How to Write a Cumulative PhD and Win an NCN PRELUDIUM Grant? Guest lecture by Dr Aleksandra Polak
The Institute of International Studies at the University of Wrocław invites researchers, PhD candidates and students to an online guest lecture on how to write a cumulative PhD dissertation and successfully apply for an NCN PRELUDIUM grant. The meeting will take place on:
Dr Aleksandra Polak specialises in political representation and European politics. She is currently involved in the research project “Between Politicisation and Legitimation: Transnational Political Discourse on EU Institutional Reform (EUDIS),” funded by the National Science Centre (NCN).
From 2024 to 2026, she was a researcher in the international project QUALREP: The Quality of Women’s Political Representation, funded by a European Research Council Synergy Grant and coordinated by King’s College London. Previously, she led her own NCN PRELUDIUM project (2022–2024), which examined differences in the descriptive representation of women in the European Parliament across EU member states.
In 2026, she received her PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Warsaw. Her doctoral dissertation, titled “Women’s Descriptive and Substantive Political Representation in the European Parliament, 2004–2024,” explored women’s political representation in the European Parliament. She is also an expert with the Team Europe Direct network at the European Commission Representation in Poland.
The guest lecture will be an opportunity to learn about the process of preparing a cumulative PhD dissertation and developing a successful NCN PRELUDIUM grant application, drawing on Dr Polak’s research experience. It will be particularly relevant to doctoral candidates and early-career researchers interested in academic publishing, research project development and funding opportunities.
