of your chosen topic.
How to write a research proposal: Admission regulations Annex 5
Yes, you are eligible apply to all programmes offered by KTU except to Informatics Engineering: for this programme at least one publication is mandatory.
In this case you will have to write a research paper on the topic that you are applying to. If you choose two different topics, you will have to write two different research papers for each of your chosen topic.
How to write a research paper: Admission regulations Annex 4
If there is no English level indicated in your MSc or BSc diploma supplement, register for a test and obtain your certificate at:
– KTU Centre of Foreign Languages
– any institution, certified to provide this service
It now possible to document your English through the TOEFL IBT Special Home Edition Test. The test is a possibility for students to take their test at home rather than at a test center.
Unfortunately no late documents or test results are accepted.
No, all mandatory documents (including copy of application fee transfer) must be submitted by the application deadline.
Yes, as far as another admission process starts, you have to pay application fee again.
Yes, you can if you meet the requirements for both programmes. However, consider:
-the mandatory recommendations of supervisors
-your scientific experience in both science fields
-participation in interviews with each committee
-your motivation
You are eligible (provided that you have certain background and scientific experience in Mechanical Engineering, Technological Sciences).
After admission: possible necessity to take additional courses in the field of science (fee-paying).
No, the minimum required score does not guarantee you a position.
A certain number of state-funded positions can be less than the number of candidates with >min.competition score.
If you believe that the admission decision is incorrect, you may lodge an appeal. Follow the instructions included in the Admission Regulations.
Social Sciences
Social Sciences
Economics
Education
Management
Political Sciences
Sociology