Basic information
Basic information
Basic information
Doctoral studies represent the utmost level of higher education. Its purpose is to teach the students autonomous research and other creative activities so that they are ready for their research/teaching careers or highly qualified jobs.
Doctoral studies typically feature doctoral student‘s individually taylored courses and autonomous research work receiving the key factor attention from ECON MUNI. It has reduced the courses taught in the classical manner for the doctoral degree programmes in the recent years so that the students are able to concentrate on active approach to their research projects.
The standard length of ECON MUNI PhD studies is four years. All doctoral study programmes at ECON MUNI can be studied in both Czech and English. The study is free of charge for students.
Studies conclude with the state doctoral exam and the dissertation thesis defence. Upon successful completion of studies the graduates from doctoral studies obtain the title of Ph.D. to be written after the names.
Forms of study
Doctoral studies at the ECON MUNI in all study programmes are offered both full-time and combined.
In addition to scientific research duties, full-time students also have other duties, including participation in lectures, organisation of conferences, the faculty’s educational and other activities, etc. All duties are distributed on individual working days according to the student’s schedule.
Full-time students receive a monthly scholarship to support studies in doctoral studies programmes for the standard duration of studies.
The combined form of study is more often chosen by those applicants who also have other duties (e.g. employment or family), which do not enable them to be present at the faculty on a daily basis. For this reason, their participation in lectures, organisation of conferences, the faculty’s educational and other activities is not mandatory.
Study guide
Enrolment
Enrolment in Studies and 1st Semester
See more information here
The candidate does not become a student until he / she is enrolled. It is necessary to announce an absence in the day of the enrolment the latest. If the candidate does not apologize before the enrolment date and do not prove a serious reason of the absence within five working days, the right to enrolment in studies expires.
Enrolment in Upcoming Semester
The proper fulfilment of study requirements in a doctoral programme calls for the simultaneous fulfilment of the following conditions (under section 30, subsection 1 of the SER):
- meeting the requirements of an individual study plan
- successfully completing all repeated courses registered in an immediately preceding semester
- meeting the credit requirement
- not exceeding the maximum duration of studies
A student must utilize the relevant IS MU application to electronically enrol in an upcoming semester within a period prescribed by the academic year schedule. If a student does not fulfill the conditions of enrolment in the following semester his/her right to enrolment in studies expires and his/her studies are subsequently terminated in accordance with section 56, subsection 1, letter b of the Act.
Repeated Enrolment in Studies
In advance enough before the end of the interruption of studie a student has to declare his / her decision to continue with the active study, or ask for further interruption of studies. Re-enrolment in studies must be communicated electronically by e-mail (from an authorized mail address in IS MU) to the address phd@econ.muni.cz.
Persons unable to enrol in studies in the prescribed period may apply for an alternate date no later than on the last day of the period prescribed for enrolment in studies. Should an applicant fail to enrol in studies in the prescribed period or at an alternate date and subsequently fail to provide compelling reasons which prevented him/her from doing so in a period of five workdays, his/her right to enrolment in studies expires.
Course Enrolment and Course Repetition
In accordance with their Individual Study Plan a student registers in courses for the upcoming semester, using the relevant application in the IS MU and adhering to the period designated for course registration.
Should a student fail to fulfil the requirements of course completion, he/she is entitled to fulfil them by an alternate date set during the examination period of the same semester; a student enrolled in a course for the first time may make use of two alternate dates while a student repeating a course may only make use of one alternate date.
In case a student does not complete an enrolled course successfully, he/she is automatically re-enrolled in the first semester when the course is offered again. A student who fails to complete a repeated course, exhausting all possibilities loses the right to enrolment in the following semester (section 12) and his / her studies is terminated.
Studies
The standard length of study in the PhD programme is four years. The schedule of the course of study has been planned to allow students to submit a completed dissertation prior its final defence. The study consists of study itself (approximately 1/3rd) and research (approximately 2/3rds). In the course of study, students publish professional articles, which serve as the basis of their dissertation. The first completed and coherent outcomes of study are presented in a seminar. The doctoral state examination takes place when the process of writing dissertation has reached an advanced level.
A Sample Study Plan
Semester |
Course |
Study part |
|
1st semester |
Econometrics |
Methodology 1 |
|
Study of Literature |
|
Selected compulsory optional and optional courses |
|
2nd semester |
1–3 compulsory courses |
Study of Literature |
|
Academic and professional English competences (English language) |
|
Research part |
|
3rd semester |
Research Workshop |
Preparation of the Dissertation |
|
4th semester |
Preparation of the Dissertation |
Doctoral State Examination |
|
5th semester |
Preparation of the Dissertation |
Foreign internship |
|
6th semester |
Preparation of the Dissertation |
7th semester |
Preparation of the Dissertation |
Internal dissertation defence |
|
8th semester |
Preparation of the Dissertation |
Dissertation Defense |
Key Control Points of the Studies
DOCTORAL STATE EXAMINATION
Further details on the state doctoral examination can be found below on this page.
Student is obliged to submit the application for the doctoral state examination at the latest in the 4th semester of study.
INTERNAL DEFENCE
The internal defence is a defense of the first (complete) version of the dissertation. It is held in the presence of employees of the supervising department and guest experts, and is organized by the Head of the department. Student completes the internal defense in the 7th semester of his/her studies or in the semester immediately preceding the semester in which the studies are completed by the dissertation defence.
Further details on the state internal defence can be found below on this page.
Electronic submission in the Information System is here (choose the folder of your study programme).
DISSERTATION DEFENSE
Further details on the dissertation defence can be found below on this page.
During the course of study, PhD student must obtain at least 240 credits, and complete all required courses and study checkpoints, including a compulsory foreign internship. Furthermore, he/she must fulfil the publication obligation in the structure set out in the currently valid ECON MUNI Directive on Study in doctoral study programmes and its organisation, otherwise he/she cannot apply for the defence of the dissertation.
The list of compulsory and compulsory optional courses, including the method of their completion and credit value, can be found in the Study Catalogue of the study programme.
Students' obligations and control of their fulfillment
By the end of the first term of study the student in co-operation with their supervisor prepares an Individual Study Plan, specifying the timetable for the fulfillment of the basic study and research obligations. At the end of each semester, student prepares an evaluation of the ending term and a concrete plan of the activities for the upcoming term. Outputs of the courses supervised and evaluated by the supervisor (Study of Literature, Research Workshop, Internship, Preparation of the Dissertation) is uploaded by the student into the IS MU, application "Homework Vault", where they are accessible to the supervisor and to the Doctoral Board.
The student's evaluation is prepared by the supervisor based on the materials prepared by the student and is discussed every term by the Doctoral Board.
STUDY OBLIGATIONS
Within the study part of the PhD studies, the student is required to complete compulsory courses common for all study fields, 1-3 compulsory courses for each study programme (see Study Catalogue), and selected compulsory optional courses according to the focus of their dissertation and the agreement with the supervisor.
During the course of study, the PhD student must obtain a minimum of 240 credits.
The list of compulsory and compulsory optional courses and a selection of optional courses, including the form of their termination and the credit value, can be found in the Study Catalogue of the study programme.
FOREIGN INTERNSHIP
During their studies students have to complete a foreign internship of at least one month (30 consecutive calendar days) (in the case of full-time students, multiple shorter internships of a cumulative length of one month cannot be accepted6) at an academic or research institution abroad (except Slovakia). The internship at a non-academic institution must be approved by the Doctoral Board depending on the specific research focus. Students of the combined form of study may also fulfil the obligation of a foreign internship by participating in an
international research project (GACR, TACR, Horizon Europe, etc.), with results published or presented abroad.
PUBLICATIONS
During the course of their studies, the student is obliged to prepare at least 3 publications (with a Faculty affiliatio), thematically corresponding to the research focus. Of these, at least one publication must have been published or accepted for publication in a journal. For student enrolled in Spring 2025 and later the journal has to be either at the level 2 or higher of the AJG list (Academic Journal Guide) or indexed in the WoS with and Article Influence Score of 0.5 or higher, or in a journal with international reputation that was approved by the Doctoral Board. The remaining publications may be published as a working paper or as part of the Dissertation.
Doctoral State Examination
Application for Doctoral State Examination
Doctoral State Examinations are organized always in spring and autumn term. The application for a DSE in the spring semester must be submitted by March 31, at the latest, in the autumn semester by 15 October (see Academic Calendar). The specific date for each DSE is proposed by the Doctoral Study Board and confirmed by the Dean of the Faculty.
In accordance with the Sample Study Plan, the PhD student submits the application for the DSE at the latest in the 4th semester of their study.
The application for a DSE is submitted to the dean of the faculty through application Topic Lists in IS MU (Application for the Doctoral State Examination - programme). Part of the application for the DSE is An Overview of the Student’s Research and Scientific Activities, created according to this chart.
Along with the DSE application, the student also submits the dissertation proposal in the extent of 20-30 pages, electronically in the IS MU here.
Requirements of dissertation proposal are specified in Guidelines of the Vice-Dean for Reserach of the FEA MU No. 1/2022.
A comprehensive overview of publications and research activities filled in this chart is submitted electronically in the IS MU here as well.
Examination Content
The DSE examines a student’s theoretical and methodological knowledge related to the field of study. The extent of the examination is determined by the Doctoral Board and the aim is to demonstrate the student’s readiness for independent research work in the given discipline.
General DSE requirements are covered by the content of the doctoral programme; specific requirements involve thematic theoretical areas related to the dissertation proposal.The examination takes place in the form of a debate over the presented dissertation proposal; questions are asked in a wider context of the particular scientific discipline.
Dissertation Proposal Template
You can download the dissertation proposal template here.
Foreign Internship
Basic Information
A foreign internship of the recommended length of one semester (minimum length is 30 consecutive calendar days) is a compulsory part of doctoral studies, but above all a great opportunity to make contacts and gain experience. The internship is primarily carried out at a prestigious foreign university or research institute (in TOP300 of QS, THE or other relevant ranking). Students choose the foreign institution in cooperation with their supervisors, according to the focus of their research. Ideally, the internship should be at a university with a research team dedicated to the dissertation topic. The length of the placement and the quality of the workplace at which students complete their internship can have a major impact on the kind of work they will be able to obtain after completing their PhD.
Most academic departments are open to PhD students internships once they have secured funding. The internship may be supported by a specific research project, a faculty scholarship programme, or other sources, or a combination of these.
The ideal time to complete an internship is during semesters 3-7, i.e., after successful completion of all courses.
As PhD students work on their individual research projects and dissertations, the placements abroad are usually 'traineeships'. In the context of doctoral studies, 'study stays' as defined by ERASMUS+ tend not to occur (semester-long study visits, during which students enrol in courses at the host university, are particularly relevant for BSc and MSc students).
Objectives of foreign internships
The main focus of the internship is on activities related to dissertation research or the doctoral student's broader scientific development. Ideally, research activities that are directly related to the research topic will be carried out during the internship and the results of the internship will be used by the PhD student in their dissertation.
The specific objectives of their foreign internship are specified by the student in agreement with their supervisor in order to meet the requirements for strategic interdependence of faculty departments with foreign institutions (e.g. joint implementation of international research grants) and the quality of foreign institutions.
Principles of internship implementation
The PhD student and their supervisor prepare at least an outline plan for the compulsory foreign internship and other internatonal mobilities by the end of the 1st term as a part of the Individual Study Plan. A detailed plan should be prepared before the actual implementation of the foreign internship. And uploaded in the homework vault of the foreign internship course. The above requirements should be taken into account when drawing up the plan.
In particular, the plan shall include the following items:
- Location: target workplace
- Length of stay, starting and ending dates, specific timeline
- Objectives of the internship in relation to the research topic, relevance and needs development of the PhD student
- Estimated cost plan
- Internship funding
Records in the IS
Before leaving for a foreign internship, the student creates a record of the stay in IS MUNI - Student section, Internships and stays application. Instructions here. The student uploads the contract on cooperation (Learning Agreement for Traineeship) or the Acceptance letter.
And register the course DX%_ZSTA Internship abroad. Student uploads filled plan of foreign internship in its homework vault.
After returning from the internship, the student uploads the document confirming the successful completion of the placement, Traineeship Certificate to the internship record created before the departure in the IS MUNI.
And uploads a final report to the homework vault.
Evaluation for the course DX%_ZSTA is given by the supervisor.
Dissertation
Content Requirements
The dissertation is the final work of the PhD studies.
The dissertation must contain original (it means new findings that represent the contribution of doctoral students for the development of scientific knowledge) and published findings of research carried out by the candidate, or findings already accepted for publication.
The dissertation is submitted as a monograph or as a collection of essays/articles.
A monograph is a single text that deals in detail with a single topic and is written by a single author.
A collection of at least 3 essays/articles constitutes a publication consisting of an introductory chapter and published or unpublished individual essays that address a common research problem or belong to a common area of research. Each essay/article explores a separate research question or contains separate findings. Essays included in the dissertation should be published, accepted, or suitable for publication (i.e., ready for submission) in a respected, peer-reviewed journal.
The student should be the principal author of the dissertation in that if he/she is submitting the results of a collective scholarly work for defense, he/she must have substantial authorship of any jointly produced work and indicate his/her estimated percentage of the work. The parts of the thesis that have been worked on by the student must be clearly indicated in the thesis. The thesis must be accompanied by a statement from the supervisor confirming the student's authorship of the marked parts of the thesis and assessing the student's contribution.
An article co-authored by students may be used in only one set of articles submitted as a dissertation.
The recommended minimum length of the dissertation is 100 pages of the text; the recommended maximum length is 160 pages. The formal requirements for the length, structure and format of the dissertation are defined in Guidelines of the Vice-Dean for Research of the FEA MU No. 1/2022.
Requirements for Publication of Dissertation Results
The requirements for the publication of dissertation results are specified in the currently valid ECON MUNI Directive on Studies in Doctoral Degree Programmes and their Organisation.
During the course of their studies, PhD students are required to prepare at least 3 publications in English that are thematically relevant to their research focus. Of these, at least one publication must be published or accepted for publication in a journal indexed in the WoS or Scopus database at the time of submission of the dissertation; the remaining publications may be published as a working paper or as part of the dissertation.
Internal Defence
The internal defence is a defence of the first (complete) version of the dissertation. It is held in the presence of employees of the supervising department and guest experts, and is organized by the Head of the department. Student completes the internal defence in the 7th semester of his/her studies or in the semester immediately preceding the semester in which the studies are completed by the dissertation defence.
The application is submitted by the student to the chair of the doctoral board and the head of the department via email, to which he/she attaches the text of the dissertation by the deadline set in the department's internal schedule or by mutual agreement. At the same time, the dissertation is submitted electronically in the Information System here (folder according to the study programme).
The head of the department, on the proposal of the chair of the doctoral board, appoints one reviewer from among the members of the department who will evaluate the quality of the dissertation and the degree of fulfilment of the requirements set for dissertations in the given scientific field. The chair of the doctoral board may also appoint one external dissertation reviewer.
The date of the internal defence is set by the head of the department in agreement with the chair of the doctoral board. The internal defence of the dissertation shall take place without undue delay.
Proceedings of the defence includes:
(a) presentation of the dissertation content (the research problem addressed, the objectives of the dissertation, the procedure solution, results and conclusions) for 20 minutes,
(b) a statement by the supervisor on the progress of the doctoral student's work on the dissertation,
(c) the opinion of the reviewer (or external reviewer), the doctoral student's comments on the opinion of the reviewer (and the external reviewer, if appointed),
(d) questions and discussion.
Minutes of the internal defence is taken and made available to the student. If the dissertation does not sufficiently meet the requirements for dissertations in the research area, the minutes shall include an explicit conclusion as to whether the student is recommended:
(a) to make partial modifications/refinements (including a statement of the nature of the modifications desired),
(b) to carry out a revision (including the formulation of the main reasons).
The conclusion of the internal defence is of a recommendatory nature for the student. If the student wishes to carry out reworking of the submitted dissertation, he/she is obliged to do it in such a way as to meet the requirement of the deadline for submission of the dissertation for the final defence.
Dissertation Defence
APPLICATION
The defence application is complete after the candidate submits:
1. Defence application to the Dean via the IS MU, Topic Lists (Dissertation defense application) prior to the deadline specified in the official Academic Calendar (til 31st March in Spring semester, til 15th October in Autumn semester).
2. Dissertation and a comprehensive overview of publications and research activities filled in this chart electronically into Archive of Thesis/Dissertation (Information System - Student - Final State Examination and Thesis/Dissertation Archive).
3. A professional CV in the Research and Projects Office via email phd@econ.muni.cz .
ORGANIZATION AND COURSE OF THE DISSERTATION DEFENCE
Based on the Doctoral Board’s proposal, the Dean appoints at least two external dissertation reviewers. The student has the right to be acquainted with reviewers’ statements at least seven working days before the defence.
The defence is held in front of the Dissertation Defence Committee. Defence committees are subject to provisions in Article 34 SER.
The date of the dissertation defence is proposed by the Doctoral Board and is set by the Dean. The dissertation defence shall take place within one year of the date of application. Terms and conditions governing the submission of the defence application and the procedure of the defence are set out in Article 33 of the SER.
Recommendations for Dissertation
Recommendations for the writing of the dissertation can be downloaded here.
Legal and FEA’s relevant regulations
- Higher Education Act (Act No. 111/1998)
- MU study and examination regulations
- MU Scholarship and Bursary Regulations
- Disciplinary Code
- Directive of the Faculty of Economics and Administration of Masaryk University No. 5/2024 Study in doctoral study programmes and its organisation
- Guidelines of the Vice-Dean for Research of the Faculty of Economics and Administration of Masaryk University No. 1/2022