General Information
Foreign students who apply for doctoral programmes must have a Master’s degree.
Students who have graduated from a foreign higher educational institution can apply for Doctoral programmes once their Diploma for completed higher education has been officially recognized and a certificate has been issued in accordance with the State Requirements for Recognition of Diplomas for Completed Higher Education.
Foreigners can aplly for PhD programmes in the following cases:
- Under intergovernmental agreements on educational, scientific and cultural exchange– the approved candidates are presented by the Ministry of Education and Science.
- Under the terms of Decrees of the Council of Ministers – the approved candidates are presented by the Ministry of Education and Science.
- EU students: after a successfully won competition – the places, deadlines for application submission, fees and conditions for application are the same as these for Bulgarian citizens applying for state errand.
- Provided that they pay the tuition fee – full-time and part-time. PhD students on self-study are admitted only from EU countries.
International students can apply to study at Bulgarian institutions of higher education under the terms and conditions regulating the admission of Bulgarian citizens to higher educational institutions in the Republic of Bulgaria if they:
1. Have permanent residence permit
2. Have a status of refugees
3. Are of Bulgarian nationality, testified in accordance with the Decree of the Council of Ministers No 103 of 1993 regulating the education of Bulgarian citizens abroad. The number of students admitted under this condition is updated annually by the Council of Ministers.
Application Documents Required
Foreigners applying for Doctoral programmes under Art. 95, Para. 8 of the Higher Education Act, according to which undergraduate, doctoral and specializing students have to pay tuition fees, must submit the following documents:
- Application form with a short CV; specified field of study; the topics they intend to work on in their PhD dissertation; their proficiency level in foreign languages, and the scientific organization they are applying to.
- A certified copy of their Master’s Degree Diploma.
- A medical certificate issued no earlier than a month prior to the application procedure, and validated by the respective authorities in the applicant’s country.
- A list of publications, if applicable.
- All applicants are required to submit a photocopy of their identity card(s) or passport(s). Applicants with dual citizenship should provide photocopies of their Bulgarian identity card or passport.
- A photocopy of the identity card with the name legibly written in the Latin alphabet, the place and date of birth.
- A certificate for officially recognized Diploma for completed higher education, if the Diploma has been issued by a foreign higher educational institution.
The documents described in 2, and 3 must be legalized, translated into Bulgarian and validated in accordance with the provisions contained in the intergovernmental agreements between Republic of Bulgaria and the country in which these documents were issued. If no such agreements exist, the documents be legalized, translated and validated according to the standard procedure for the legalization, translation and validation of documents and other official papers.