Study obligations
The curriculum includes 1-3 professional courses finished with an examination related to the topic of the doctoral thesis, of which usually 1 doctoral student completes outside the Faculty of Arts of Charles University (possibly also abroad). At least half of the prescribed examinations are taken by the end of the first year of study, the remaining examinations by the end of the second year of study. The doctoral student presents the dissertation in progress at the doctoral seminar in each year of study. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate the progress made in the study. The preparation for the seminar serves as the basis for the student's writing of the annual evaluation of his/her studies, and the conclusions from the discussion of the student's presentation serve the supervisor and the departmental board for the student's continuous annual evaluation.
Before submitting the application for the state doctoral examination, the doctoral student prepares a Theoretical-Methodological Debate; the draft debate is consulted and approved by the supervisor, and the electronic version of the debate is subsequently submitted by the doctoral student together with the application for the state doctoral examination to the study department and copied to the secretary of the doctoral programme at the training institute.
Other obligations in each year of study:
1st year of study: the student submits for evaluation at the end of the year 1 article published or accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal (ideally a journal with impact factor) or a manuscript of an article submitted to such a journal (in this case the relevance of the article will be assessed by the departmental board).
2nd-3rd year of study: in this period the student publishes at least 2 articles, at least one of them in a foreign journal with impact factor. At least once during this period he/she presents research results at a national and once at an international conference.
The State Doctoral Examination should be taken by the end of the 2nd year of study, and at the latest by the end of the 3rd year.
Requirements for creative activity
The creative activity mainly consists in the dissertation project and the preparation and publication of professional articles related to the topic of the dissertation. Active involvement of the student in the preparation and solution of grant projects of the department is recommended. At the same time, the student usually prepares his/her own GAUK project proposal, which covers the solution of a part of his/her dissertation.
The dissertation may be submitted in the form of a monograph or a monothematic set of publications. It contains original and published results or results accepted for publication. Required publications prior to the defence of the dissertation:
1) Dissertation in the form of a monograph: For the defense of the dissertation, the doctoral student publishes at least 3 works in peer-reviewed professional journals. Of the mentioned number, there must be at least 2 publications in a journal with an impact factor (of which at least 1 publication in a foreign journal). At the same time, the doctoral student must be the first author of at least 1 article.
2) Dissertation in the form of a monothematic set of publications: The minimum number of published scientific works is 3. If there are exactly 3 publications, at least two publications must be in a foreign journal with an impact factor and one in a journal on WoS or SCOPUS. At the same time, the doctoral student must be the first author of at least 2 articles. If the set consists of 4 or more publications, it can be peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, chapters in peer-reviewed monographs published by a renowned publishing house (e.g. Academia, Nakladatelství ČGS, Springer, etc.) or articles in peer-reviewed conference proceedings indexed on WoS or SCOPUS. At the same time, in the case of 4 or more publications, there must be at least 2 articles in a periodical with an impact factor (of which at least 1 article in a foreign periodical with an impact factor) and at the same time at least 1 other article in peer-reviewed journals/monographs/collections on WoS or SCOPUS. At the same time, the doctoral student must be the first author of at least 1 article. Submitted publications are required to form a logical, thematically compact whole. The introductory chapter of the dissertation must have the character of a fundamental treatise that describes the essence (core) of the doctoral student's research efforts. In the final chapter, the doctoral student discusses the key conclusions of the research and the possibilities of its further direction.
Only publications that meet the following conditions are included in the mandatory publications in points 1 and 2:
a) is related to the topic of the dissertation;
b) in the event that it is a collective publication, the authorship of the doctoral student is significant and consists of professional work, not only formal work,
c) only publications that indicate the affiliation of the training workplace/department are accepted.
In the case of collective theses, the author's share of the doctoral student must be specified, and this specification is given in the entry part of the dissertation. If the publication has not yet been published, the doctoral student submits, together with the application for the dissertation defence, a confirmation from the editorial office that the publication has been accepted for publication. In the case of both types of dissertation, it is permissible for one of the prescribed publications to be undergoing the review process (the doctoral student shall attach a confirmation of acceptance for the review process). Its quality in this case will be assessed by the referees and the examination committee.
Requirements for completing foreign internships
During the standard period of study, the doctoral student completes a foreign internship (study or research stay), the length and nature of which are based on the specific individual needs of the dissertation (minimum in the range of 1 month, the recommended duration of the internship is 3-6 months). In exceptional cases, if the internship cannot be secured/completed, the student will engage in international cooperation in another way, e.g. by directly participating in an international research project.
State doctoral exam and dissertation defence
In order to register for the state doctoral examination, it is required to fulfill the study obligations (courses) according to the ISP and to submit an electronic version of the Theoretical-Methodological Debate of the dissertation.
The SDZ takes place in the form of a discussion over the Theoretical-Methodological Debate. The doctoral candidate will present the thematic focus, the research problem, the theoretical-methodological background and the state of the dissertation (max. 15 minutes). The members of the examination committee verify in particular the complexity of the presented problem of the thesis topic, the doctoral candidate's ability to actively solve the problem, the approach and the chosen methods of the proposed solution. During the discussion on the topic of the thesis, the members of the examination committee evaluate the student's answers in terms of the level of knowledge in one of the fields of study (geographic information systems, cartography or remote sensing) that is closest to the topic of the thesis. The student is expected to have detailed and up-to-date, i.e. expert, knowledge in this area and the ability to interpret it in a broader context, including overlaps with the other two fields of study.
The dissertation defence aims to demonstrate the ability to defend the results of the dissertation in a broader professional forum and to demonstrate the ability of scientific debate in the discussion. In order to apply for the dissertation defence, it is required to pass the State Doctoral Examination and fulfil all the obligations prescribed in the ISP (study abroad, publication criteria, etc.). The doctoral student submits his/her dissertation and signs up for the dissertation defence so that the defence can take place within the standard study period.
Participation of the student in the pedagogical activities of the department
A full-time doctoral student usually participates in teaching, conducting bachelor theses, also participates in consultations and opposition proceedings of bachelor or diploma theses, participates in lectures, exercises, etc. The doctoral student's participation in teaching is coordinated with the supervisor and the head of the department. If the teaching is not directly thematically related to the doctoral dissertation project, it is financially rewarded (e.g. DPP, FTE) beyond the normal doctoral scholarship.
Student presence and activities at the department
A full-time doctoral student is present at the department for a minimum of 12 hours per week. The PhD student participates in the running of the training centre, in promotional activities, in the organisation of workshops, etc. The doctoral student participates in dissertation defences in the doctoral study programme and in guest lectures at the training centre.