Welcome to the website for doctoral students at the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University (PTF CU). If you are not yet a doctoral student but are interested in studying a PhD programme, click here.
The purpose of doctoral studies is to support you in writing your dissertation and to expand and deepen your competencies related to your dissertation project. Upon acceptance to the doctoral program, you become a doctoral student by enrolling: the Doctoral Student Registry of PTF CU (Mrs. Radka Sejkotová) invites you to enroll along with the notification of acceptance. Upon enrollment, you gain access to the Charles University Student Information System (SIS). This electronic platform allows you to set your Individual study plan (see bellow) and track your academic progress.
Doctoral studies in Prague form a single unit and are not strictly divided into years. The outline of your doctoral studies is based on an Individual Study Plan (ISP). This plan, to be set up in the eletronic platform SIS, includes some mandatory sections (e.g., 4 doctoral seminars, 3 partial doctoral exams, 1 partial doctoral exam in foreign language, internship of at least three months, etc.). However, its composition is your own responsibility carried out in consultation with your supervisor. Your proposal is then to be approved by your supervisor and finally by the respective subject-area board.
As you go on studying, both your supervisor and the subject-area board will evaluate your progress annually. Whether you are studying full-time or part-time, you start planning your studies for four years. If you do not complete your plan within this term, you may, in consultation with your supervisor, request an extension of your studies and a corresponding adjustment to your ISP.
Even though it might sound complicated, don't worry, together we'll manage. Detaild information on creating an Individual Study Plan will be provided to students during a consultation with the vice-dean at the beginning of their studies in October. It is also available here.
The annual evaluation of doctoral studies takes place every autumn. You, your supervisor, and the respective subject-area board, all provide input on the progress of your studies. All of these statements are made electronically within the ISP. Therefore, the following process is repeated every year:
1. You as a doctoral STUDENT enter your evaluation of the past year into the ISP no later than by 15 September. As part of this evaluation, you comment on your progress on the dissertation and list completed requirements (internships, seminars and exams passed, articles published, cofreneces attended). All the fulfilled requirements have to be registered electronically in the ISP. For publications, only those that have been recorded in the University's central eveidence OBD database are recognized. Within the annual evaluation, it is necessary to comment on all items that are listed in the ISP for the given academic year (and, if applicable, also older, unfulfilled items).
If there are incomplete tasks, they have to be explained. In agreement with your supervisor, you may propose an adjustment to the ISP (by creating new lines in the overview of requirements). You then submit your evaluation by clicking on the "SUBMIT EVALUATION TO SUPERVISOR" button (option in the drop-down menu in the bottom left). If the supervisor returns the evaluation to you for completion or revision, you have to make the required adjustments immediately according to the instructions.
2. The SUPERVISOR enters his or her evaluation only after you have submitted your part into the system. He or she must do so no later than by 30 September. The supervisor checks the accuracy of the data, confirm the completed requirements, and provide a written statement on the progress on the dissertation and the fulfillment of the planned requirements. If your report is insufficient, you will receive it back for correction or completion (by clicking the "RETURN EVALUATION TO STUDENT" button). After completing his or her evaluation, the supervisor clics the button "SUBMIT THE PROPOSED EVALUATION TO THE SUVJECT-AREA BOARD" in the SIS (option in the drop-down menu in the bottom left). The supervisor's evaluation must ultimately include an explicit "recommend/do not recommend" statement.
3. The SUBJECT-AREA BOARD carries out a review and evaluation of the studies of all doctoral students in the respective field at least once a year. The board evaluates on a scale of A to C, where grade A is reserved only for excellent students who are studying within the standard study period (no longer than the fourth year), and grade C ("fail") means termination of studies. The subject-areal board may return the proposed evaluation to you or to your supervisor for completion or correction of data. The board must conclude its evaluation and decide on the fulfillment of the ISP for all doctoral students no later than by 21 October. Based on the evaluation, which is then approved by the guarantor of the study program, the dean decides on the amount of scholarships for the beginning academic year by the end of October.
Once you have fulfilled all the requirements of your doctoral studies, you may take the State Doctoral Examination in the subject area of your dissertation project. And finally, having finished your dissertation (and typically discussed both its phases and its penultimate version with your supervisor before concluding it), you submit the dissertation electronically to the SIS and hand over two printed versions to the Doctoral Student Registry. You have concluded your doctoral studies successfully once you have properly defended your dissertation. From that day on, you are entitled to use the title PhD.
The Czech Act on Higher Education, esp. the Head 47
Doctoral studies hubprovides PhD students with a variety of additional courses from all over the Charles University, covering topics such as presentation skills, research methods, teaching, and personal development.
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Czech Republic
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