Study Requirements

Literature search of the actual state of the topic, planning and the scientific activities itself.

Enrol and get the credits for:

• XD100: Ph.D. Thesis (obligatory in each semester, 25 ECTS for semesters 1-4, 30 ECTS for semesters 5-8, 20 ECTS for semesters 9+; The total credit value of XD100 should be between one-half and two-thirds of the minimum credit value of the study, i.e. 120-160 credits for a four-year study.)
• XD101: Literature Study (obligatory in each semester)
• Journal Clubs: Bi9904/Bi9905 – Animal Physiology I, II; Bi9908/Bi9909 – Developmental Biology I, II; Bi9911/Bi9912 – Immunology (labmeetings, obligatory for 8 semesters, choose the journal club according to your specialisation)

• Pass the PhD Workshop at the end of the 3rd semester
• Pass the State Doctoral Exam
• Submit and defend the PhD thesis 

Identify your knowledge gaps and plan corresponding courses, trainings & workshops (at MUNI or outside). 

Obligations for completion of studies – enrol and get credits for:

• Bi1160: Courses on Advanced Methods for PhD Students corresponding with your research topic (2 courses obligatory = register and get credits for Bi1160 twice by the end of the 6th semester; it can be either a semester course or a specialized workshop corresponding with your research topic). This coded course (Bi1160) is formally introduced to give you a chance to attend any course on advanced methods even though it is outside MUNI or is not valued with credits. Consider the course Bi1160 just as a check-up of completion of the advanced methods courses. How to get the credits for Bi1160? – see FAQ below
• XD010/XD011: MU Life Sciences Seminar (obligatory for 8 semesters, 6 attendances per semester required, note: If the student is more than a half of the semester on a working stay abroad, he/she is not obliged to enrol in the course; if the stay lasts less than the half of the semester, the required number of attendance will be reduced in proportion to how long the stay abroad is. If the student attends an equivalent course abroad, it can be accepted as substitution of XD010/XD011 and the student can get the credits for XD010/XD011.)

The thesis should be based on minimum of 2 papers demonstrating the quality and independence of the student.

Obligations for completion of studies:

• Enrol and get credits for XD105: Scientific Publication Writing (obligatory for 2 semesters)

Minimum criteria for publications:

• 1 paper as a first author in the journal in Q1 or Q2 according to Journal Citation Reports
• at least 1 more paper as co-author (obligatory minimum but for a good grade you need more)

Note! In your publications, you have to indicate the affiliation of Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, 62500, Czech Republic. Otherwise, the publication cannot be accepted by the Doctoral Committee. Multiple affiliations (for example, when your PhD project is supervised under a different institution) are acceptable.

Obligations for completion of studies:

Get credits for Bi1165: English talk of PIDBA PhD students (presentation of results on scientific seminars, symposia, conferences, etc.; obligatory once per study period, by the end of the 6th semester); How to get the credits for Bi1165? – see FAQ below

Obligations for completion of studies:

• Enrol in each semester of the standard study period and get the credits for:
  • Bi0100/Bi0101: Seminar for PhD. Students I, II (obligatory for 8 semesters, 3 attendances per semester required)

Assistance with courses, exercises, advising undergrad students and other activities connected to teaching. The expected workload is approx. 100 hours through the study period required during semesters 1-4.

Obligations for completion of studies:

• Enrol and get credits for XD102: Teaching Assistance (obligatory for 2 semesters, by the end of the 4^th semester)

Attending courses, seminars, conferences, writing publications, all in English.

No formal check needed, included in parts 1. Research, dissertation project, 3. Publications and 4. Presentation.

Mandatory participation in international collaboration.

Obligations for completion of studies:

• Enrol and get credits for XD110: Placement Abroad (obligatory according to government regulation!). The required minimum is 1 month (31 days) but 3+ months are preferred (should be completed by the end of the 8^th semester). Discuss the options of stay abroad with your supervisor. Also, see the options of financing of your stay at Centre for International Cooperation of MUNI. Possible exceptions will be discussed individually. Read the details in FAQ: How to proceed with the obligatory stay or internship abroad?

Preparation and management of projects, scientific writing, communication, other soft-skills.

Obligations for completion of studies:

• Enrol and get the credits for:
  • C7777: Handling Chemical Substances (obligatory in every autumn semester)
  • Bi1150: Softskills course for PhD students (1 course per study period obligatory, complete by the end of the 4^th semester).

    This coded course (Bi1150) is formally introduced to give you a chance to attend any course on soft skills/career development even though it is outside MUNI or is not valued with credits. Consider the course Bi1150 just as a check-up of completion of soft skills/career development course. How to get the credits for Bi1150? – see FAQ below 

    The courses on soft skills offered at MUNI varies in time, please check the current offer and consult with your supervisor.

  • Bi1155: Practical training for PhD students of PIDBA is obligatory once per study period, minimum duration 2 weeks, by the end of the 6^th semester.

    Practical training means a stay in another laboratory than where you work on your PhD project. The purpose of the Practical Training is to see another working environment, different methods, and approaches used by colleagues in other research groups (it can be either a research group at universities/institutes or at a commercial company).

    It is your own responsibility to arrange the Practical Training. Ask your friends and colleagues if they can help you to arrange the stay in their research group. Discuss the options also with your supervisor. After the Practical Training, get confirmation about your stay from the host laboratory and write down a 1-page report about what you have learned (Is there something that works in the other lab better than at your place? You can suggest some improvements to the lab when you work on your PhD project.) Upload the report + confirmation from the host laboratory into IS – Document Server: https://is.muni.cz/auth/do/sci/zapisy_obor_rad/fivbz/bi1155_practical_training_for_phd_students_of_pidba/.

    How to get the credits for Bi1155? – see FAQ below
    

     

At the end of the 3^rd semester, you have to present your project to the Programme Board at the PhD Workshop.

In your presentation (15 minutes) you should:

The presentation is followed by a discussion (10 minutes) with the Programme Board.

The Programme Board assesses the level of student´s presentation and discussion:

1) Overall knowledge of the topic including context and meaning

2) Ability to explain and present their work

3) Knowledge of the hypothesis, methods of solution and alternatives

4) Knowledge of experimental techniques

5) Formal aspects of the presentation

The members of the board will approve or disapprove the submitted project and the level of subsequent discussion. In case of disapproval, the student has to present his/her project and results again next year. If the student fails again, the board will propose further steps in the project or will propose termination of the study.

You can enrol and get credits for: XD104: Literature Research (credits given by the supervisor as a part of the preparation for the PhD workshop).

The student may take the SDE at the earliest in the 5th semester of study and after fulfilling the above-described obligations. The table below summarizes the mandatory obligations, their required minimum and timing. Exceptions in justified cases are approved by the Programme Board.

The SDE takes place well in advance of the PhD defense (ideally 1 year) and consists of these steps:

1. The first step is to announce the intention of the student to take the SDE to the chairman of the Programme Board and to the study department.
2. The student will prepare 1 page report about the state of her/his project and will submit the PDF version of the report to the chairman of the Programme Board at least one week before the exam. Two examples for inspiration are here: 1 and 2.
3. The SDE consists of the presentation of the PhD project – within a maximum of 20 minutes, the student will present his/her research project, its hypotheses and the data he/she has so far, their evaluation, conclusions, and suggestions for further steps. This presentation has a preliminary form of the future dissertation defense.
4. In the follow-up discussion with the SDE committee, the student should prove the ability to apply his/her knowledge to solve specific problems and demonstrate good orientation in the fields involving the scientific problem investigated in the doctoral thesis. The discussion will be focused on the students’ research work.

The language of SDE is English, Czech or Slovak depending on students preferences and may be communicated with the chairman prior to SDE.

SDE committee will evaluate:

• overall knowledge of the topic including broader context and meaning
• ability to explain and present their work
• knowledge of hypothesis and methods of solution
• knowledge of experimental techniques, focusing on the ability to choose an optimal experimental approach
• ability to correctly interpret data, draw and discuss conclusions

In every semester, enrol the course XD100: Ph.D. Thesis (obligatory in each semester, 25 ECTS for semesters 1-4, 30 ECTS for semesters 5-8, 20 ECTS for semesters 9+). The total credit value of XD100 during the study should be between one-half and two-thirds of the minimum credit value of the study, i.e. 120-160 credits for a four-year study.

The doctoral thesis has to be based on student´s own and original scientific results and a necessary prerequisite for its acceptance in the program of the Animal Physiology, Immunology and Developmental Biology is that its most significant results should be published or accepted for publication in international peer-reviewed professional journals (registered in the ISI Journal Citation Reports database).

Minimum criteria for publications:

• 1 paper as a first author in journal in the Q1 or Q2 according to Journal Citation Reports
• at least 1 more paper as co-author (obligatory minimum but for a good grade you need more)
• If the articles and manuscripts contained in the thesis are written with co-authors, then the student must clearly define his/her specific share in each of them (not only the percentage).

In cases of shared first-authoring, the Doctoral Committee will apply generally stricter standards for the quality of publications.

In very exceptional cases, for example, an exceptionally high-quality publication that is associated with a long review process, some of the conditions may be waived. In this case, the Doctoral Committee will assess the written request of the supervisor and may approve the acceptance of the thesis for defense.

The preferred form of the doctoral thesis is a set of published articles or manuscripts accepted or ready for publication. A doctoral thesis in this form usually contains three articles (minimum two) or manuscripts of articles supplemented with an introductory chapter of an extent of 20 pages minimum, which will

• logically link the individual articles and put them in the context of contemporary knowledge
• define the main aims that the author of the thesis has set for him or herself
• evaluate the importance of the results achieved for the respective field

In this introductory chapter, the PhD students have to demonstrate their professional overview and a wider orientation in the given field than only in the specialized topics of individual articles.

Formal requirements on the PhD thesis:

• Official formal requirements for the thesis (CZ)
• Official formal requirements for the thesis (EN)
• The only acceptable language is English.
• The introductory essay contains the sections Introduction, Overview, Objectives, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Literature.
• Material and methods need not be included since sufficient information should be included in the annotated publications in the Annex.
• The Results and Discussions are, from the point of view of the significance of the work, the main chapters whose purpose is to present own achieved results in the context of already published knowledge; in the text, the doctoral student must prove his / her professional perspective and broader orientation in the field.
• The supposed extent of the dissertation is equivalent to 30-40 pages (without a list of literature and without attached articles) of standard format New Times Roman 12b., spacing 1,5.

PhD Defense:

The first formal step of the defense is to announce the intention to do so by the student to the chairman of the Programme Board and the study department.

The PhD thesis must be submitted to the study department at least 8 weeks prior to the planned defense. Students also elaborate self-report/summary of the final thesis, which they send in PDF version to the chairman of the doctoral committee at least one week before the defense (student can enrol and get credits for BD010: PhD Thesis). Two examples of the self-report/summary for inspiration are here: 1 and 2.

The work will be judged by 2 opponents, at least one being from a workplace outside MUNI. It is expected that at least one of the opponents will be from abroad. The presentation during the defense has a maximum duration of 25 minutes, followed by the statement of two opponents based on written reviews and their discussion with the student. In case of a dissertation that meets just the minimum requirements, the Doctoral Committee assesses the overall quality of the results and the dissertation thesis particularly carefully and critically and generally evaluates the result with a reduced grade. The PhD defense is conducted in English.

Informatively, we add the instructions that are given to the PhD thesis opponents: PhD Thesis Defense at OFIŽ

Plan your stay abroad well ahead (at least 2-3 months ahead) as you need to take care of important details – e. g. registration of your stay in IS MUNI system, arranging financial support of your stay, administrative issues regarding your work contract at MUNI, health insurance, etc.

Go through the following guiding documents and links and discuss the possibilities with your supervisor:

In Czech:

• https://www.sci.muni.cz/student/phd/rozvoj-dovednosti/stay-abroad
• https://www.sci.muni.cz/student/phd/uznavani-zahranicnich-stazi
• Zahraniční pobyty studentů DSP na PřF MU
• Výjezdy PhD student při souběhu prezenčního studia a úvazku

In English:

• https://www.sci.muni.cz/en/students/phd/develop-your-skills/stay-abroad
• https://www.sci.muni.cz/en/students/phd/recognition-of-placements-abroad
• Stays abroad of PhD students SCI MUNI
• PhD student stays abroad during concurrent full-time study and part-time work contract

Also, see the options of financing of your stay at Centre for International Cooperation of MUNI.

Tip!:

The Faculty of Science announces a new type of scholarships for foreign stays and internships, so-called A6 scholarship: Primarily for a stay of 1 month (30 days) or longer. In justified cases, it is possible to provide a scholarship for a stay abroad of at least 14 days. The amount of the scholarship is usually CZK 1,000 – 100,000 depending on the destination country and length of stay.To some extent, the scholarship can be combined with other forms of travel support (as for example Erasmus+ program). More information:

• Postup a pravidla udělování stipendií v rámci stipendijního programu na podporu mobilit doktorských studentů
• Procedure and rules for awarding scholarships in the framework of the scholarship program to support mobilities for doctoral students

For these courses,

• Bi1150: Softskills course for PhD students
• Bi1155: Practical training for PhD students of PIDBA
• Bi1160: Courses on Advanced Methods for PhD Students
• Bi1165: English talk of PIDBA PhD students

you will be given the credits for the course retrospectively, please follow these steps:

1. During your studies, you can attend any course that is relevant for your PhD project (no planning needed, this can be ad hoc course/workhop etc. – Bi1150, Bi1160), you can give a talk in English at a conference or a seminar (Bi1165) or/and you can go for practical training to another laboratory (Bi1155). It is however good to tell your supervisor that you plan to attend the particular event as part of your PhD studies.
2. At the end of the semester, specify in the Information system (IS) in the part “feedback on term content (zpětná vazba k semestrální náplni)”, which course or event you have attended (what, where, when).
3. Ask an assistant for PhD studies, Ing. Simona Kainerová (kainerova@sci.muni.cz), for a retrospective registration of the course Bi1160, Bi1150, Bi1155 or Bi1165 (you cannot register on your own). Ing. Kainerová will check that you have filled in the information in the feedback on term content and will register the course for you.
4. Your supervisor will then give you the credits.

In case you choose to attend a course at MUNI: register for the chosen course, at the end of the semester, in “feedback on term content (zpětná vazba k semestrální náplni)”, specify which course you attended (name and code of the course), ask an assistant for PhD studies for retrospective registration for Bi1160 or Bi1150, etc.

Enrol in the 2 obligatory courses below and set the number of their credits adequately so that you fulfil the requirement of number of credits to continue in further semesters:

• XD100: Ph.D. Thesis
• XD101: Literature Study

Discuss your PhD project with your supervisor.