Granting the Academic Title of Professor. Some Reflections on the Regulations Contained in Law on Higher Education and Science

Abstract

AbstractThe Law on Higher Education and Science of 20 July 2018, entered into force on 1 October 2018, introduced changes concerning the prerequisites for the acquisition of the academic title of professor and the procedure for awarding it. The stage of proceedings before the board of an organisational unit (e.g. Faculty Council) was also abandoned, which in fact led the procedure beyond the ‘walls of the university’ and limited it to the stage of proceedings before the Council of Scientific Excellence. The author considers selected issues relating to the Professor’s academic title, concerning the premise for awarding it, the course of the proceedings in this subject and the entities taking part in them, as well as the role played by the President of the Republic of Poland in these proceedings. As a result of the considerations conducted, the author assumed that the most far-reaching change was the legislator’s resignation from the stage of proceedings before the council of the entity from which the candidate for the title of professor had come from, assuming that the role of the President of the Republic of Poland in this process had not undergone any significant changes. He remains bound by the opinions of the reviewers appointed by the Council of Scientific Excellence and its position expressed in the administrative decision issued on the application for the academic title. In accordance with the viewpoint of the author, due to the resignation of the legislator from the stage of proceedings before an individual’s council, the opinions of the reviewers expressed in the justification of the Council of Scientific Excellence decision are now, in principle, the only emanation of the assessment of the scientific community expressed in this procedure.