A new call for PhD applications will be annouced in January 2017. The expected the deadline for submission of the applications is April 30.
Guidelines regarding admission examination for a PhD course at the
Department of Organic Chemistry
Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague
I General
1. A PhD course can be studied in Czech or English language.
2. If a PhD applicant from abroad wishes to study the course in English language then he/she is officially obliged to pay a tuition fee.
3. If a PhD applicant from abroad wishes to study the course in Czech language then the applicant is entitled to get a fellowship like all Czech students 6300 Kč. (This is approximately 250 Euro monthly. It is a rather modest sum of money, but it can cover basic expenses and accommodation in a dormitory.) The fellowship is raised at the beginning of the 2nd year to 7.600 Kč monthly (~ 300 Euro monthly). (See Note 1.)
4. PhD students working at our department working under an internal supervisor will obtain additional supplement of 15 000 Kč monthly (~ 560 Euro) in a form of salary or stipend (depends on the agreement between the applicant and a supervisor). Supplements to incomes of PhD students who will at another department or institution (e.g. Academy of Sciences) solely depend on their external supervisors.
5. After the enrollment, the student is automatically granted a medical insurance.
II PhD tutors
1. When a PhD candidate applies for a PhD course he/she must propose in the application form who will be his/her academic tutor. The academic committee of the doctoral program in Chemistry assess the proposal and if considered suitable will accept it.
2. As for prospective tutors from other academic institutions (i.e. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) only designated research group leaders are eligible to be official tutors and bear sole responsibility for the tutoring. (They may devolve responsibility for tutoring to their staff members, but still will stay the official tutors in any official documents.)
3. Exceptions from the above mentioned rule might be considered by a chairman of the academic committee of the doctoral program (organic chemistry), but will be granted only in special cases.
III PhD Project (recommendations for local applicants)
1. Applicants are strongly recommended to do a PhD project under the guidance of a different tutor then a Master Course project.
2. If the above mentioned recommendation cannot be followed for any reason, e.g. if both the student as well as the tutor would like to continue their collaboration, then the change of a PhD research project topic (theme) is highly recommended and should be defferent from the topic of the Master course project.
3. The change of topics will be closely monitored during the PhD course by the academic committee.
IV Admission examination
1. An applicant should submit an application form.
For details regarding admission application and conditions, see:
General information: https://www.natur.cuni.cz/eng/study/prospective_students/ph.d.-study/general-information )
Conditions for admission procedure: https://www.natur.cuni.cz/eng/study/prospective_students/ph.d.-study/conditions-of-admission-procedure
2. An applicant is obliged to attend an admission interview in person on a specified date. Other forms of the admission interview will not be considered.
3. The course of the admission interview is composed of:
a) a short presentation of their diploma thesis project (3-5 min),
b) a short presentation why the applicant is willing to enter the PhD course at the Department of Organic Chemistry, Charles University in Prague (2-3 min),
c) a personal interview to access the applicant’s knowledge of chemistry.
2. Prior to the admission interview the applicant is obliged to submit slides of his/her short presentation of their diploma thesis (3 min) and CV (1 page).
3. During the interview the applicant will be asked questions to evaluate his/her knowledge of chemistry. The provided answers will be used as the basis for evaluation. The maximum score is 100 points and those who should be allowed to enroll the course should achieve at least the 50 points level. (See Note 2)
4. The final evaluation and the result of the interview, i.e. whether the applicant will be or not be accepted, will be announced the same date after evaluation of all applicants.
V Other (important) information
1. PhD students that will do their work at other institution (e.g. Academy of Sciences) are expected to be provided with any further support by the hosting institution. In other words their external tutors and their institutions are fully responsible for providing any other support.
2. The PhD students pursuing their research activities at other institutions should bear in mind that they are students of the Charles University in Prague and not the institution and are obliged to add their affiliation with the University to all publications.
VI Notes
Note 1: The amount of the fellowship may change and there are also other options how to supplement your income.
Note 2: It is expected that the applicant‘s level of chemistry knowledge will correspond to Clayden, J.; Greeves, N.; Warren, S. (2012). Organic Chemistry (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press..