Passing the study plan

The final state doctoral examination is designed to verify the student's general knowledge in the field and acquaintance with scholarly methods of research. A student can apply for this examination when he/she has met all the requirements prescribed by the curriculum. The examination committee has a minimum of five members, one of them being the thesis supervisor, and at least two are not employed at the Masaryk University. A month before the examination, the student is assigned three different examination topics to study for beforehand. These topics are comprehensive and are not restricted to the content of graduate courses. Some examples are as follows:
Regulation of gene expression
Quantitative proteomics
Biochemical aspects of tumor formation, progression and therapy
Modulation of protein functions by post-translational modification
Application of capillary zone electrophoresis for studying enzymes
Bioconjugation (labeling and immobilization of biomolecules)
DNA repair mechanisms
Methods for experimental study of transcription
Production of recombinant proteins and their mutant forms
Analysis of ligand-macromolecule interactions
Tumor suppressors
Biochemistry of viral replication
Molecular mechanisms of antiviral agents
Biocompatible nanoparticles
The examination has the form of a one hour interview between the doctoral student and the members of the committee. The committee announces the assessment of the examination obtained by secret voting immediately after the examination has been completed.

A student who successfully passes the state examination can then advance to the dissertation defence which takes place the same day or at a later date. The candidate presents a thesis which embodies original and published research, complies with the generally acctepted norms and is approved by the PhD supervisor. The thesis is evaluated by two independent external referees, who submit the written reports. The defence is conducted as a session open to the public, with the candidate, the two referees, the supervisor and additional committee members. At the beginning the student summarizes his/her results (20 min), the referees then read their reports in which they put forward their questions and views on scientific relevance, methodology and results, and, finally, the student answers questions posed by the referees, committee members and other audiences. The committee then secretly votes to decide on the final assessment that is announced to the student.

The combined (part-time) form of studies will be launched only exceptionally for applicants who want to study in-career. The laboratory work can be partly or wholly realized outside the supervising workplace. The students use distance study materials, literature and other information sources and consult with teachers during their office hours and via internet. Part-time students are not required to attend the research seminars regularly except for those at which they deliver their presentations. Other study requirements are identical to the full-time study programme. Those interested in doing a part-time PhD should in advance contact a potential supervisor to discuss with them if their project is feasible in part-time study mode.
Full-time PhD students who are experiencing difficulties in completing their studies within the 4 years time period due to exceptional circumstances may apply for transfer to the combined study programme. A student requesting such a transfer must have met all the requirements of the individual study plan. Following the transfer, the student must complete and defend his/her thesis within 8 years counted from the date of his/her first registration in the PhD programme.

Adámik, M. (2018) Interactions of p53 family proteins with biologically significant DNA quadruplexes
https://is.muni.cz/auth/th/jcgrx/

Bartheldyová, E. (2018) Preparation of adjuvant nanoliposomal carriers for construction of recombinant vaccines
https://is.muni.cz/auth/th/fqlwz/

Mrázková, J. (2018) Mutagenesis of carbohydrate-binding proteins – the efficient tool for preparation of high-affinity lectins (in Czech)
https://is.muni.cz/auth/th/wt9fy/

Schejbal, J. (2018) Study of beta-secretase reaction by modern electromigration methods
https://is.muni.cz/auth/th/e2fi6/

Zouharová, D. (2018) Antiviral effect of synthetic derivatives of nucleotides and nucleosides against DNA and RNA viruses
https://is.muni.cz/auth/th/nwi20/