We recommend you to read the information regarding the doctoral admission process within the University of Bucharest, available here and the specific regulation for our doctoral school, available here.
For the September 2025 Admission, the following study places will be available: 1 study place/grant financed from the state budget, 30 places with a fee and 2 places for non-EU candidates. The subsidized study places are available only for Romanian and EU citizens. For Non-EU citizens, there are available only study places with tuition fee. However, Non-EU citizens are eligible for financial assistance through the Scholarships offered by the Romanian State to foreign citizens through the MFA for which they must prepare a separate application.
In order to be enrolled in an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program at ISDS-UB you have to complete four tasks:
1) Contact an ISDS Supervisor in order to agree on a research topic and to prepare a research project
Note: If you are a non-EU candidate, you need to obtain a provision agreement from a potential supervisor in order to obtain the Admission Letter from the Ministry of Education and visa.
For contact details of the International Cooperation and Foreign Students Office, access this link.
2) Prepare and submit your admission file
NOTE: There are specific documents required depending on the type of candidate (Non-UE, Romania or European citizen). The admissions file will be submitted online.
3) Participate and pass the Admission Colloquium
4) Validate you place
In order to meet the necessary deadlines, please access the September 2025 Admission Calendar.
Eligibility criteria
For admission to a Ph.D. research program, we expect you to hold a Master’s degree in addition to a Bachelor’s degree and proficiency in English (check here the accepted types of English Certificates). You will need to provide information about the higher qualifications you have achieved or which you’re currently studying. You must also show that you have a sufficiently good level of written and spoken English to meet the demands of our academic environment. Please note that meeting academic requirements does not guarantee entry, it is only one of the factors taken into account when selectors make their decision. Other factors, such as relevant work experience and references are also important.
For the 2025 admission competition, the cumulative number of transferable study credits acquired for the bachelor’s and master’s degree cycles must be at least 300 transferable credits (E.C.T.S.).
If you are a Romanian citizen but you did your studies in another country, you need to have your studies equivalated the National Center of Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas. For further information, consult the The National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas official webpage.
Special Provisions for Non-EU candidates
For Non-UE candidates, please take into consideration that after browsing the research topics offered by ISDS-UB and choosing a research topic which fits your scientific interests, you must contact the corresponding potential supervisor (using the email address provided) to ask for his coordination and for an provisional agreement to coordinate your research. All this is necessary in order to obtain the Acceptance Letter from the Ministry of National Education. As a rule, the request for admission to study at the University of Bucharest has to be sent to our University. Then we will send our approval to the Ministry of Education in Bucharest so that you would receive the Acceptance Letter.
The University of Bucharest will process your file and will send it to the Ministry of National Education for evaluation. It may take up to 30 working days to receive an answer from the Ministry of National Education. You can find more about this process by accessing the Admission for Non-EU Citizens.
Once you obtained the Acceptance Letter from your potential supervisor, you are qualified for the applying procedure, but you are not yet admitted to a Ph.D. program. The final decision about you’re a possible registration in our program is taken after the admission colloquium.
Candidates who are not part of the European Union, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation (non-EU) are required to present upon registration the certificate of recognition of studies, issued by the specialized department within the Ministry of Education and Research. The certificate of recognition will be accompanied by copies of the legalized translations of the diplomas that were the basis for its issuance.To ensure that you have taken all the necessary steps, regarding your documents, before registering for the ISDS admission competition, contact your colleagues from International Relations and Foreign Students Office. The details are available at this link.
Special provisions for EU, SC and EEA citizens / For recognition of studies through The National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas
According to the Romanian Education Law, citizens of EU, SC and EEA willing to study in Romania are requested to obtain the Certificate of recognition/equivalence of study documents issued by the National Center of Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas. As mentioned above, the same rule applies to Romanian citizens that did their studies abroad.
For more details regarding the recognition process please access: https://cnred.edu.ro/, https://cnred.edu.ro/en/home-4/ and Admission for EU Citizens.
Attention! Starting with 2025, the file regarding the documents necessary for the recognition of studies will be taken over exclusively by the secretariats of doctoral schools.Thus, candidates will submit, online, through the registration form, available between July 7-11, the following documents mentioned below, for admission to ISDS.
The file for the recognition of academic documents includes the following documents:
b. academic record for equivalence/recognition (according to the particular case of each candidate, of the study cycle for which recognition is requested):
– copy, if the record is written in Romanian/English/French/Spanish/Italian;
– copy and legalized translation into Romanian – for other foreign languages.
c. diploma supplement/transcript or any other study document showing the school course – if recognition of the specialization is requested or the field of studies is not mentioned on the diploma:
– copy – if the document is written in Romanian / English / French / Spanish / Italian;
– copy and authorized translation into Romanian – for other foreign languages.
d. other relevant documents, if applicable;
e. personal identification documents, in copy:
– passport;
– identity card;
– proof of name change (if applicable), in copy (for Romanian / English / French / Spanish / Italian) – and legalized translation (for other foreign languages);
For other updated details about the content of the file, you can access The National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas website, as follows:
– recognition and equivalence of pre-university studies,
– recognition and equivalence of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral university studies.
If the Recognition and Equivalence Commission/Admission Commission at the faculty level finds that the file is incomplete, it rejects the application and informs the candidate.
If the Recognition and Equivalence Commission/Admission Commission at the faculty level finds that the file is complete, it sends the documents for verification to the UB management, which will forward the data to the National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas.
The National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas checks the documents and sends the University the agreement / request for additional information / resolution to invalidate the file. The evaluation of the documents and the issuance of the National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas decision are carried out within a maximum of 30 working days from the date of registration of the complete file. This term may be extended in the event of additional verifications or consultation with external experts.
If the National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas finds that the file is incomplete, it informs the institution regarding the completion of the file within 3 months from the date of receipt of the notification.
If the applicant does not complete the file within the specified period, The National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas shall close the file, and the procedure shall be resumed based on the submission of a new file.
The decision of The National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas may be contested only once, within 30 working days from the date of receipt, through a reasoned request. The National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas shall rule on the requests within 60 working days. The resolution period may be extended in justified cases, the applicant being informed accordingly.
For validated files, the National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas issues the Certificate of Recognition of Studies or a provisional certificate (in electronic format) and sends them to the university, and the management of the University of Bucharest sends the certificates/certificates of recognition of studies to the faculties, exclusively by e-mail.
Next step for admission: Choose a Research Topic