Essential information about the State Doctoral Examination (SDE)
- A student who is enrolled in a doctoral study programme accredited in the English language must take a SDE in the English language. SDE in Czech or another foreign language is not a matter of course; in such a case, the student must submit a duly substantiated request (with the opinion of the supervisor), which will be assessed by the subject area board (SAB). Holding a SDE in a foreign language is possible only in exceptional and justified cases.
- The SDE on is held in Czech or English language (according to the language of instruction).
- The SDE is taken before the Defence of the dissertation, unless the order is stated otherwise in the study programme. The dates of examinations are provided by the Dean at the suggestion of the SAB and announces them on the official notice board of the Faculty, not later than one month before the date of the SDE.
- The Chairman and members of the examining board for the SDE following the discussion at the SAB. The number of the members present must not be less than three. As a rule, the supervisor and/or advisor are members of the Examination Board (but must not be appointed as its Chairman). At least one of the members of the board is not member of the academic community of the faculty that the student is enrolled at.
- The examination is public and viva voce.
- The Examination Board discusses the result of the examination in a closed session immediately following after the examination, and decides by simple majority of votes of the members present, in ballot. If there is an equal number of votes or the required majority has not been achieved, the student gets the more favourable grade. The result of the examination is expressed as “passed” or “failed”.
- A record is compiled on the course of the examination and its result, which shall be signed by the Chairman and all present members of the Examination Board. Immediately after the closed session of the examination board, the Chairman shall notify the student of the result of the examination and enters the result in the student’s University Study Report. The record of the examination is sent by the Chairman to the respective department of the faculty’s Dean Office.
- SDE is usually held within three months of the submission of a written application, which is submitted to the subject council through the Department for PhD Study. This date will be published on the faculty’s website at least two weeks in advance, with an exact time limit.
- If the student is unable to attend SDE due to serious health or other reasons, it is necessary to follow these instructions: Excusing yourself from the term for the state doctoral examination/defence.
- The SDE can only be repeated once.
- At the student’s request in writing and at the suggestion by the SAB, also including the supervisor’s recommendation, the Dean can acknowledge the review of study progress (such as an English language examination) provided that in the past 10 years the student has fulfilled an analogous study obligation at a university or other university-level school of higher education in the Czech Republic or abroad. A SDE cannot be acknowledged.
- If, for serious reasons, the student is unable to attend the SDE at the scheduled time and is excused from this date by the dean, a replacement date is set for the student, which is usually the nearest date that follows this date. Assignment of another SDE term is not a right.
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If a student cannot take part in the SDE due to serious reasons (epidemiological situation, quarantine, extraordinary measures ordered by the government), he/she may request a distance form of examination. The Dean decides on the possibility of enabling the distance form in agreement with the guarantor of the relevant study programme. A duly filled in Application for a distant form of the SDE/defence should be delivered to the Department for PhD Study.
How to apply for the State Doctoral Examination
- proof of attendance in prescribed courses (of which one can, as a rule, be completed abroad);
- passing the English language examination;
- co-authorship (or better being the first author) of a publication with an impact factor;
- providing a survey of literature, if required by the SAB. This means a text that describes and critically evaluates present knowledge in the studied field of science. The literature search enables the student to formulate a scientific hypothesis and the questions to confirm (or reject) it. The text also includes the proposal of a hypothesis as well as the aims of the research. The extent of the survey is up to 15 or 20 pages.
A student who fulfills all requirements for applying to take his/her SDE should appear in Department for PhD Study during office hours and submits in paper form the following documents:
- completed Request for state doctoral examination form (signed by both the student and supervisor)
- structured CV (signed by the student )
- list of publications (signed by student)
- University Study Report (“index”) where it is marked the student had attended the requisite courses (whose number is determined by the SAB)
- certificate about passing an English language exam (record in the index or a certificate)
- offprints of publications according to the requirements of the SAB
All appendices must be in legible form. Images taken with a mobile phone cannot be accepted.
SABs Biomedical Informstics, Human Physiology and Pathophysiology and Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology also require the submission of a critical overview of relevant literature. This overview should not be bound, merely printed on loose sheets. This is a text that describes and critically evaluates current knowledge in the area of science under study. The literature review allows the student to formulate a scientific hypothesis and questions to confirm (reject) it. The text also includes a proposal of the hypothesis and the objectives of the solution. The scope of the review is up to 15 to 20 pages (see appendix above).
The student must submit all materials at least three month before the SDE. Student is notified by the Department for PhD Study of the date of his/her SDE only after submitting all requisite documentation.
Students are reminded that it is not possible to register for the SDE via SIS.
