Biomedical Sciences

The applicant should submit an e-application form and pay the application fee. Once this is done, the administrator of the Office for Research and Quality will download the application together with all enclosed documents and send it to the right study programme admission committee. It is necessary to complete the recognition of previous education, as mentioned on the webpage for applicants (https://www.med.muni.cz/en/research-and-development/phd-studies/for-applicants) in the part "Admission Information". This procedure can take some time (months) to be completed. The admission committee evaluates the materials which the applicant has attached to the application: curriculum vitae, an essay – a motivation letter, a diploma and transcript of courses taken, two letters of recommendation from previous teachers. We recommend to the applicant to prepare these documents very carefully, as it is on the basis of these documents that the applicant will be invited to the second round of interviews. The entrance examination in the form of an interview conducted before the admission committee; upon prior agreement, it can be held using videoconferencing technology. In the admission process, the applicant can obtain a maximum of 100 points. To be accepted, it is necessary to receive at least 85 points. An admission committee evaluates a presentation of an applicant during the exam. However, the final decision has to be made by the dean of faculty. If the result is "accepted", the administrator of the Office for Research and Quality prepares admission documents.

The recently founded Biomedical Sciences doctoral degree programme has been created through the merging of the following originally individual study disciplines: Medical Biology, Anatomy, Histology, Embryology, and a new yet-to-be-accredited course Molecular Medicine, which has been designed in the CEITEC MU research centre to be a robust singular study programme consisting of three disciplines (Cell and Tissue Morphology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Molecular Medicine).

The newly founded Molecular Medicine discipline, which has never before been a part of the list of available study programmes at the MU, and thus represents a completely new area of focus, naturally supplements the already existing biomedical expertise within the MU, and it will primarily focus on educating doctoral students in the area of state-of-the-art Biomedical Technologies.

The studies are designed to emphasise the expansion of the expertise of future graduates in social-management, technological, and widely-applicable abilities, which will allow them to conduct their successive research activities in an effective and modern manner, and it will provide them with an exceptional overview of the ethical and moral aspects of research, which are of utmost importance in the context of conducting research in the field of Biomedicine and general Research and Development. The graduates will be able to obtain job positions as research professionals capable of succeeding in the international competition.

The study programme also prepares researchers and university teachers in the local environment of the FM MU. Some of the graduates continue their careers in the corporate environment related to their study discipline. Furthermore, the newly designed studies significantly expand the spectrum of future career options for the graduates, and that is in the non-academic environment (e.g. Biotechnological enterprises).

The new Biomedical Sciences study programme is in the process of being internationally augmented through: the increase of recruitment of applicants from abroad, scientific and publication activities of doctoral students, the creation of new conditions for inter-disciplinary solutions of given doctoral thesis topics, and the strengthening of social-management and widely-applicable abilities is also emphasised.

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

• have a perfect understanding of the latest developments in their given discipline-area;
• understand all related fields to their discipline, or eventually relatively quickly switch their focus area;
• be fluent in a wide spectrum of the theoretical and methodical foundations of scientific work;
• be as methodically, procedurally, and linguistically knowledgeable, as to be able to immediately fill the position of a post-doctoral researcher in state-of-the-art laboratories abroad, without the need for any further preparations
• be very well educated about the facts in the areas of Intellectual Properties, Ethics, Scientific Work, and specific ethical issues related to their discipline
• professionally lead junior colleagues;
• independently design and conduct research projects throughout all of their phases;
• interpret the results of their work up to the level of being able to present them at international conferences or having them published in a prestigious international science magazine;
• prepare a competitive application for grants;
• relay their experiences and results in the discipline through pedagogical activities, scholarly lectures, and scientific publications published in professional magazines
• use modern technologies;
• develop their research results into practical applications

The new Biomedical Sciences study programme is in the process of being internationally augmented through the increase of recruitment of applicants from abroad, scientific and publication activities of doctoral students, and creation of new conditions for inter-disciplinary solutions of given doctoral thesis topics. The strengthening of social-management and widely-applicable abilities is also emphasised.

This increases the realistic chance for the graduates to become a part of prestigious scientific teams all over the world, primarily in:

- Scientific research organisations and academic institutions (research institutes, universities) focusing on biomedical research and education - in their early years as interns and then as the heads of the research team or programme, or heads of the core facilities etc. Some of the graduates will be able to fill teaching positions at these institutions;

- State-of-the-art applied research laboratories focused on the development of new Biomedical methods, especially methods of diagnosis in Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering, testing new pharmaceuticals, and preparing pharmaceuticals intended for advanced therapies (ATMP). In this context they will be able to fill the positions of specialists and developers;

- In the commercial sector, specifically the areas of training regarding the marketing of pharmaceuticals intended for Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering, and Morphological Diagnostics;

- Furthermore, thanks to their knowledge of the aspects of intellectual properties and transfer of technologies, the graduates will be well equipped to found start-ups and spin-offs.

Applied practice is not a mandatory component of the studies (excluding lab work).

The standards of dissertation theses at LF MU are regulated by the Dean's Directive No. 5/2021 "Guidelines on the formal requirements of dissertation theses prepared at the MU Faculty of Medicine"

https://www.med.muni.cz/do/med/uredni_deska/pravni_normy/smernice_dekana/2021/VYPRACOVANYCH_NA_LEKARSKE_FAKULTE_MU