Cartography, geoinformatics and remote sensing

Admission procedure
The admission interview is usually in an online form and consists of two parts:
1) expert interview – the committee examines the applicant's expert knowledge and motivation. During the admission interview, the candidate will present the proposed dissertation topic, its expected schedule, the main methods used and the basic publication strategy. The committee will also assess the candidate's knowledge of cartography and geoinformatics, with an emphasis on the area of planned research. The admission interview also includes a discussion of the obligations of doctoral study and the requirements for its successful completion. (max. 70 points),
2) Language part – check of communication skills in English, interview and expert discussion is in English (max. 30 points)

More information about admission process for international applicants in general can be found in the section Admission Process.

Date of the entrance exam
The applicants will receive information about the entrance exam via e-mail usually at least 10 days before the exam.
Please, always check your e-mails, including spam folders.

Conditions of admission
To be admitted, a candidate must obtain a total of 50 out of 100 points, so that at least half of the required points are achieved in each section.
Successful applicants are informed of their acceptance via e-mail and subsequently receive an invitation to the enrolment.

Programme capacity
The capacity of a given programme is not fixed; students are admitted based on a decision by the Doctoral Board after assessing their aptitude for study and motivation.

The program Cartography, geoinformatics, and remote sensing aims to prepare top specialists in in given geographical disciplines including scientific and language skills. Study aims at the master graduates of geoinformatics and cartography but also at graduates of related disciplines like informatics or cognitive psychology from the Czech Republic and the whole Central European region.

Postgraduate study further develops theoretical as well as methodological skill focused on the particular scientific area of interest. Students regularly participate in ongoing projects both national ( (GAČR; TAČR Éta, Zéta; NAKI etc) and internationally based (H2020, Interreg etc).

Students also regularly cooperate with the commercial sector and further develop their communitacion, presentation, and team work skills.

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.

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

• Analyse, critically evaluate, and present the state of the art of particular problem within cartography, geoinformatics, and remote sensing.
• Master the theoretical and methodological basics of scientific work in the given field
• Master the basics of project planning including research structure, methodology and time management. Apply the theoretical knowledge and prepare a real project.
• Work in the a team together with younger colleagues or pre-gradual students.
• Actively use the scientific English of the given field in spoken and written forms and present the scientific results.
• Master the ethical and intellectual property right principles.
• Publish the scientific results in international scientific journals.
• Actively solved spatial problems on different levels of detail.
• Create maps based on users demands.
• Transfer expertise and experience by teaching and consulting younger students and colleagues

The graduates are able to cooperate both on the national and international level. They can apply the acquired qualification as leaders and senior scientist especially in following institutions:

- academic and research institutions focused on cartography and geoinformatics (CzechGlobe, Geonika), cognitive sciences (Academy of Science).

- commercial sector - research and development as well as project management in applied research.

- management of science and project development.

- state and ministry institutes (public administration bodies) at all levels of organisation (local, regional, country).

Graduates can generally address conceptual questions, scientific and organisational activities, and also teaching and transferring the experience knowledge.

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

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 the theses written in Czech or Slovak language of the thesis, 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 the 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 as the minimum number. For an example of scientific papers, 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 another a co-author's reviewed article are required necessary. In the case of submitting the a Ph.D. thesis as an annotated set of articles, the minimum number of three scientific publications copying the above structure is required.