As a part of the MMD (MUNI Mendel Doctorandus) programme, the participants (PhD candidates) have the possibility of defending in the European doctorate mode. The successful graduate will receive the valued European doctorate and the PhD diploma. But what are the requirements for such a defence? Let's take a look at the example of Mgr. Kamil Sobek is a PhD student of Geology, MU Faculty of Science.
Kamil became a member of the MMD at the very beginning of the programme and gradually fulfilled all the conditions of the programme. He was, therefore, eligible to apply for European doctorate. The conditions in this mode are not very different from the usual defence of PhD Thesis. The departmental board provides the student with a minimum of two opponents independent of MUNI and working at a research institution within Europe (outside of CZ/SK). These opponents can also be committee members, which requires a minimum of one member not affiliated to MUNI and working within Europe, but outside of CZ/SK for the MMD defence. Both the dissertation and the defence are held in English.
"A possible variant of defence is so-called hybrid defence, where members (especially external/foreign members) can join online, e.g. via MS Teams. Thus, defending in the ED does not bring any additional costs to the Institute for defending in the European Doctorate mode." Concluding the possibility of online defence is Kamil, who has successfully completed his studies at the Faculty of Science, DSP Geology and is going to work at the Research Centre in Řež as a research specialist.
We wish him success in his future career!
*An expert from Slovakia is possible only in exceptional cases when finding another suitable foreign expert is hardly impossible.
Active PhD candidates can be a part of a volunteer programme at Masaryk University that supports professional development as MUNI Mendel Doctorandus (MMD). The programme aims to broaden interdisciplinary learning among PhD students and prepare them for their future scientific careers. The programme now gathers more than 50 PhD candidates.
As part of inter-faculty cooperation within Masaryk University, four faculties and one research facility have signed an agreement on common standards for doctoral studies.