Our Graduates

Shepherd Mutsvara is a PhD Candidate in the Institute of Political Sciences and Administration. He began his career as a professionally trained secondary school teacher in Zimbabwe. He then studied for a Bachelor of Laws (LL. B) with the University of South Africa and also holds a Master of Laws (LL.M – Public International Law) from the University of London. Shepherd is a versatile professional with teaching experience in both secondary and tertiary education. He is also a Research Affiliate with the Refugee Law Initiative and is a member in good standing with the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law (Africa Research Group). His research project: Economic refugees: an analysis of persecution and displacement in the new global era is being co-supervised by Professor Joanna Bar (UP) and Professor Ellen Desmet of Ghent University.

On 15 September 2023, he submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Economic refugees: an analysis of persecution and cross-border displacement in the new global era”.

On 20.03.2024r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-shepherd-musvara/

A PhD student in Art since October 2021. Graduate from the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in the same year (MA diploma in The Studio of Andrzej Bednarczyk). In 2019 I was studying at Akademie der Bildenden Künste München within The Erasmus Program. During my PhD studies I want to formulate new intermedial composition-criteria (currently called: intermedial parallelism and structural density), which may be helpful and stimulating for some types of artistic practice. In the main part of my art practice I create painterly objects, which can be see on my instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/adam.nehring/

I had a pleasure to participate in following projects:

In memory of victims of self-abuse; Domie, Poznan, 11.2020
In these days of tumult, heat and dazzle I retreat in my mind; Stefan Gierowski Foundation, Warsaw, 10.2021

19. Survival Art Review,You ain’t going nowhere; Pafawag, Wroclaw, 06.2021

20. Survival Art Review; Betania Hospital, Wroclaw, 06.2022

Painting Biennale Bielska Jesień 2019 & Painting Biennale Bielska Jesień 2021, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biala, 11.2019 i 10.2021

Nowy Obraz / Nowe spojrzenie 2021; Old Paper Mill, Poznan, 05.2021

He submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Parallelism in multimedial composition”

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-adam-nehring/

Programme: Ph.D. in Political Science and Administration Project title: Higher education policies in Africa and Agenda 2063: a case study of CEMAC countries Supervisor: Prof. Joanna Bar, Ph.D. Mr. Tanyu’s doctoral dissertation examines higher education policies across CEMAC countries and their changes to reflect Agenda 2063 in order to meet 21st century demands. This topic, which so far has not been the subject of scientific analysis in Poland and also in the international arena, has been assessed as innovative. Mr. Tanyu will complete an M.A. in International Security Management from the Berlin School of Economics and Law by March 2022. He holds an MPhil. in Public Administration from the University of Bergen, Norway and a B.Sc. in Political Science with a minor in History from the University of Buea, Cameroon. His research focuses on politics of environmental crises, public policy, higher education studies, ethnic politics, nationalism, and international migration studies. He has a passion for learning and envisions an African continent where access to knowledge is no longer an obstacle. Find out more about Mr. Tanyu’s Africa Online & Publications Library project at www.africaopl.org.

He submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “New Approaches to Higher Education Policy Orientation in Africa: An Assessment of the African Union’s 2063 Agenda within the Context of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community”

On 15.11.2024 r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-ngenge-ransom-tanyu/

In 2019, I received Master’s Degree in Physics from the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wroclaw, Poland. My master thesis entitled “Study of magnetic and superconducting properties of Sr(2)MFeAsO(3) (M = V, Cr, and Sc). From 2020, I am a doctoral student in Physical Sciences at the Pedagogical University of Cracow, Poland. My PhD project concentrates on investigating the magnetic and optical properties of double perovskite compounds by using the density functional theory (DFT) method. Within the framework of the dissertation, some primary factors governing the observed physical properties of the investigated materials will be established.

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Ab-initio study of the magnetic and optical properties of the double perovskite A₂M’M”O₆ compounds, where A = an alkaline earth metal, and M’, M” = transition metals”

On 21.02.2025r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/thi-thu-ha-nguyen/

Maria Olbrychtowicz is a Krakow-based intermedia artist whose work focuses on painting and sound art. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow with a degree in intermedia in 2016, and currently works as an assistant in the sound studio at the same university.

Her interests focus on the spatial aspect of composing sound structures and acoustics, with a particular focus on architecture as sound sculpture. In 2019, she began her doctoral studies, addressing the relationship between architecture and sound, and an important aspect of her work is the introduction of the term “Site Specific Sound” into academic discourse.

Awards and honors, including: Grand Prix: Young Wolves 2016, Poland’s Culture in the World Scholarship 2015, and City of Krakow Creative Scholarship 2022. Her work has been presented in exhibitions in Poland and abroad, such as Audio Art Festival in Krakow, Arteles Review in Finland, Manifesta- European Biennial of Contemporary Art in Switzerland, Survival 14 in Wroclaw, Binary Conflict/ Ars Techne and Young Wolves in Szczecin, and Krakow Widzi Sztuka in Krakow.

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Site-specific Sound”

Agnieszka Olszewska is a graduate at the Doctoral School of the University of the National Education Commission, Krakow, in the discipline of linguistics. A graduate of Polish Studies at the Jagiellonian University and of speech therapy at the Pedagogical University. She works at the centre for neurological and orthopaedic rehabilitation, where she conducts speech therapy, swallowing disorders and respiratory therapy with patients after strokes, craniocerebral trauma, traffic accidents and neurodegenerative diseases. Her research interests focus on stimulation and restoration of the communication system in adults, restoration of physiological breathing and restoration of function in dysphagia disorders. Her research for her dissertation draws on her professional experience and focuses on the correlation of respiratory-phonatory-articulatory disorders.

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled „Uwarunkowania oddechowo-fonacyjno-artykulacyjne w przebiegu chorób neurologicznych u osób dorosłych”

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-agnieszka-olszewska/

I am a student of the Doctoral School of the Pedagogical University of Cracow in the field of linguistics. I completed five-year full-time studies in Polish Philology at the Jagiellonian University. I am also a graduate of bachelor’s degree studies in the Teachers’ College of Foreign Languages of the Jagiellonian University and postgraduate studies in teaching Polish as a foreign and second language at the Pedagogical University of Cracow.

I teach Polish in public educational institutions and in projects dedicated to children from Polish emigrant communities co-ordinated by the Polish Emigration Community Education Foundation.

My research interests are glottodidactics of Polish language in emigrant communities and ecolinguistics.

In my research project, I analyse communication strategies in Polish multilingual families. I investigate the motives of parents when making a decision to maintain their mother tongue when living abroad.

I have been a PhD student at the Doctoral School of the Pedagogical University of Krakow since October 2021. I write my PhD thesis in literature.

I graduated from Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz obtaining master’s degree in German Philology and bachelor’s degree in Administration Studies. Furthermore, I completed postgraduate studies for translators at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

My research interests concern medieval history and German and Polish contemporary literature. In my PhD thesis I focus on the motif of the knight in the newest German and Polish historical and fantasy novels published after 2000.

I am a PhD student in Literature since October 2019. I have completed bachelor’s studies in theater and ethnology (Jagiellonian University). My master’s thesis was interdisciplinary and concerned on the influence of the media and theater. I finished it on subject: journalism and social communication (also the Jagiellonian University). In the meantime, I published reviews in the student journal „Wiadomości Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego WUJ” and in the portal „teatr dla was”. From June 2018 I have been publishing in Dziennik Teatralny. During my PhD studies I want to research influence media and technology on theater, theater mediatization, network and digital theater. Also, I am interested in connection beetween art and technology. My promoter is dr hab. prof. UP Marek Pieniążek.

On 20 September 2023, she submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Krzysztof Garbaczewski Theater Towards the Media and New Technologies”.

On 16.05.202.4r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-judyta-pogonowicz/

My name is Quan Dau. I am from Vietnam. I graduated from university with a major in mathematics education in 2011. I defended my master’s thesis in mathematics in 2013 at Vinh University, Vietnam. Currently, I am studying a PhD program in mathematics at the Pedagogical University of Krakow, Poland. My research focuses on the uniform convexity structure of metric spaces, in which I aim to establish conditions for the existence of fixed points of nonexpansive mappings in these spaces.

Supervisor: dr hab. Andrzej Wiśnicki prof. UP

Research interests: uniform convexity metric spaces, fixed point properties, nonexpansive mappings, ordered spaces, graphical Ekeland’s principle for equilibrium problems

He submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Fixed point theorems in ordered spaces”

On 15.01.2025r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-dau-hong-quan/

Khofidotur Rofiah, born in Surabaya, Indonesia March 1989. She has a scientific background in the field of special education Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia. At the end of 2020, she started her PhD studies at Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny w Krakowie, Poland. In terms of career, she struggled in various fields of work, and from 2011 to 2013 she became a Special teacher for disabilities students in several schools which provided inclusive education in Surabaya. In 2014, she started her career at the University Negeri Surabaya as a Lecturer in the Special Education Department until now. Rofiah also engages in several matters related to children with special needs and inclusive education both with internal and foreign institutional funding. Currently, she is focusing on Inclusive education and developing a communication system based on keywords for children with communication barriers, namely Signalong Indonesia. In addition, she is also involved in professional organizations related to Disability and Special Education, both nationally and globally. Her PhD thesis topic is “Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education for exceptional children in cross-cultural perspective” supervised by Professor Joanna Kossewska (UP) and Professor Kieron Sheehy (Open University UK).

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Determiants of Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education: A Cross-Cultural Perspective”

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-rofiah-khofidotur/

Zbigniew Słuszkiewicz is a graduate of Philosophy from the Pedagogical University of Cracow (2007). He also completed postgraduate studies in Special Pedagogy at the same institution (2012), Autism, Asperger Syndrome, and Overall Developmental Disorders, Diagnosis, and Therapy (with distinction) at the WSB University of Dąbrowa Górnicza (2015), and Psychology of Crisis and Crisis Intervention at the Jagiellonian University of Cracow (2019). He is an alumnus of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute 2021, supported by a John Templeton Foundation grant and conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2022, he was awarded a PRELUDIUM scientific grant from Narodowe Centrum Nauki for a two-year research program titled “The Pragmatic Turn in Embodied Cognition and Mark Rowlands’ Category of “the Moral Subject.” Zbigniew works as an ethics teacher and behavioral therapist at the Centrum Autyzmu i Całościowych Zaburzeń Rozwojowych in Cracow. His areas of academic interest include moral philosophy, cognitive science (particularly embodied cognition and active inference), animal ethics, comparative psychology, and philosophy of mind.

Joanna Stawowy – Polish artist and PhD student at the Pedagogical University of KEN in Krakow in the discipline of arts and conservation of works of art. The leitmotif of her art is the holistic conception of human – the view that the body and mind are inextricably linked with each other and together create a unique human being that always exists in a given context (the external world projects on its interior). Consequently to this concept she is interested in medicine and psychology. She implements the threads in various techniques. She graduated with honors – bachelor’s degree in graphics and master’s degree in Art & Design at the Pedagogical University in Krakow. Since this year, she has also been a member of the Association of Polish Artists (ZPAP). In her doctoral thesis, she deals with the impact of acceptance (and lack of it) on artistic expression. Her research is based on C.G. Jung’s psychology, specifically on MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). The artistic consequence of her work will be 16 objects summarizing the results of the research.

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Rozważania o kształcie osobowości”

On 18.10.2024r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-joanna-stawowy/

Graduate in the discipline of biological sciences at the University of the National Education Commission, Krakow, a graduate of environmental protection at the University of Agriculture in Krakow. She is an editor in the journal Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis Studia Naturae.

She conducts monitoring of habitats and species on sites within a Natura 2000 area. He has the qualifications of an environmental advisor and agri-environmental advisor.

Research interests

• protection of endangered ecosystems
• protection of biodiversity against invasive alien species
• plant response to environmental stresses
• the role of allelopathy in the environment and its impact on the morphology and physiology of cultivated and wild species
• anthropogenic changes and dynamics of plant communities
• the impact of habitat and biotic conditions on the occurrence and population traits of plants

ORCID: 0000-0003-0146-1135

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Ekologiczne aspekty ustępowania boru mieszanego Querco roboris-Pinetum (W. Mat. 1981) J. Mat. 1988, w Ojcowskim Parku Narodowym”

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/20248-2/

PhD student at the Pedagogical University in Krakow in the discipline of Security Sciences. She graduated from master’s studies in the field of state security at the Pedagogical University in Krakow and political science at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Research interests focus on the security policy of countries, in particular: military nuclear programs and military strategies of Asian countries. In addition, the researched areas include NATO policy in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and contemporary military conflicts. The doctoral dissertation will address the topic of strengthening NATO’s eastern flank as an element of Poland’s security policy. I am under the scientific supervision of Dr. hab. Przemysław Wywiał from the Institute of Security Sciences

A PhD student at the Pedagogical University, specialising in pedagogy. A graduate of three specialisations at the Faculty of Pedagogy: educational and vocational guidance, social and welfare pedagogy with a teaching specialisation, as well as pre-school and early school pedagogy. Pedagogue, vocational counsellor, kindergarten teacher in one of Krakow’s kindergartens. Member of the Polish Pedagogical Society. Natalia Tomczyk actively participated as a pedagogical counsellor in the international prophylactic project entitled “FaceUp”, accredited by the Polish Pedagogical Society. The project was carried out in 24 countries. The project was implemented in 24 countries. Currently, she is involved in the work of the Teacher Training Centre, where she conducts original workshops on developing soft skills of teachers. The subject of her future dissertation is social adaptation of teachers at the professional start in the context of professional development.

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Adaptacja społeczno-zawodowa nauczycieli na starcie zawodowym”

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-natalia-twardosz/

I am a PhD student in Linguistics at the Pedagogical University in Krakow and at the Grenoble Alpes University as part of the double doctorate grant (Doctorat en Cotuelle) awarded by the French Embassy in Poland. In 2020, I graduated from Romance studies at the Pedagogical University of Krakow on the basis of my master’s thesis entitled “Feminema in a sociolinguistic approach in French and Quebec job advertisements”. My research interests continue to focus on sociolinguistics, inclusive language and Polish-French comparative linguistics. During my doctoral project, I focus on the comparative analysis of female linguistic exponents and prototypes related to women and men at the level of various discourses, incl. administrative, media and protest. I am writing my doctoral thesis under the supervision of prof. Teresa Muryn from the Pedagogical University in Krakow and prof. Lidia Miladi from the Grenoble Alpes University.

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Analyse comparative des manifestations linguistiques du féminin des référents humains en français et en polonais contemporains” („Analiza porównawcza językowych wykładników rodzaju żeńskiego we francuszczyźnie i polszczyźnie współczesnej”)

On 19.12.2024r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-joanna-walczak/

History graduate (2019) at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. My MA thesis concerned the presentation of the process of shaping the image of Lady Jane Grey in British literature, historiography and art from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The analysis of the available sources made it possible to show the origins of the legend surrounding Jane Grey and to present its later modifications related to the religious and dynastic situation in the British Isles. My research interests are related to the social history of Britain, the ways in which the press portrayed the problems that plagued British society and the process of myths and legends surrounding ambiguous historical figures. My dissertation focuses on the problem of infanticide in nineteenth-century England and its representation in the press. The thesis will also attempt to compare the events depicted in court records with newspaper articles.

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled „Infanticide in Victorian London. A Study Based on the Old Bailey’s Proceedings and the Press, 1834-1901”

On 02.07.2024r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-katarzyna-walczyk/

A graduate of mathematics at the KEN Pedagogical University in Krakow. The main topic of her Bachelor’s thesis was researching the possibility of using music in teaching axial and central symmetry at primary school level. This work won the second prize in the Anna Zofia Krygowska national competition for the best student work on the didactics of mathematics. The Master’s thesis deepened the topic of the Bachelor’s thesis. The research concerned the possibility of using music in teaching translation and axial and central symmetry at the level of the second grade of high school. The choice of the present research topics was inspired by attending the State Music School in Krakow (Grade II). In 2019, the PhD student defended her diploma receiving the professional title of musician (instrument – piano). The PhD student’s current research interests have shifted to the area of algebraic geometry and alternating algebra. In her PhD thesis she deals with complex reflection groups and asymptotic invariants (Waldschmidt constants, resurgences, Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity and others).

She submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Asymptotic invariants of configurations of points determinedby complex reflection groups”

On 12.06.2024r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-paulina-wisniewska/

I am a first and second degree graduate of the Pedagogical University of Krakow in Political Science and, as of 2019, a PhD student in Political Science and Administration. My area of interest is African Studies, with a particular focus on Angola and Mozambique, which my dissertation deals with. My area of interest is political systems and their transformations, thus capturing the state on a macro scale as perceived by the structuralist paradigm. I have so far participated in several national and international conferences. I also carried out a five-month NAWA STER grant at the University of Porto. I am the author of several scientific publications.

He submitted a doctoral thesis entitled “Angola and Mozambique: the formation and transformation of political structures: a comparative study”.

On 15.03.2024 r. the public defence of the doctoral thesis took place.

Information about the public defence and thesis https://bip.uken.krakow.pl/mgr-lukasz-zadlo/