Formal requirements of the doctoral study programme
In general
PhD students are involved in the activities of the faculty departments, in particular in scientific and educational tasks and activities as agreed with their supervisor and head of the department. These activities include, e. g. practical training supervision. A key part of the programme is students´ involvement in the work of research laboratories.
The PhD students are obliged to fulfil all the requirements defined in the individual study plan. This plan includes the stages of study, the deadlines for completing examinations, and tasks related to publishing in professional journals.
Total amount of credits for 8-semester's doctoral degree is 240 credits. Courses are divided into required and optional. Some courses can be enrolled repeatedly. Enrolment in the next semester is defined by the university rules stated in the Study and Examination Regulations of Masaryk University.
Courses
The summary of required and optional PhD courses is available in the document published on the Document Server of the Information system.
Requirements of PhD study
Doctoral students are required to complete a minimum one-month internship abroad.
The internship can be divided into several stays, but the minimum length of stay is 10 days.
As part of the individual study plan, the student is required to give a lecture in English at a conference or another professional forum. Fulfilling this requirement is expected in the earlier years of study. Compliance will be checked through the student’s declaration when applying for the doctoral thesis proposal defence. This declaration should be provided on a separate form. If, at the time of submitting the defence application, the student has not yet fulfilled this requirement, it must be completed as soon as possible and reported to the Doctoral Board in the semester evaluation in the MU Information System.
In accordance with the Faculty of Informatics Directive No. 1/2026 the doctoral students are required to develop their pedagogical skills – for a total of 150 hours during their studies – by:
- participating in teaching (course seminars, project corrections in courses) and
- supervising bachelor´s or master´s theses.
This corresponds to course seminars and project corrections in courses during the three semesters, or supervising 3 theses. These activities may be combined; for example, the student may fulfil this requirement by teaching in course semminars for two semesters and supervising one thesis. It is expected that the student will meet these obligations in the earlier years of the PhD study. Compliance will be checked primarily through the student’s declaration when submitting the application for the doctoral thesis proposal defence. The declaration will be provided on a separate form. If, at the time of submitting the defence application, the student has not yet fulfilled this requirement, it must be completed as soon as possible and reported to the Doctoral Board in the semester evaluation in the MU Information System.
In accordance with the above-mentioned Directive No. 1/2026, PhD students in the full-time study mode are expected to assist the faculty by supervising examinations (required minimum is 10 hours per semester), and by assisting during promotional and popularization activities (required minimum is 5 hours per year). These activities are recorded on the form Records of assistance, which needs to be passed to the Office for Doctoral and International studies (Office A209).
Dissertation thesis
The prerequisites for the submitting the application for the dissertation thesis defence are:
- successful passing the thesis proposal defence, as an important part of the PhD study;
-
at least two reviewed publications in English:
the absolute minimum are two publications in non-predatory journals with IF or in standard sessions of refereed conferences of rank B or higher. The condition is that the student has published (or has had accepted for publication) at least two peer-reviewed research publications in a high-quality international forum. According to the common international standards in computer science, we accept as a high-quality publication not only research papers in journals with a good impact factor, but also peer-reviewed research contributions presented at international conferences that are recognized as high-quality by some of the established international CS conference rankings (such as CORE rank B or higher). Definition of a high-quality publication at FI MU further specifies the requirements. The lower bound of two high-quality publications is only the bare minimum (and the number of publications for a typical doctoral dissertation is usually higher) and, depending on the actual situation, more publications may be required in individual cases – e.g. when the student’s share of the publications is not major, or when the publications are not of top quality. However, it is not possible to replace the quality of publication outcomes by their quantity. In such situations, the Doctoral Board consults the cases individually;
passing obligatory courses and obtaining at least 240 credits, of which 215 credits are for completion of the course DINDIV.
On the basis of successful PhD thesis defence graduates are awarded with the academic degree Ph.D.
Courses
The summary of required and optional PhD courses is available in this document. For PhD students enrolled before autumn semester 2019, applies this summary published on the Document Server of the Information system.
Dissertation thesis
The necessary prerequisites for the submitting the application for the dissertation thesis defence are:
- successful passing the state doctoral exam, which includes the defence of thesis proposal.
-
at least two reviewed publications in English
Definition of a high-quality publication at FI MU further specifies the requirements. Note that the lower bound of two high-quality publications is only the bare minimum (and the number of publications for a typical doctoral dissertation is higher than that) and, depending on the actual situation, more publications could be required in individual cases, e.g., when the student’s share of the publications is not major or when the publications are not of top quality. However, it is not possible to replace the quality of publication outcomes by their quantity. In such situations, the Doctoral Board consults the cases individually.
- Internship abroad in the duration of at least one month completed through the course DZAST DZAST for a minimum of 12 credits. The internship may be divided into several stays, with the minimum duration of each stay being 10 days. An exception applies to students who commenced their doctoral studies no later than in the year 2019 and who submitted a request for exemption from the internship in August 2020.
- Obtaining at least 240 credits, of which 215 credits are for completion of the course DINDIV.
On the basis of passing the state doctoral examination and successful phd thesis defence graduates are awarded with the academic degree Ph.D.
Prerequisites of the PhD study
PhD students in the full-time study mode are expected to assist the faculty by supervising examinations and tests (required minimum is 10 hours per semester). These activities are recorded on the form Records of assistance which needs to be passed to the Office for Doctoral and International Studies (Office A209).