Dean’s measure no. 02/2019
on the programme STARS aimed at supporting talented doctoral students

Art. 1
Launching of the programme

The faculty considers the education of doctoral students one of its main priorities. The inclusion of talented students is beneficial for the scientific work as well as for the future careers of the talented students themselves. The faculty aims at attracting not only Czech doctoral students, but also talented students from abroad.

Because of this, the faculty launches the programme to support talented doctoral students:
STARS – Supporting Talented PhD Research Students (further referred to as STARS).

The goals of the STARS programme are:

  1. Financial support of talented students in doctoral study programmes accredited at the faculty.
  2. Innovation of forms and enrichment of the lectures’ content in doctoral study programmes.

ad (i) Financial support of talented students in doctoral study programmes

The faculty provides for each student in the STARS programme a special financial contribution to his scholarship or salary. The amount of this special contribution is at least 10,000 CZK monthly for each student. The financial contribution is provided from two resources: one half is given by the faculty and the second half is given by the research team or department where the student works. The condition to receive this special financial support is the admission and enrolment of the student to the first year of a full-time doctoral study programme at the faculty.

Both the faculty and the research team/department provide the financial contribution to the student for the whole time of the standard length of study on condition that:

  1. the student gets “A” at the annual assessment of doctoral students (i.e. the students fulfils
    the study requirements)
  2. there is no other circumstance that could be considered an obstacle for the provision of the
    finances according to the Code of Study and Examination of Charles University.

The same conditions are bound for the research team or the department of the student. The indispensable condition for the admission of a student to the STARS programme is the approval of the head of the department where would be the doctoral research conducted. This guarantees the continuity of the financial contribution to the student in case the research team runs out of financial resources.

The financial contribution to the student can be provided in two ways:

  1. as a monthly scholarship (special purpose bursary or research bursary)
  2. as a salary based on a work contract with the faculty (usually as a part-time work contract for the position of a researcher).

ad (ii) Innovation of forms and enrichment of the lectures’ content in doctoral study programmes.

The faculty organizes and introduces new methods of teaching to expand the current offer in the accredited doctoral study programmes. This means above all advanced methodology courses, advanced language courses, courses of scientific writing, courses of speaking skills, IT courses, programming, data management, career workshops, offers to increase mobility of doctoral students and to improve their professional networks. The faculty also supports conferences organized by students and lectures of established researchers.

Art. 2
Participants of the STARS programme

  1. It is possible to enrol in the STARS programme for:
    1. Faculty research teams or departments with a specific research topic for a doctoral project. The selection of the projects for the programme is done by the section research board and it is approved by the faculty research board.
    2. Candidates for doctoral study programmes. The selection of the programme participants is done by selected faculty research teams or departments upon the approval of the subject-area board. The selected participants enrol with their projects to the first year of a full-time doctoral programme at the faculty and they can request to be exempted from the admission exam according to the valid requirements for admissions procedure for doctoral study programmes at the Faculty of Science, Charles University.
  2. During the selection procedures for the STARS programme, it is also possible to make a stand-by list of students. In case that a selected candidate does not enter the STARS programme, the opportunity to participate in the STARS programme is given to the candidate who is next in the list. This procedure finishes when the full number of candidates is enrolled, the stand-by list is empty or until the end of October of the given year.
  3. A candidate from the stand-by list can be selected for the STARS programme if they meet all the conditions for the candidates for the STARS programme and if they meet the admission conditions valid for the given academic year (filing the application for a doctoral study programme as required and, if applicable, passing the entrance exam, proving their education on master level or a prove of acceptance of such education from abroad and enrolment for a study programme – within the deadlines set for the given academic year). Including a candidate from the stand-by list can be done before the end of October of the given year.

Art. 3
Organizational background of the STARS programme

The STARS programme is organized by the Vice-dean for Concept of Studies. Other faculty coordinators are designated and they are subordinated to the Vice-dean for Concept of Studies.

Among the duties of such coordinators there are:

  1. to organize the selection of faculty research teams and departments interested to participate in the programme in the year given (together with vice-deans and the Dean),
  2. to promote the programme in Czechia and abroad (together with the Public Relations Department and the Vice-dean for Concept of Studies),
  3. to design and promote new forms of teaching in doctoral study programmes.

The study of the doctoral students in the STARS programme follows the Code of the Organization of Study at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, and the Code of Study and Examination of Charles University.

Art. 4
Final provisions

This Dean’s Measure cancels the Dean’s Measure no. 16/2011 from October 11th, 2011, as amended on May 22nd, 2014.

In Prague, January 3rd, 2019.

  prof. RNDr. Jiří Zima, CSc.
Dean

Measure in PDF format