After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• apply basic and advanced methodological approaches to data collection and scientific study design, data analysis and presentation of results
• define scientific problems and questions, optimize approaches to their solutions with the application of a suitable methodology
• apply the obtained data and skills to basic and applied research and nature conservation
• publish their results in the form of scientific papers in international journals and present them at international conferences

Graduates can find employment at universities, research institutes, zoological and botanical gardens, laboratories of ecological services, nature museums, administration offices of national parks, protected nature areas, etc.

The customized study plan is prepared in cooperation with a supervisor. It is fully optional, but students have to meet the general conditions governed by The Masaryk University Study and Examination Regulations. Students are expected to give a talk about the topic of their doctoral thesis at a zoological or botanical seminar (as a rule, in the first year of their studies).

No practical training is required.

The final state examination consists of two parts: A) the defence of the doctoral thesis and B) an oral examination. It takes place before a commission composed of five members. The oral examination is based on the topic of the doctoral thesis and also includes a wide range of questions from various fields of ecology or other related disciplines (e.g. zoology/botany, ecology, and palaeoecology).