For students

All important information about the doctoral study programme "Molecular and Cell Biology and Genetics", including study plans and admission procedure, can be found HERE.

You can find a summary of key information HERE.

Graduation information

In order to successfully complete the doctoral programme, students must fulfill all study requirements and submit a dissertation thesis. The dissertation must be based on original scientific publications. The student is required to be the first author of at least one original scientific publication published in a journal ranked above the median of the field (according to JIF or JCI as defined by Web of Science). Shared first authorship is accepted. All publications included in the dissertation must be affiliated to the Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University (see: is.muni.cz/auth/do/sci/normy/SM/SM20-02/SM_2_2020_EN_Recordkeeping_Affiliation_and_Dedication_of_Results_of__Research_Activities_SCI_MU.htm).

Guidelines for the preparation of the dissertation thesis are available at: https://is.muni.cz/auth/do/sci/normy/OP/OD19-08/OD_8_2019_EN_Guidelines_for_Doctoral_Theses_SCI_MU.pdf

The dissertation must be written in English and may be submitted in one of two formats:

(i) a full text dissertation, or

(ii) a commented collection of publications.

The chosen format must be explicitly stated in the application for the dissertation defense submitted via the Information System (IS).

Full Text Dissertation

• presents a comprehensive study of the assigned dissertation topic
• must obligatorily include the following sections: Introduction, Aims, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References (the Results and Discussion sections must not be combined)
• all experimental data presented must be included in the Results section
• the dissertation must include a list of the student’s publications, specifying the percentage contribution of the student’s authorship and a description of the student’s individual contributions to each publication (template according to Dean’s Measure 2019/8, available at https://is.muni.cz/auth/do/sci/normy/OP/OD19-08/OD_8_2019_EN_Guidelines_for_Doctoral_Theses_SCI_MU.pdf, supplemented with percentage contributions for each publication)
• the expected minimum length of this dissertation format is 80 pages of text (excluding references), using standard formatting: Times New Roman, 12 point font (or equivalent), 1.5 line spacing

Commented Collection of Publications

• represents a coherent collection of at least three published original scientific articles to which the student has made an authorship contribution and whose content covers the assigned dissertation topic; the collection may also include review articles, however, such articles are not counted toward the minimum requirement of three original articles
• must obligatorily include the following sections: Introduction, Literature Review, Aims, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, References (the Results and Discussion sections must be combined into a single chapter, the purpose of which is to present the achieved results in the context of existing published knowledge; references to specific publications must also be provided)
• the Materials and Methods section is not included, as sufficient methodological details are expected to be provided in the commented publications
• only articles that have already been published or manuscripts that have been submitted for peer review may be included in the commented collection (manuscripts that have not yet been submitted cannot be included); in the case of submitted manuscripts, confirmation of submission for peer review must be provided to the Chair of the Doctoral Board
• the dissertation must include a list of the student’s publications, specifying the percentage authorship contribution and a description of the student’s individual contributions to each publication (template according to Dean’s Measure 2019/8, available at https://is.muni.cz/auth/do/sci/normy/OP/OD19-08/OD_8_2019_EN_Guidelines_for_Doctoral_Theses_SCI_MU.pdf, supplemented with percentage contributions for individual publications)
• the expected length of this dissertation format is 30–40 pages of text (excluding references and appended articles), using standard formatting: Times New Roman, 12 point font (or equivalent), 1.5 line spacing

For the dissertation defense, the Doctoral Board appoints a committee composed of experts in the relevant research area. The dissertation is assessed by two independent external reviewers. The defense begins with a brief introduction of the candidate by the Chair of the committee, followed by the candidate’s presentation, with a duration of 25 minutes. The presentation should include a concise introduction to the research topic and a summary of the most important results. This is followed by presentation of the evaluation reports, first by the supervisor and subsequently by the reviewers. IN the following discussion with the reviewers, the student responds to their comments and questions. Subsequently, the student also answers questions posed by other members of the committee and by the audience. At the end of the defence, the committee decides whether the defense has been successful.