Doctoral Study Programme Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics and Virology

On this website, you will find information for applicants, students, and supervisors of the doctoral study programme Molecular and Cell Biology, Genetics, and Virology, relevant to all four faculties where the programme is accredited, and covering the following topics:

Characterization of the Programme, the Graduate Profile and Career Options

The aim of the programme is to provide students with advanced theoretical and practical knowledge in various areas of molecular and cellular biology, genetics, and virology. It familiarizes them with modern methodological and technical approaches utilized in these disciplines and enables them to explore their applications in solving current problems in biological sciences and biomedicine, including interdisciplinary research. The main scope of the programme can be characterized as the study of biological processes at the molecular and cellular levels, particularly the complex interactions between cells and their environment, and between biological macromolecules with an informational role (DNA, RNA, proteins), using the state-of-the-art approaches and techniques of molecular biology and bioinformatics.

Graduates of the programme should display deep theoretical knowledge in molecular and cellular biology, genetics, or virology, depending on the specific focus of their Ph.D. project. They should master a wide range of methods and techniques in these research areas and regularly update themselves with the latest scientific knowledge and methodological approaches related to research in these fields. Their understanding of molecular and cellular biology should enable them to easily navigate related scientific disciplines as well. They should be able to apply their knowledge in planning and interpreting the results of biological and biomedical experiments: independently formulate complex research problems, design effective approaches to solve them, recognize and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various methodological approaches and techniques, and critically interpret the obtained data. Additionally, they should be able to clearly and appropriately explain and present the results of scientific experiments to both domestic and international professional and non-professional audiences. Graduates must be capable of an independent publication activity, able to prepare formal scientific grant proposals, and objectively review the publications and projects of other authors. They are fully prepared for international scientific collaboration and can integrate into both field-specific and interdisciplinary scientific teams.

The fields of molecular and cell biology, genetics, and virology are currently among the most widely utilized and rapidly developing areas of biology and biomedicine, resulting in high societal demand for graduates in these fields. These professionals are sought after not only in academia but also in the development of new biotechnologies (pharmaceutical and food industries, agriculture), in the field of molecular medicine, forensic laboratories, and other public and private sectors. The programme's graduates are prepared to take on scientific and teaching positions at both domestic and international universities, research institutes engaged in basic and applied research, and research and technology centers. In the non-academic sphere, they may find employment in specialized clinical, diagnostic, and forensic laboratories, as well as in laboratories in the pharmaceutical and food industries, environmental protection, or animal/plant breeding.

Institutions Guaranteeing and Supervising the Programme

The programme is co-accredited at four faculties of Charles University (Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine and Third Faculty of Medicine) and eight institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Institute of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Institute of Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics and Institute of Experimental Botany).

In addition to the mentioned faculties and institutions, supervisors from other biomedical and molecular biology and genetics institutes in the Czech Republic also sometimes participate in the programme, e.g., Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Endocrinology, Institute of Rheumatology or National Institute of Public Health, among others.

More detailed information about the research groups of the programme's main supervisors can be found here. On the same website, you will also find links to currently offered doctoral (and potentially postdoctoral) positions and Ph.D. topics listed in SIS. However, it is possible (and recommended) that if you are interested in a topic for which there is no current offer, you contact the head of the relevant supervisory Laboratory in advance and arrange an individual consultation.

Supervisors / Co-supervisors and Their Responsibilities

The role of supervisors is to guide the doctoral students academically, recommend relevant scientific literature for their projects (particularly at its beginning), teach students how to navigate the professional community and publicly present their research results, and mentor them in imparting knowledge to other students. Additionally, the supervisors help their students establish professional contacts both domestically and internationally, teach them how to secure financial resources for their projects, and ensure the operational and technical support necessary for the doctoral projects (in collaboration with the supervising institution). Supervisors' duties include monitoring the student's academic progress and regularly consulting on the progress and outcomes of the doctoral project (including overseeing the fulfillment of publication requirements set by the Subject Area Board). Supervisors must collaborate with their students to create their Individual Study Plan (ISP) and evaluate its fulfillment annually in the SIS module, submitting this evaluation to the Subject Area Board for approval (see Article Four, Consolidated Rector's Directive No. 19/2018 as amended by Rector's Directive No. 5/2020).

Doctoral supervisors can be academic or research staff members in the fields covered by the programme. They should ensure the quality and proper guidance of the student and have sufficient time to devote to supervising the doctoral student. Supervisors are appointed and dismissed by the dean of the respective faculty based on the recommendation of the Subject Area Board. If a supervisor is not an associate professor or full professor and has not yet supervised a doctoral student in the MCBGV programme at the respective faculty, he/she must be approved by the programme's Subject Area Board and the Scientific Council of the respective faculty (this approval must be obtained separately for each doctoral study programme and each faculty, i.e., even if the individual has been already approved as a supervisor for another DSP at the same faculty or another faculty of the same DSP, a new application must be submitted!).

Given the diversity of scientific fields in which our doctoral students work and study, as well as differing publication practices and the varied nature of work at the medical faculties, the Faculty of Science at Charles University, institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and other supervisory institutions, the Subject Area Board of the DSP MCBGV does not have strictly unified requirements for those applying to become supervisors. Each applicant is evaluated individually. Consideration is given primarily to the applicant's overall academic qualifications, previous publication activity (with emphasis on publications where the applicant is the main author and on recent publications), past experience in supervising students, the financial feasibility of the proposed doctoral projects, and, of course, to whether the proposed projects align with the DSP MCBGV.

An applicant for a supervisory role must therefore submit to the programme Guarantor (who will forward the materials to the Subject Area Board for evaluation) the following:

1) Mandatory: An academic CV (including all previous experience in supervising undergraduate, master's, or doctoral students in any programme at any university. The CV must also list successful grant activities at least over the past 5 years, including the grant title, provider, duration, and the applicant's role in the project (principal investigator, co-investigator, collaborator, external contractor, etc.)

2) Mandatory: A list of publications (structured as follows: 1) IF publications from the last 5 years (plus the year of application submission), indicating those where the applicant is the first or corresponding author, along with the IF, AIS, or quartile of the relevant journal according to WoS; 2) other IF publications, marked similarly; 3) any other publications the applicant deems relevant (e.g., books, book chapters, etc.); 4) h-index and total citation count according to WoS, excluding self-citations. If the applicant is the author/co-author of more than 40 IF publications, only the most important ones can be listed in section 2, with a total count provided; however, all publications in section 1 must be listed in full)

3) Mandatory: Annotation(s) of project(s) the applicant intends to offer to doctoral students (this may include one or more projects; it is necessary to state the existing or anticipated sources of financial support for the research. It is also recommended to indicate whether a relevant and feasible international internship can be arranged for the project. Although such an internship is not yet a mandatory requirement for MCBGV doctoral students, the possibility of completing and securing a meaningful international internship is welcomed by both doctoral students and the Subject Area Board)

4) An optional motivation letter may be included (explaining why the applicant is interested in supervising doctoral students and what can be offered to them by the applicant)

For the Faculty of Science, the above documents can be sent directly to the Programme Guarantor via email. The medical faculties have additional specific requirements regarding the format of supervisory applications, whether they should be submitted electronically or in print, and what exactly (in addition to the requirements set by the Subject Area Board) must be attached. In such cases, applications are submitted to the department responsible for doctoral studies at the respective faculty. Relevant information can be found on the websites of the respective faculties (First Faculty of Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine), or you may contact the doctoral studies administrators (First Faculty of Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine).

Note: The approval process can take a considerable amount of time, depending on the meeting dates of the relevant Subject Area Board/Scientific Councils. At the Faculty of Science, new supervisory applicants are only approved twice a year - spring and fall. Once the supervisor is approved and usually only when he/she officially becomes the supervisor of a specific doctoral student, an official appointment letter is sent by the respective department responsible for doctoral studies (typically not before then). However, it is possible to inquire about the approval status with the DSP Guarantor approximately three months after submitting the application).

For co-supervisors, the situation is somewhat similar. A co-supervisor should be a specialist in a specific area that the supervisor's Laboratory cannot adequately cover academically or technically; usually, he/she should not be from the same Laboratory as the supervisor - see Article Five, Consolidated Rector's Directive No. 19/2018 as amended by Rector's Directive No. 5/2020). The assignment of a co-supervisor to a specific student must always be proposed by the student's supervisor and the same rules apply to applications as for supervisory roles, except that a project annotation is not required, but the specific student for whom the co-supervisor is proposed and the reason for the assignment must be provided. Specific forms for such requests can be found at the websites of the departments responsible for doctoral studies at individual faculties.

If a supervisor fails to fulfill their duties significantly or violates Charles University's Code of Ethics in relation to doctoral students, the student should contact the programme Guarantor (as well as the relevant faculty DSP coordinator, see below), who will decide on the appropriate course of action depending on the specific problem and situation. Similarly, the supervisor should contact the programme Guarantor if the situation is reversed. If there is written or email communication between the supervisor and the doctoral student regarding the issue, it is recommended to present it.

Guarantor, Subject Area Board and Faculty Coordinators

Guarantor of the Programme and Chair of the Subject Area Board: Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Dana Holá, Ph.D.

Subject Area Board: The current composition of the Subject Area Board can be found here. The Subject Area Board for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics, and Virology is part of the Coordination Group for the Natural Sciences Doctoral Programmes and the Coordination Group for the Doctoral Study Programmes in Biomedicine. 

The Coordinators of the Study Programme for the Respective Faculties:

The Admission Process

Applicants to the programme sapply for specific topics, so it is necessary for them to coordinate with the relevant supervisor before submitting their application to ensure they can work on the project in the respective Laboratory. It is recommended that the future supervisor also attends the admission interview (medical faculties explicitly require the supervisor's presence). Applicants are also required to submit a sufficiently detailed abstract of their future doctoral project as an appendix to their application (including a preliminary project title, the supervisor and their institution, a description of the project topic, and its potential scientific contribution). The doctoral project must be research-oriented, meaning it should involve scientific research that contributes to the development of the relevant scientific field (introducing new methods/techniques into the laboratory or merely characterizing a set of samples without deeper significance is not acceptable as a doctoral project!).

The official admission process occurs once a year (twice a year for the Faculty of Science and the First Faculty of Medicine). Applications must be submitted by the end of April (for the second admission round at the Faculty of Science and the First Faculty of Medicine typically in December). The actual admission process takes place at the end of June (for the second admission round at the Faculty of Science and the First Faculty of Medicine, typically in January or early February). Current admission conditions, specific dates, and information on the required documents and their format, are published each year on the websites of Charles University and the respective faculties (Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine).

At the Faculty of Science, applicants can also apply to the STARS programme, which is annually offered for exceptionally talented students. This programme usually has at least one position within the doctoral study programme Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics, and Virology. The programme is associated with an additional scholarship.

The admission process is conducted as an oral interview. As part of the admission interview, the applicant must give a brief presentation in English, during which they will discuss their future doctoral project. However, this talk must be without notes, i.e., without any prepared ppt/pdf/other presentation!. The committee's questions will follow this talk and will usually relate partially to its topic or to things mentioned in the project annotation. The committee will ask questions in English, and the applicant should answer also in English. However, the questions may also cover more general areas of molecular or cellular biology, genetics, or virology. The ability to think about and consider how a scientific problem might be solved, what issues might arise, etc., is always more important than detailed textbook knowledge without real understanding, although serious deficiencies in basic knowledge in the relevant four fields of the programme also reduce chances for successful admission.

Some collaborating institutions (e.g., institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences) also hold their own preliminary rounds of the admission process (usually in January or February) - relevant information can always be found on the websites of these institutes. However, the acceptance during this preliminary round of admission interviews is not in any way binding for the Charles University and does not automatically mean that the applicant will be accepted into the doctoral study programme during the official admission interviews held by the respective Faculty!

Successful applicants will have to officially enroll in the 1^st year of their doctoral studies before the start of the academic year (typically at the end of September; for the second admission round at the Faculty of Science and the First Faculty of Medicine, typically in February). Information on how, when, and where these enrollments take place, and what documents need to be submitted, can be found on the websites of the respective faculties (Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine), or by contacting the doctoral studies administrative personnel (see below).

Doctoral Bursaries and Scholarships

All doctoral students studying within the full-time form of the study programme receive a regular monthly bursary once their studies commence (but not if they are studying in the combined form!), throughout the whole standard study period (i.e., four years). However, this bursary is not provided during he official period(s) of interruptions of their study or if the student has previously unsuccessfully attempted a doctoral programme at the Czech Republic (see Scholarship and Bursary Rules of the Charles University). The specific amount of the doctoral bursary is determined by the Dean of the relevant faculty (see the Dean's Measures / Orders / Provisions for the relevant academic year, available here: Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine). The amount of the monthly bursary typically increases after the successful completion of the State Doctoral Examination. The Dean may also reduce the bursary amount, upon the proposal of the Subject Area Board, in case the student fails to meet certain obligations of his/her individual study plan without proper justification.

In accordance with the Scholarship and Bursary Rules of the Charles University and the internal regulations of the relevant faculty, doctoral students may also receive additional scholarships/bursaries (e.g., Bursary to Support Study in the Czech Republic, Accomodation Bursary, Bursaries in Cases Worthy a Special Consideration, Scholarships for Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Activities of for Outstanding RDI activities, etc.). At the Faculty of Science, they may also hold a scholarship within the STARS programme. They may also be nominated for one of the annual awards. More details about this aspect of doctoral studies can be found on the websites of the respective faculties (Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine), or by contacting the administrative personnel for doctoral studies (see below). Doctoral students may also become employees of their supervising institution in accordance with applicable legal regulations; however, this option entirely depends on the decisions of the responsible bodies of the relevant institution and is not guaranteed (please inquire directly with your supervisor).

Study Requirements and Individual Curriculum / Study Plan (ISP)

Preparation and Regular Yearly Evaluation of ISP

The Individual Curriculum / Study Plan (ISP) must always be prepared and followed in accordance with the requirements of the Subject Area Board (see below). Detailed, annually updated instructions on the technical aspects of preparing the ISP and conducting its yearly evaluation can be found at the Faculty of Science Study Department's website (the students from medical faculties can usually follow these guidelines as well, adjusting specific information related only to the Faculty of Science as needed; additional ISP guidelines can be found on the websites of the respective faculties – see below). All students and their supervisors are also informed about this by email from the Study Information System, or by the administrative personnel for doctoral studies (depending on the respective faculty).

Recommendations from the programme Guarantor regarding the factual content of the ISP both for its preparation and its yearly evaluation, can be found here:

• Preparation of ISP
• Yearly Evaluation of the ISP

Study Duties

Completion of Specialized Lectures/Courses

Due to the wide variability of research topics within the programme, the Subject Area Board does not set a list of specific lectures/courses that must be completed. Doctoral students select courses and include them in their individual study plan in consultation with their supervisor and based on their professional needs. However, doctoral students must complete at least one specialized lecture/course from the subjects taught by the Faculty of Science or the medical faculties of Charles University (including subjects provided by collaborating institutions) related to the topic of their doctoral thesis (it is, of course, possible to enroll in and complete more specialized courses as needed and recommended by the supervisor). The lecture/course must be a genuinely scientific subject (so-called soft-skills courses are not accepted as a required study duty, although students may, of course, enroll in and complete them if deemed appropriate by them or by the faculty they are studying at).

A list of courses, that may be interesting and useful for students of the Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics, and Virology programme (including those most frequently chosen by our students or those beneficial from a professional/methodological perspective), can be found here. The Subject Area Board particularly recommends the lecture series Advances in Molecular Biology and Genetics (the SIS code MPGS0034, for the First Faculty of Medicine B90041), annually organized by the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. This list is by no means exhaustive, as it is continually evolving, and students may choose and enroll in any course that will be useful during their doctoral studies. Additional currently offerred interesting courses can be also found at the Doctoral Study Programmes in Biomedicine website, or at Doctoral Study Hub of the Charles University.

In addition to the above duty to complete at least one specialized course, which is directly stipulated by the Subject Area Board of the DSP Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics, and Virology programme, additional specific study duties may be established by the internal regulations of the faculty to which the student is enrolled, and fulfilling these may be mandatory for students of that faculty if explicitly stated in its official regulations. This applies for the students of the First, Second and Third Faculties of Medicine, who must meet the following strictly prescribed obligations (some in a specific year of study), even if not directly required by our Subject Area Board (individual faculties have the right to impose these requirements on their students):

* If the students of the 3rd Faculty of Medicine do not fulfill the required three obligations in the 1st year, they may replace two of them by completing a long-term foreign internship or actively presenting their results at a scientific conference. However, their supervisor must consult with the Vice Dean for Doctoral Studies according to the rules; otherwise, they must propose a C grade during the annual ISP evaluation, which could lead to the termination of studies - see Dean´s Provision No. 2022/02 (not available in English)

Participation in Scientific Conferences

The Subject Area Board strongly recommends that doctoral students actively participate in national and especially international conferences, either through their own presentations or poster sessions. Such participation provides valuable and highly useful experience for further scientific and research activities. Doctoral students should also attend various types of regular doctoral conferences organized by their faculty or supervisory institution; attendance at such conferences may also be a mandatory part of the ISP, if required by the internal regulations of the faculty (see the table above; this may also be required for students who work on their doctoral projects in one of the institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences where such regular annual doctoral conferences are held).

Participation in Grant Project Preparation

The Subject Area Board recommends active involvement of doctoral students in the preparation of grant projects at their research institution. It is also highly recommended that doctoral students prepare and submit their own projects in the yearly competition for grant allocation at Charles University (GA UK).

Participation in International Cooperation

Doctoral students should undertake a research internship abroad (with a total duration of at least one month) during their studies. The inclusion of this internship in the ISP is primarily decided by the supervisor, and its realization depends on the possibilities of the respective research institution. If an internship cannot be arranged, doctoral students should engage in international collaboration in another manner, in accordance with the Standards for Study Programmes at Charles University (article 13 of the Rector´s Directive 13/2019 as amended by Rector´s Directive 22/2022).

Information about various programmes that support international mobility, current offers for study stays abroad, internships, etc., can be found at websites of Charles University and the individual faculties (Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine, Second Faculty of Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine); for further information, contact the administrative personnel at the relevant departments of the respective faculties.

Creative Work and the Publication Activity

The main requirement for creative work is the independent execution of original and high-quality scientific research, resulting in at least two original scientific publications related to the topic of the doctoral project and published during the doctoral study. At least one of these publications must be an original paper where the doctoral student is the first author and has made a significant contribution. Publication outputs must appear in peer-reviewed journals indexed in databases recognized by the international scientific community (e.g., Web of Science, impact factor journals). In exceptional and justified cases (e.g., obtaining a high-quality first-author publication), the Subject Area Board may decide otherwise. For unpublished papers, confirmation that the manuscript has been accepted for publication by a scientific journal must be provided. Shared first authorship can be recognized as first authorship but requires prior approval from the programme Guarantor. If the second required publication is of a type other than an "original paper," it is also advisable to consult the situation with the programme Guarantor first. Video publications are not accepted (unless accompanied by a complete text).

Additional publication requirements for doctoral students in relation to their ISP may be specified by the internal regulations of the respective faculty (e.g., for the students of the Third Faculty of Medicine, see the table above).

Regulations concerning university/faculty affiliation on publications and its correct wording can be found in the appendix to Rector´s Directive 40/2021 as amended by the Rector´s Directive 26/2023, with official English faculty names in Article 5 of Appendix 1 to Constitution of the Charles University. It is also necessary to adhere to the internal regulations of the respective faculty. If a doctoral student is an author of a publication acknowledging support from a GA UK grant he/she is a principal investigator or a co-investigator of (or from other university projects requiring this), the university and faculty affiliation must be stated (otherwise, such a publication would not be recognized for grant fulfillment). All publications with university/faculty affiliation must also be recorded in the OBD database (see Article 11 of Rector´s Directive 40/2021 as amended by the Rector´s Directive 26/2023). For further information on these aspects of publication activities, the programme Guarantor can provide guidance.

Each doctoral student should also establish so-called Personal Identifiers for Researchers, i.e., 1) ORCID; 2) Researcher ID/Publons ID for Web of Science, and possibly 3) Scopus ID (see Article 5 of Rector´s Directive 40/2021 as amended by the Rector´s Directive 26/2023).

State Doctoral Examination (SDE) and Defense of the Ph.D. Thesis

State doctoral examinations and defenses of Ph.D. theses are not organized individually but occur three times a year during regular two-week periods (usually early February, late June, and during September). The specific dates for the state doctoral examinations and thesis defenses, as well as the periods during which relevant applications can be submitted, are announced well in advance for each academic year. This information is always available at the beginning of the academic year from the faculty coordinators and study department administrative personnel at the respective faculties (dates for the following academic year are announced in September of the previous academic year). Only in very exceptional, justified cases, and after prior consultation with the Guarantor of the programme and/or the respective faculty coordinator, can a thesis be defended outside these periods (e.g., if the student has a date of child birth set exactly for the respective period, if the student must leave due to an excellent job offer in a prestigious research institute abroad, if there are serious health reasons, etc.); however, this must be arranged in advance and the student/supervisor must contact the Guarantor immediately after such situation is known to him/her. No such exceptions are made for SDEs.

The Set Periods for the State Doctoral Examinations and Thesis Defenses – Academic Year 2024/2025:

State Doctoral Examination

Doctoral students must apply for the SDE no later than during their third year of study, If unsuccessful, a second attempt must be made no later than during the following academic year. Unlike undergraduate and Master’s studies, applications for the SDE are not submitted directly through the SIS, but must be delivered to the administrative department for the doctoral studies of the respective faculty as a printed, completed, and signed application form along with other required documents (links to the relevant websites for these forms are provided below). Students from the First Faculty of Medicine must not only apply for the SDE according to faculty rules but also pass it by the end of the third year of study - see Dean´s Order No. 16/2022 (available in Czech only).

The State Doctoral Examination is oral and is tailored to the doctoral student's specific research. It consists of two subjects/areas, which depend on the topic of the doctoral project. Doctoral students must demonstrate detailed and current knowledge in topics directly related to their dissertation (this is the first and the most important subject for the SDE), including related topics and knowledge of principles, possibilities, and limitations of methodological approaches relevant to their research. Additionally, students should demonstrate a good general theoretical overview in molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, or virology (students must choose one of these four scientific fields as their second SDE subject) at the current level of knowledge. It is expected that students will clearly demonstrate their ability to grasp the essence of the problem, place it in a broader context, and particularly show creative thinking.

Detailed information about the SDE procedure and the requirements for students related to this examination and application can be found here.

Ph.D. Thesis and Its Defense

The Ph.D. Thesis represents the culmination and main output of the entire doctoral study. It must be an original author’s work allowing an assessment of whether the candidate is prepared for independent scientific work in the respective field. The doctoral students should be able to comprehensively address the scientific problem in appropriate depth and formulate independent opinions and questions arising from the results of their doctoral project.

Before submitting the thesis for defense the doctoral student must 1) complete all study duties listed in the ISP (referring to subjects with SIS codes), 2) successfully pass the state doctoral examination, and 3) be the author of at least two original scientific publications related to the dissertation topic and published during the doctoral study (more on these publications can be found in the requirements on Creative Work and the Publication Activity). The list of publications that constitute the basis of the Ph.D. thesis, must be sent by email to the relevant faculty coordinator before submitting the application for defense; the coordinator will verify whether the publication requirements set by the Subject Area Board have been met (fulfillment of other requirements before the thesis defense is checked by the respective administrative department).

At the Faculty of Science, the student applies for the defense by uploading the thesis text, any appendices (attention to the correct format!), abstracts in Czech and English, and CV directly into the SIS, allowing it to pass through the relevant SIS checks and confirming submission. The administrative personnel at the Study Department receives notification of the dissertation submission, verifies that the student has met all obligations (only publication requirements are checked directly by the programme Guarantor before the student even uploads the work to the SIS, see the previous paragraph) and confirms the submission in SIS. At this point, the student is formally registered for the defense.

At the medical faculties of Charles University the application for the dissertation defense is not submitted directly in the SIS, but must be delivered to the administrative department responsible for doctoral studies at the respective faculty as a printed, completed, and signed application form along with other required documents (links to the relevant websites for these forms are provided below).

Detailed information about the possible format of the Ph.D. thesis and the defense procedure can be found here.

Before the defense, the quality of the dissertation (its scientific content and formal aspects) is assessed by two reviewers (in necessary cases, the number of reviewers may be higher - e.g., in co-tutelle studies or in repeated defenses where the first attempt was unsuccessful). Reviewers cannot be any of the authors of the publications included as a part of the thesis and, of course, not any member of the research group of the supervisor. Proposals for reviewers are usually submitted by the supervisor to the relevant faculty coordinator or defense committee chair; these proposals may or may not be accepted.

In the case of an unsuccessful dissertation defense, the committee will determine whether it is necessary or possible to revise or supplement the work and specify concrete requirements. In such cases, the student cannot apply for a second defense attempt earlier than six months after the first attempt.

Recently defended Ph.D. theses can be found in the Charles University Digital Repository (just write "Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics and Virology" string to the Search field and sort by the Issue Date Descending)

Links to Faculty Websites Related to Doctoral Studies