The SD-AC General Assembly meeting will address key administrative changes, admission results, legislative amendments, and plans to update internal procedures.
New members and habilitations. The Doctoral School Council has expanded to include new members elected by doctoral students: Ștefan-Dan Ciocîrlan and Vlad-Andrei Bădoiu (CTI), and Mircea-Ștefan Simoiu and Ana Sophia Schüler (IS). Additionally, faculty members who have recently obtained habilitation (Anca Morar, Radu-Ioan Ciobanu) and those currently undergoing CNATDCU validation (Costin-Gabriel Chiru, Elena-Simona Apostol, Ciprian-Octavian Truică) were introduced.
2023 admission results and preparations for 2024. In 2023, the SD-AC admitted 75 candidates (70 state-funded), comprising 54 in CTI and 21 in IS. A total of 565 candidates were admitted across UNSTPB. For the 2024 admission cycle (April–September), a proposal has been made to add a new field—Computer Science—alongside the introduction of tutoring support and the use of presentation slides during the ranking competition.
Impact of the Higher Education Law (Law no. 199/2023). The new regulations stipulate:
- Extending the duration of doctoral studies to 4 years (with the possibility of a one-year reduction).
- Capping the supervision load at a maximum of 8 doctoral students per supervisor (with exceptions allowing up to 12, applicable from the 2026–2027 academic year).
- Setting the doctoral scholarship amount at 3,200 lei.
- Making doctoral theses available for public consultation on the UEFISCDI platform for 90 days prior to the defense.
- New CNATDCU standards based on transparency, quality, and adaptation to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
Completion of studies and academic activities. In 2023, 41 doctoral theses were completed (28 in CTI, 13 in IS), confirming steady year-on-year growth. The OPTIM project was concluded, and the “Studio et opere excellens” awards were presented to doctoral students Andrei Tănăsescu (CTI) and Andrei Sperilă (IS).
Other highlights included research presentations by postdoctoral researchers on October 26, 2023, an ideas competition within the NetZeroCities framework, and the launch of the information portal phd.pages.upb.ro.
