Requirements for admission to the doctoral degree programme at the Faculty of Economics and Administration The Faculty of Economics and Administration (FEA) of Masaryk University respects sections 48, 49 and 50 of the University Act 111/1998 Coll. as amended, and establishes the following requirements for admission to doctoral degree programmes (DDPs). DDP admission procedure The FEA doctoral degree programme entrance examinations take place twice a year: · at the end of the spring semester (with the student beginning doctoral studies in the autumn semester of the following academic year), · at the end of the autumn semester (with the student beginning doctoral studies in the spring semester of the same academic year). It is required that the applicants are present at the entrance examinations. Foreign applicants who are obliged to possess visa to travel to the Czech Republic and cannot for this or other serious reason take part in the entrance examination in person, can submit a request to take the distance form of the entrance examination (i.e. based on evaluation of written material, see section 1.2). The Dean of the Faculty decides about admission or refusal of the applicant based on the proposals of the examination board and the board for doctoral studies. The board for doctoral studies recommends or does not recommend the applicant for admission based on the results of the entrance examination and on the assessment of further specified documents. 1. Application to the doctoral degree programme and its supplements The application to the DDP is filed electronically. Together with the electronic application, the applicants supply the following written materials: · an application dispatch form (průvodka), · a structured CV, · proof of education, · written material for the specialist part of the entrance examination (assigned according to individual fields of study). 1.1 Proof of education specifications Applicants who are graduates of Masaryk University need to supply: · a copy of the Master's degree diploma. Applicants from the Czech Republic or the Slovak Republic who are not graduates of Masaryk University need to supply: · a notarized copy of the Master's degree diploma. Applicants who obtained a degree in Hungary, Germany, Poland or Slovenia need to supply: · a proof of education issued by the Office for Studies of the Rector's Office of Masaryk University and an authenticated copy of a diploma officially translated into Czech or English, or an authenticated copy of a diploma issued in English; the applicants have to apply at the Office for Studies of the Rector's Office MU to have the proof of education issued[1]. Applicants who obtained a degree in other countries need to supply: · a recognition of foreign university education certificate issued by any Czech public university and a notarized copy of the decision to recognize foreign university education[2]. Applicants who do not have the documents specified above at their disposal at the time of filing the application can supply them at a later date, but no later than on the day of enrolment in studies. Applicants who request recognition of the English examination are required to supply the following together with the DDP application: · an English examination certificate – see requirements for English examination recognition in section 2.6. 1.2 Specifications of certificates and materials required in the case of the applicant taking the distance entrance examination Foreign applicants for studies in DDPs who are required to possess visa to travel to the Czech Republic and cannot for this or other serious reason take part in the entrance examination in person and who submit a request for a distance form of the entrance examination are required to supply materials specified below. Foreign applicants for studies accredited in Czech need to supply: · an application dispatch form, · an evaluation of the applicant's Czech language competence by his/her Czech teacher (if the applicant attended a Czech language course), · references from two teachers from the university the applicant graduated from (in English), · a structured CV in Czech, · a letter of motivation in Czech, · a paper on the topic of the doctoral thesis in Czech, · a notarized copy of one of the internationally recognized English examination certificates, which proves that the applicant passed an English examination of the minimum level of C1[3]. Foreign applicants for studies accredited in English/German need to supply: · an application dispatch form, · references from two teachers from the university the applicant graduated from (in English), · a structured CV in English, · a letter of motivation in English, · a paper on the topic of the doctoral thesis in English/German (in accordance with the accreditation of the programme the applicant is applying for). In addition, applicants whose mother tongue is not English need to supply a notarized copy of one of the internationally recognized English examination certificates, which proves that the applicant passed an English examination of the minimum level of C1. In addition, applicants who apply for a DDP accredited in German and their mother tongue is not German need to supply a notarized copy of one of the internationally recognized German examination certificates, which proves that the applicant passed a German examination of the minimum level of C1. 2. The DDP entrance examination The DDP entrance examination at the FEA consists of: · a specialist examination, the aim of which is to test the applicants' specialist knowledge (according to the requirements established for individual fields of study), · a specialist discussion, the aim of which is to ascertain the applicants' potential for creative scientific work and their motivation for the DDP study (based on the materials the applicants were required to supply), · an English examination, the aim of which is to test the ability and level of expression in English, including knowledge of basic economic terminology; a document certifying that an applicant passed an English examination as specified in section 2.6 can be recognized as an equivalent of the DDP English entrance examination. The examination board comprises at least three members who are appointed by the Dean of the Faculty based on a proposal of the chairperson of the board for doctoral studies. Individual parts of the entrance examination have the following weights: · specialist examination 20 %, · specialist discussion 70 %, · English examination 10 %. 2.1 DDP entrance examination, field of study: Economics · The specialist examination takes a written form and lasts 60 minutes. Knowledge of microeconomics and macroeconomics of the final state examination extent is tested. · The discussion is based on the material supplied by the applicant. This should comprise 8 – 12 pages and should include the following: - information about the topic of the applicant's Master's thesis and about the conclusions reached therein, - motivation that led to the choice of the topic of the applicant's doctoral thesis, - ideas about the intended contribution of the doctoral thesis to scientific knowledge. · English examination. 2.2 DDP entrance examination, field of study: Economic Policy · The specialist examination takes a written form and lasts 60 minutes. Knowledge of general economic theory (with emphasis on macroeconomics) and economic policy of the extent of the final state exam is tested. · The discussion is based on the material supplied by the applicant. This should comprise 8 – 12 pages and should include the following: - motivation that led to the choice of the topic of the applicant's doctoral thesis, - current state of scientific knowledge in the area of the doctoral thesis topic, - basic ideas about the aims of the thesis and its intended contribution to scientific knowledge. · English examination. 2.3 DDP entrance examination, field of study: Public Economics · The specialist examination takes an oral form and tests knowledge of economics, public economics and public finance. · The discussion is based on the paper (8–12 pages long) submitted by the applicant, which is expected to show the applicant's interest in the topic of the doctoral thesis and knowledge of the area connected with this topic. Obligatory components of the paper include a basic summary of the current state of scientific knowledge, specification of the aims of the doctoral thesis and an indication of the intended methods of reaching the aims. · English examination. 2.4 DDP entrance examination, field of study: Corporate Economics and Management · The specialist examination takes the form of a written test and lasts 30 minutes. It tests knowledge in the areas of economics of organizations, corporate economics and management. · The discussion is based on the paper (8–12 pages long) submitted by the applicant, which is expected to show the applicant's interest in the topic of the doctoral thesis and knowledge of the area connected with this topic. Obligatory components of the paper include a basic summary of the current state of scientific knowledge, specification of the aims of the doctoral thesis and an indication of the intended methods of reaching the aims. · English examination. 2.5 DDP entrance examination, field of study: Finance · The specialist examination takes an oral form. It tests knowledge of finance in the extent of the final state exam. · The discussion is based on the paper (8–12 pages long) submitted by the applicant, which is expected to show the applicant's interest in the topic of the doctoral thesis and knowledge of the area connected with this topic. Obligatory components of the paper include a basic summary of the current state of scientific knowledge, specification of the aims of the doctoral thesis and an indication of the intended methods of reaching the aims. · English examination. 2.6 English examination Passing the English entrance examination is a necessary requirement for admission to a DDP. It takes a written form and lasts 45 minutes. The applicant has to write an approximately 20-line-long essay on a topic assigned on the spot, varying according to the field of study. The evaluation scale is 0 – 10 points, the pass limit is 5 points. The essay is evaluated by employees of the Masaryk University Language Centre. Requirements for recognition of the English entrance examination Applicants who attended an English language course of a C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as a part of their university studies, or who own an equivalent internationally recognized language certificate, can apply for their recognition as an equivalent of the entrance examination. Applicants from the Czech Republic or the Slovak Republic who apply for such recognition need to supply the following: · applicants who graduated in Bachelor's studies or five-year Master's studies at FEA MU need to supply a transcript of records from the MU IS[4]. · applicants who did not graduate in Bachelor's studies or five-year Master's studies at FEA MU need to supply an authenticated certificate confirming they finished a language course at a minimum level of C1: - a notarized copy of the index/diploma or a certificate issued by the Study Department of the university the applicant graduated from, together with the course syllabus, study literature required for the course and the form and content of the exam certificated by the Study Department of the university the applicant graduated from; or - a notarized copy of one of the internationally recognized language certificates which proves that the applicant passed an English examination of a minimum level of C1. Applicants who do not come from the Czech Republic or the Slovak Republic and apply for English examination recognition need to supply the following: · a notarized copy of one of the internationally recognized language certificates which proves that the applicant passed an English examination of a minimum level of C1. The materials supplied are assessed by the employees of the Masaryk University Language Centre. In Brno, 5 December 2011 ________________________________ [1] See http://www.muni.cz/study/recognition/countries_with_bilateral_agreements [2] See http://www.muni.cz/study/recognition/general [3] According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. [4] The corresponding course at FEA MU is BPJ_JI4A