19 doctoral (PhD) programmes in Technological, Natural, Social Sciences and Humanities.
Learn more about admission procedure, requirements, and scholarships.
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. The Doctor of Science degree allows access to the world of scientific research, not limited to the academic world, but also in independent research centres and production facilities.
Choose a programme and a research topic
Fill in the application online https://apply.ktu.edu 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).
2021 Regulations for admission to doctoral studies (science fields coordinated by KTU)
| Regulations for admission to: |
| Education (will be published in July) |
| Sociology (will be published in June) |
| Political Sciences (will be published in June) |
| Transport Engineering (will be published in June) |
The Main Admission to doctoral studies for intake 2021 will take place in June 2021
list of programmes coordinated by KTU
Note: time of a day is indicated as Lithuanian time, that is UTC+3
| Submission and registration of the admission documents for those candidates who acquired their higher education in: – Lithuania, – Estonia or Latvia in 2019 and later, – other countries and have a document certifying that their Master’s (or equivalent) diploma is recognized in Lithuania and allows to study here in the third cycle of studies. |
from 1 March to 22 June 2021, 1 p.m. |
| Submission of the admission documents for those candidates who have completed their higher education studies at a foreign educational institution and have no document of the acknowledgement of their diploma in the Republic of Lithuania | 1 March – 14 May 2021, 4 p.m. |
| Submission of appeals against the incorrect evaluation of the admission documents | 23 June 2021, from 8 to 10 a.m. |
| Announcement of the results of the appeals against the incorrect evaluation of the admission documents | 23 June 2021, from 4 p.m. |
| Interviews with the doctoral committees of the relevant science fields (online only) |
28–30 June 2021 Timetable |
| Presentation of information to the candidates regarding the competition results in the Admission Information System | 30 June 2021, from 4 p.m. |
| Acceptance of appeals against the admission results | 1 July 2021, from 8 to 10 a.m. |
| Announcement of the result of the appeals against the admission results | 1 July 2021, from 4 p.m. |
| Information to the candidates regarding the final results of the competition in the Admission Information System | 1 July 2021, from 5 p.m. |
| Signing of learning agreements with the candidates invited to doctoral studies | 2, 5 July 2021, from 1 to 4 p.m. |
| Submission of the admission documents | 21 June 2021, 9 .a.m. – 29 June, 2021, 2 p.m. |
| Meeting of the doctoral committee (motivation interview; candidate’s participation mandatory) | 1 July, 2021 |
| Announcement of the list of applicants invited to doctoral studies | by 2 July, 2021, 9 a.m. |
| Acceptance of appeals | by 2 July, 2021, 2 p.m. |
| Analysis of appeals and announcement of the list of applicants admitted to doctoral studies | by 5 July, 2021, 1 p.m. |
| Signing of learning agreements with the candidates invited to doctoral studies | July 7 – 9, 2021 1-4 p.m. |
| Submission of the admission documents | 1 July –27 August, 2021 |
| Meeting of the doctoral committee (motivation interview; candidate’s participation mandatory) | 6-15 September, 2021 |
| Meeting of the doctoral committee (committee members only; calculation of final competition score) | 6-15 September, 2021 |
| Presentation of information to the candidates regarding the competition results | 16 September, 2021 |
| Acceptance of appeals to the doctoral committee | 17-21 September, 2021 |
| Acceptance of appeals to the institution | 22-24 September, 2021 |
| Information to the candidates regarding the final results of the competition | 28 September, 2021 |
| Signing of learning agreements with the candidates invited to doctoral studies | 29-30 September, 2021 |
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 submits the application online.
Students admitted to state-funded positions are exempted of tuition fee for a period up to 48 months.
Self-funded doctoral students pay the tuition fee (valid for those admitted in 2020; updated information for intake 2021 will be anounced later):
| Science Area |
Annual tuition fee, EUR |
| Technological Sciences | 8787 |
| Natural Sciences | 10646 |
| Social Sciences | 9020 |
| Humanities | 10646 |
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 760 Eur/month, during 2-4 year of studies the sholarship is 880 Eur/month.
In this case, 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
K. Donelaičio St. 73, rooms 422, 423,
LT-44249 Kaunas, Lithuania
Tel.: +370 626 227 01, +370 37 300 625
Email: phd@ktu.lt
ktu.edu/phd
Consultation hours (by appointment only!):
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.
Evaluation and recognition of the education documents is conducted by the University only upon receiving a duly filled-in and approved application form for the participation in the competition for doctoral studies along with all mandatory documents for admission prior to the deadline. More information is available at academic-recognition.
A candidate may apply for evaluation and recognition of their documents at any time directly to the Centre for Quality Evaluation in Higher Education: https://epe.skvc.lt/en
The duration of this process is ~ 3-15 weeks.
When we receive a duly filled-in and approved application form for the participation in the competition for doctoral studies along with all mandatory documents, the process of your foreign degree documents evaluation and recognition will be started.
Note that we will not review or assess your degree diploma and academic record without an official application to doctoral studies at Kaunas University of Technology, including payment of the appropriate application fee.
You will be informed about the results od recognition in ~3-15 weeks.
For initial stage of the admission process, a temporary (provisional) degree certificate is enough. However, for final stage of the process you have to submit your final degree certificate.
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 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 skvc.lt
All Master 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. A recommendation has to explicitly specify the institution and the science field to which the candidate is being recommended.
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 §8.4. 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 and Mechanical Engineering; 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 the researcher 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” or see here.
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
How to write a research proposal: Admission regulations Annex 5
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.
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.
Note! 2 topics = 2 different research papers
2 programmes 2 topics = 4 different research papers
How to write a research paper: Admission regulations Annex 4
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