Study plan

Study is completed by the state doctoral examination (oral exam) and the doctoral thesis defence (required length from 150 to 250 pages). A week before the final state exam is administered, students submit a proposal in which they suggest a list of 20–25 scientific literature sources (written in Czech or English) which will constitute a basis for the oral exam in the area Political Science. At least a half of the sources must be available in the faculty library. This list of books must be approved by the chairman of the state exam board.

All students have the same study duties. The prerequisite for the PhD thesis defense is to obtain 240 credits (ECTS), of which 210 ECTS for passing compulsory courses (including 6 ECTS for passing the English language exam) and 30 ECTS for passing elective courses (for instance POL011 - Stein Rokkans Theories, POL013 - Theory of Political Regimes). Oral State Doctoral Examination Students graduate in the sixth semester of study.
Credits for passing compulsory subjects are awarded on the basis of participation in the "doctoral readings" during the semester and according to the individual requirements of the supervisors (courses POL 016-018; 35 ECTS), successful defense of a text representing conceptual, theoretical, and methodological characteristics of the dissertation project before the commission (POL 031; 20 ECTS), successful defense of a proposal of research methodology, related to the dissertation project (POL 022; 20 ECTS), publishing or accepting the publication of a scholarly text in the form of either an article in following categories (Jneimp, Jsc, or Jimp category or a chapter in the reviewed monograph; POL 014, 019; 35 ECTS), proof of active participation (presentation of a paper) at a conference with international participation, approved by the supervisor (POL 028, 029; 14 ECTS), submission of at least one third of the text of a dissertation to a supervisor (POL 015; 30 ECTS), the realization of a foreign research (FSS 900; 20 ECTS) or a working (FSS 990; 20 ECTS) stay in a continuous length of no less as three months, and finally the acceptance of the full text of the dissertation by the supervisor (POL 034; 30 ECTS).

Possible issues of works (selection):
Research of local cleavages; New political parties and quality of democracy; Modern authoritarianisms and current research of Non-Democracies; Experimental research of Security; Parties of political entrepreneurs; Conceptualization of Terrorism on Ukraine; Biography and Politics; Determinants and Consequences of Elite Recruitment in New Democracies.

Themes of the defended works (selection)
Cyber Security: System Model of Anti-Djihad Vigilantism https://is.muni.cz/th/azzvn/; Adaptation of Defense Policy of ČR to Development of Security Space https://is.muni.cz/th/ggjn3/; The life cycle of party pledges in Czech coalition governments https://is.muni.cz/th/cd5ej/; Czech Approach Toward Counterinsurgency https://is.muni.cz/th/pnakj; Informal policing v ČR https://is.muni.cz/th/wm4n9; Personalization of Electoral Systems https://is.muni.cz/th/kc409.