Organisational aspects

The national legislation requires that academic staff continuously improve their professional skills. The organisation of professional development and rules for participation and funding are established in internal regulations of each HEI. 

Incentives for participation in continuing professional development (CPD) activities 

All academic teachers may take, although under different conditions, research or study leave to enhance their teaching or research skills or obtain a doctoral or postdoctoral degree (see Chapter 9.5.5 ‘Working time and holidays’). 

Public HEIs receive a state-budget subsidy for the maintenance and development of the teaching and research capacities, which is allocated for, among other things, professional development of staff. HEIs may also apply for grants for projects including development of staff, mainly academic staff, as part of programmes funded from national and/or international sources (see also Chapter 13 ‘Mobility and internationalisation’). 

Academic teachers undergo a periodic performance appraisal (see Chapter 11.2.2 ‘Approaches and methods for quality assurance’), and their achievements are evaluated in a procedure for the award of a doctoral or postdoctoral degree or the professorial title. Additionally, conditions which the organisational unit of an HEI providing a given degree programme creates to encourage continuous professional development of staff are an aspect that the Polish Accreditation Committee considers in its mandatory and regular programme evaluations.