Physical geography

The program aims to prepare top specialists in specific disciplines of physical geography. Graduates of the program should be prepared primarily for further scientific careers in academic and research institutions, but also for potential employment in the private sector.

In the case of continuing scientific careers, long-term foreign experience in post doc positions should be actively sought. Individual research groups at the Department of Geography cover the following research areas, where Ph.D. students are trained:

- Geomorphology

- Meteorology and climatology

- Hydrology, limnology and glaciology

- Pedology and pedogeography

- Landscape ecology and biogeography

- Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology and palaeoecology

The connecting elements among the research areas is shared instrumentation and software equipment, professional seminars, annual Ph.D. candidates’ presentations and mutual Ph.D. candidates mentoring. Ph.D. students are motivated by the highly professional quality of research in a competitive, but collaborative open environment. The scientific performance of individual students is rewarded both financially and by, for example, participation on prestigious foreign conferences.

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

• have an overview of the current level of knowledge in his/her specific field of physical geography;
• orientate in related physical-geographical disciplines;
• master the theoretical and methodological basics of scientific work in the given field;
• work in a team;
• transfer expertise and experience by teaching and consulting younger students and colleagues;
• actively use the scientific English of the given field in spoken and written form;
• prepare a scientific article and publish it in an international scientific journal;
• popularise the given field for the general public;
• undertake a scientific postdoctoral position without further methodological preparation;
• independently design, conduct and lead research in a given field;
• prepare a draft of a scientific project;
• transform theoretical knowledge into applications.

The graduates of the Physical Geography Ph.D. program can apply the acquired qualification especially in academic and research institutions, state and ministry institutes, as well as in the private sector. They are able to perform independent scientific and research activities in the field of basic or applied research. In the broader sense, they are ready to carry out all activities related to scientific work that aims to address conceptual questions, scientific and organisational activities and also teaching and transferring knowledge.

Practical training (not including laboratory and field work) is not a compulsory part of the Ph.D. program of Physical Geography.

The recommended form of the Ph.D. thesis is a commented set of articles with an introductory, discussion and summarising text. The language of the thesis is not explicitly specified, however, English is recommended. In the case of theses written in Czech or Slovak , an English summary is required. Alternatively, the Ph.D. thesis may be submitted as a scientific monograph with the appropriate structure of the text, after receiving Doctoral board approval. To submit a Ph.D. thesis, a minimum number of three accepted scientific articles or applied outputs, such as approved method / software are required regardless of the thesis format. For example, at least one first-author impacted article (in the Web of Science database), another first-author article (at least in the Scopus or Web of Science database) and a co-author's reviewed article are necessary. In the case of submitting a Ph.D. thesis as an annotated set of articles, the minimum number of three scientific publications copying the above structure is required. In the case of a monograph thesis, the structure of the work must follow the traditional structure in Physical Geography (division into introduction, material and methods, results, interpretations, discussion and conclusions) and the fulfilment of three scientific publications according to the above structure is also mandatory.