The mission of the Graduate School for Social Research (GSSR) is to promote post-graduate education in accordance with the highest European standards. Our PhD programme has been developed over the years based on the knowledge and experience of leading scholars from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Lancaster University, and the Central European University, as well as other respected academics from institutions around the world. Our programmes appeal to students with creative and independent minds who are ready not only for an intensive accumulation of knowledge, but also for a critical way of viewing existing interpretations and conceptions.

The knowledge and concrete know-how that our graduates acquire prepare them for rewarding careers in a multicultural environment in contemporary society. We aim at educating students, predominantly but not exclusively from the region, not only for future academic careers but also for careers in public life and business. Our courses help students to understand, explain, and predict social phenomena and their economic, social, political and cultural conditions. Moreover, our graduates are able to use these social mechanisms and phenomena to successfully achieve their professional and academic goals, and this is the key to working effectively as today's managers, politicians, cultural directors, and scholars.

We offer high academic standards close links to the leading Polish social research institution, and the individual attention of our faculty members. We expect our students to be intellectually open-minded and full of new ideas.