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

• master new knowledge above all of foreign literature and participate in specialized lectures both in their own institute as well as in others institutes
• use modern methods and technologies of processing and evaluation of geographical data utilizing the existing possibilities of computer data processing and methods of remote sensing
• formulate research problems independently, obtain relevant data, and perform their qualitative and quantitative evaluation
• select the suitable methodology and evaluation of results obtained from analytical and synthetic views with respect to creating alternative scenarios of the development of geographical phenomena and processes in space and time
• master the thorough theoretical and practical knowledge in the branch of regional geography and regional planning
• use a wide spectrum of regional geographical research methods including the multidimensional statistical methods
• prepare and evaluate a more complex survey/questionnaire investigation
• understand the mutual relations and cross compliance of the studied regional geographical phenomena and processes, and asses the relevance of individual phenomena for the development of the given region
• predict the development of regions and do the comparative analysis of regions in the Czech Republic and abroad
• create strategic documents of the Czech and and European regional policy (strategy, operation plans, and development programmes)
• create concrete development programmes for villages, towns, and regions at different hierarchical levels

The graduates of the doctoral degree programme of Regional Geography and Regional Planning can find employment in basic research in some institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic or at universities. When solving practical problems the graduates are ready to work in departmental institutes, regional development agencies, departments of regional planning or departments of environment in regional or municipal offices, and also in the sections of development of the individual cities. The graduates will find employment also in private regional consultancy companies.

1. The doctoral degree programme runs in compliance with the Act no. 111/1998 Coll. (Tertiary Education Act), the Study and Examination Regulations of Masaryk University, requirements of the faculty, and the corresponding board for the doctoral studies or committee for the doctoral studies, namely in these branches:

Physical Geography,

Cartography, Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing, and

Regional Geography and Regional Planning.

2. To be admitted to the doctoral studies it is necessary to complete the Master's degree programme in the same or related branch.

3. The study mode can be full-time or combined.

4. The doctoral studies follow the individual study plan (processed by

the doctoral student and the tutor) under the supervision of a tutor; the studies are completed with the doctoral state examination and

defence of the doctoral thesis elaborated under the supervision of a tutor. The standard duration of studies is 4 years (standard length of studies); it can be expanded (see The Study and Examination Regulations of Masaryk University).

5. To be able to enrol in the following semester the students must complete all the requirements determined in the Study and Examination Regulations of Masaryk University that specify the conditions connected to the doctoral studies.

6. One of the duties of the doctoral students is to assist lecturers with instruction upon request of the Department of Geography - the students must earn 6 credits in the course of Assistance with Instruction I to VI.

The students of the full-time study mode are seminar tutors during the autumn/spring semestr, and the students of the combined study mode or foreign students of the full-time study mode (excluding the students from the Slovak Republic) are either seminar tutors during the semester, or they follow the specific requirements - defining the credits earned for the course of Assistance with Instruction - outlined for them always before the beginning of the autumn and spring semester upon the agreement of the tutor and supervisor of the given study programme.

7. General doctoral thesis requirements:

The doctoral thesis should discuss a relevant geographical and cartographic topic that brings new original scientific knowledge. In the thesis the students prove their ability to do an independent scientific work, especially:

- formulate the basis of the solved problem and the partial and overall aims leading to the solution of the problem,

- obtain relevant data, evaluate them, and process them in compliance with the current methods,

- analyse the obtained results in the context of the present research, relations, and connections, and

- draw conclusions regarding their consequences and further development of the given scientific discipline.

8. To start the proceedings leading to the defence of the doctoral thesis the students should publish their results according to the A or B alternative (always determined by the committee for the doctoral studies):

- A alternative: one publication of the part or whole work in English in the foreign reviewed journal (outside Slovakia),

- B alternative: two publications of the part or whole work in the journals of Geografie (Prague) and Geografický časopis (Bratislava).

The change of the journal given in point B for different reviewed journals published in the Czech or Slovak Republic is possible only on the basis of the request of the student addressed to the board for the doctoral studies.

To commence the proceedings the statement of the editorial board of the corresponding journal confirming that the article was accepted as a result of the review procedure is sufficient.

The doctoral state examination consists of the defence of the thesis and oral examination. The doctoral state examination follows the Study and Examination Regulations of Masaryk University. In the thesis the students present results which they have obtained in the course of the studies in the given programme.

Regional Geography and Regional Planning:

The students must demonstrate that they have mastered the problems of regional geography including the corresponding techniques and skills. The examiners check the knowledge of students and also their ability to solve particular problems actively, including the use of the appropriate methods of regional geographical analysis and synthesis.

The oral examination is divided into three thematic areas:

2 compulsory areas: Regional Policy and Regional Planning, Methods of Regional Geographical Research;

1 optional can be chosen by students from these four areas: Regional Differentiation Regarding Social Geography, Role of Geoinformatics in the Studies and Explanation of Regional Planning, Environmental and Social Aspects of Regional Planning, and Regional Geography of the Czech Republic.

General doctoral thesis requirements:

The doctoral thesis should discuss a relevant geographical and cartographic topic that brings new original scientific knowledge. In the thesis the students prove their ability to do an independent scientific work, especially:

- formulate the basis of the solved problem and the partial and overall aims leading to the solution of the problem,

- obtain relevant data, evaluate them, and process them in compliance with the current methods,

- analyse the obtained results in the context of the present research, relations, and connections, and

- draw conclusions regarding their consequences and further development of the given scientific discipline.