Life Sciences

The aim of the study is to educate students in the field of life sciences and to prepare them as highly qualified specialists for scientific activities. The introductory part of the study concentrates on deepening theoretical and practical knowledge. At the same time, separate literary research on the assigned topic of the doctoral dissertation is being prepared. The core of students’ activities lies in their own scientific work. Students are guided by the supervisor to be able to independently implement all phases of a scientific project. They are also encouraged to the processing of the obtained experimental data methodologically relevant, as well as to their interpretation and subsequent presentation in various forms. The programme is highly multidisciplinary and, compared to the traditional study of biology, is more methodologically and analytically focused. Thanks to access to state-of-the-art infrastructure, students can better combine various biochemical, bioanalytical and visualization instrumental techniques with solving biological problems, which increases the impact of their scientific activities and their flexibility in the labor market, including positions in academia, e.g. within existing biotechnology companies or in newly emerging spin-offs.

The concept of the programme reflects the current level of scientific knowledge, the needs of the labor market, and overall trends in the field. At the same time, it benefits from the support system within the so-called CEITEC PhD School, which presents the concept of care for doctoral students involved in research teams at CEITEC and at the same time emphasizes expanding the competencies of the future graduates in socio-managerial, technological and soft skills. That will enable them to conduct their follow-up research in an efficient and modern way and provide them with a very good overview of the ethical aspects of research necessary for life sciences research and research and development in general.

The programme aims at the international employment of graduates. It is prepared in Czech and English versions, most subjects are taught, all seminars and, to a large extent, research is conducted in English. The environment at CEITEC MU is significantly international, so students are exposed to communication in English not only during official teaching but practically everywhere within CEITEC.

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

• independently and creatively plan and implement scientific and research activities and master methodologies and models in the field of life sciences
• write and prepare for publication a critical scientific text in the form of professional articles in the above-mentioned scientific fields of life sciences
• present and defend the results of their own research at an international scientific forum
• understand and be able to use wider professional and theoretical knowledge in the above-mentioned scientific fields of life sciences
• know about and critically evaluate the latest knowledge and scientific development, not only in the above-mentioned field but in general in the field of scientific research activities
• understand and manage fluent professional communication in English
• use the experience gained from international cooperation
• pass on knowledge and experience through their pedagogical experience
• make use of the soft-skills gained during the study, see the soft-skills courses offered and other workshops planned within individual professional development

In the doctoral programme, great emphasis is placed on internationalization, there are also conditions for interdisciplinary solutions to the assigned topics of the dissertation, and the emphasis is placed on strengthening socio-managerial and soft-skills. This increases the real chances of graduates to apply in top scientific and technological, academic and commercial teams around the world, such as in:

- research organizations and academic institutions (research institutes, universities) focusing on biological and biomedical research and education, in the first years as the postdoctoral trainees and subsequently as the leaders of a research team or programme, the heads of shared laboratories (so-called facilities), etc., or at lecturer positions;

- cutting-edge laboratories of applied research focused on the development of new biotechnological biomedical methods, in the scientific specialists and developers’ positions;

- the commercial sphere in the field of consulting and marketing of biomedical or biotechnological products;

- thanks to acquired knowledge in the field of intellectual property and technology transfer specifically in their areas of interest, graduates of the field will be well equipped for activities in establishing start-ups and spin-off companies.

An important contribution to the acquisition of practical skills of DSP students of Life Sciences is their natural involvement in research teams at CEITEC MU. In this way, students can immediately acquire the necessary practical skills for team management and research projects, acquire networking skills and directly engage in research projects and grants (including H2020 projects and ERC grants) to understand the issues of research funding. Students can also routinely use eleven uniquely equipped shared laboratories and gain significant practical experience in this form within the so-called internal internship, or in another institution in the Czech Republic as part of an external internship (recommended volume is 10 working days (80 working hours).

A compulsory part of the study obligations in the doctoral study program is completing part of the study at a foreign institution for at least one month, or participating in an international creative project with results published or presented abroad or another form of student direct participation in international cooperation.

The program supports Collaborative PhD, i.e. completing a doctoral project in cooperation with a commercial entity. That allows students to expose themselves to a more non-academic environment. Also, within the TAC system, students cooperate more often with experts from practice.

The doctoral thesis presents the results of creative activity performed by the candidate during the study, contains the original results that were published or accepted for publication in the form of a publication meeting the publication standard of the programme, i.e. publishing a scientific publication in Q1 as a first author. If the first-author publication is not published in the journal Q1, the student must submit two more publications, where he/she is a co-author and they fall into Q1 or Q2. An exception is the defence of Viva Voce.

The preferred format of the dissertation is a set of papers with a comprehensive introduction and commentary. This type of dissertation is based on at least two publications. The second format of the dissertation is a monograph with experimental results. It contains a complete description of the dissertation project and can be written as an extended version of the publication, in which case one publication is sufficient.

The dissertation is elaborated in English, and its defence is conducted in English, too.