FI MU Study Catalogue 2021/2022

The FI MU Study Catalogue is a document describing the conditions of study at the Faculty of Informatics in Bachelor's and Follow-up Master's Degree Programs, which are valid for students who have started their studies in one of those study programs in the given academic year. Faculty of Informatics is committed to preserve these conditions as much as possible during the whole period of studies.


Details about Studies at FI MU

Regulations

Student duties and students' rights are defined by the Higher education act (Act No. 111/98 Coll.) and also by other mandatory standards, with which students are required to become acquainted. These are, namely, the following:

  • MU study and examination regulations which regulate the fundamental rights and obligations of students and defines the general rules of study at Masaryk University.
  • Disciplinary Code of the Faculty of Informatics which regulates the way of resolving disciplinary offenses (especially plagiarism, cheating on examinations, etc.).
  • Other regulations of the faculty and university (Scholarship regulations, Study-related fees, etc.) which specify selected individual aspects of study at the faculty.

Organization of studies

Study at Masaryk University is organized in semesters. Each semester has two parts, the teaching period (usually 13 weeks) and the exam period (6-7 weeks).

Before the beginning of the semester, students select and register subjects they intend to study during the semester. For students of the first year of a bachelor's study, the subjects are registered automatically according to the recommended study plan. During the first two weeks of teaching, students must confirm their choice by definitive enrolment for the subjects. During the teaching period lectures are held according to the stipulated timetable for the given semester, and the students fulfil the continuous duties that result from the teaching of individual subjects. Subsequently, in the exam period, they have to pass the examinations that verify the knowledge and skills acquired by the study. In the case of success in a sufficient number of subjects, the students proceed to the next semester. In case of failure exams and re-sits, students are obliged to re-enrol the subject at the earliest possible term. Repeated failure exams then results in termination of their studies. The exact study rules are defined by MU Study and Examination Regulations, which apply to the entire Masaryk University. The subjects can be exceptionally realized outside the teaching period (e.g. summer training courses take place during summer holidays). More information about study can students found on the webpage about studies.

Academic year's calendar lists the exact dates when each phase of the semester begins and ends.

Study programs and study options

The study programs at Masaryk University can generally define different ways/variants of a study of the program concerned. Each program contains at least one study option, but it may also allow for more. Each study program is denoted according to the study variants included as:

  • the degree program without specialization
  • the degree program with specializations
  • the degree program with the support of Major/Minor studies

One study program may also meet more than one designation, such as a study program without specializations with the support of Major/Minor studies.

Students are admitted to study programs, including the identification of the study option they want to study. The chosen study option is listed on the graduate diploma, and its content is taken into account during the final state examination. For study programs with specializations, each specialization is understood as a study option. Students can change their study option during the study (in particular, if it corresponds to another specialization in the same degree program). Study programs with specializations have a set of shared subjects that are compulsory in the study regardless of the chosen study option.

Major/Minor study is a special type of study at Masaryk University, which allows acquiring non-trivial comprehensive knowledge from two different study programs within the standard study period. In the case of Major/Minor study, the student's study load is divided into two parts in a 2:1 ratio. For realizing the study of two study programs in the standard expected time, the study programs with the support of Major/Minor studies define two special types of study options, the study option Major, which is in the range of 2/3 of the total expected load, and the study option Minor, 1/3 of the total expected load. Students defend the thesis in the study program in which they take the Major, but they have to pass the final state exam in both study programs with chosen options. In the case of successful completion of the Major/Minor study, both study programs are listed on the graduate diploma. When studying a Major/Minor study, the student is a student only of the study program (and of the faculty) in which the Major study option is taken.

The Faculty of Informatics has the right (accreditation) to teach the Bachelor's and Follow-up Master's degree programs as listed in the introduction to this page. The study programs are defined mainly by the composition of compulsory and compulsory elective subjects. The student is required to pass all compulsory and prescribed minimum selection of the elective subjects of the selected study option in the highest possible form of completion. Above the obligatory and elective subjects, the student is required to cope with an additional study load, whose quantification is measured by the credit system. The conditions for successful completion of the study program are listed individually for each study program and study option.

System of Credits

The study load of each subject is expressed by the number of credits. The student is obliged to collect a certain minimum amount of credits during the study. In addition to the credits obtained by passing compulsory and compulsory elective subjects (this usually accounts for about 80% of the total load), other necessary credits can be obtained by passing courses both from the Faculty of Informatics and other MU faculties.

Masaryk University uses a credit system that is fully compliant with the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). ECTS assumes that the standard semester load consists of 30 credits and at the same time assumes that one credit corresponds to 25 hours of study load (basically this means that the average student studying according to the standard curriculum has a 40-hour study week in the teaching period and about five weeks of study in the examination period). The study load is not only due to attendance at lectures, seminars, and exercises, but also comes from necessary independent work that accompanies the study of each particular subject.

The ECTS system opens the way for interdependence between universities throughout Europe. Students thus formally may take the opportunity to complete part of their studies at another European university with a guarantee of credits' transfer.

In addition to the possible way of subject graduation (exam, colloquium or credit), each subject is assigned a certain number of credits that represent its time requirements. At the Faculty of Informatics (except for exceptions) the credit value of a subject also includes the way the subject is graduated, two credits per exam, one credit per colloquium and no credits for credit. The number of credits earned for completion of a particular subject takes into account the preparation for various forms of completion.

Credits are also used to express other study conditions. The minimum amount of credits that must be obtained for the completion of the relevant study program (thirty times the standard length of study expressed in semesters), and the minimum requirements for enrolment in the following semester - these are given by the number of credits obtained by successfully passing the courses in the previous semester (or semesters).

Recommended study plan

The specific study program and the study option is defined by the composition of the prescribed compulsory and compulsory elective subjects and the minimum number of credits to be acquired by successful completion of these subjects. For each study program and study option, there is a prepared study plan that lists the expected mapping of compulsory subjects in the individual semesters of study. The plan is only recommended and it is not mandatory for the student to enrol courses in given semesters. The plan is guaranteed by the faculty and allows the students to graduate at the standard length of study. Beware, the recommended study plan does not contain enough credits to meet the minimum requirement for the number of credits earned for the entire study. Therefore, the student is obliged to complete the individual semesters with additional elective subjects.

The progress, composition, and details of the study (especially with respect to chosen option and/or specialization) can be altered by the students during their studies independently, taking into account their professional interests, the expected future employment or the optimal timing of the study corresponding best to their capability and interests. Significant deviations from the recommended plan are possible but may lead to an extension of the studies beyond the expected standard length. A mandatory limitation of the choice of subjects is only the obligation to pass an unsuccessful subject as soon as possible.