Microbiology

The aim of the Master's degree program is to understand the broad issues of this scientific discipline and to understand the interrelationships between its different directions. The graduate of this program will, both theoretically and practically, manage the issues of human and veterinary microbiology, including epidemiology. More detailed informations are also given in the ecology of microorganisms lectures, especially the importance of microorganisms for the environment and their practical use in biotechnology and bioremediation. The range of information and experience gained provides sufficient guarantees for the graduate's considerable adaptability in various fields of general and applied microbiology. The Section of Microbiology has been focusing on the study of strictly anaerobic microorganisms in recent years, contributing to the uniqueness of its research laboratories within the universities in the Czech Republic. Students are led to independent and creative thinking, diligence, responsibility, respect for moral values, teamwork and solidarity. Students will learn how to systematically work with informations, how to design and perform experiments, interpret their own results correctly, critically draw conclusions, and present them to experts in this field, but also to the general public.

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

• To be oriented in the field of human and veterinary microbiology
• To understand the ecological relationships between microorganisms and between micro-organisms and macro-organisms
• Understand the importance of microorganisms in the environment and their use in biotechnology and bioremediation
• Apply appropriate methodologies to solve common microbiological analyzes
• Work independently in a microbiological laboratory and use conventional instruments and equipment to conduct research and development activities
• Communicate in English (search for and use foreign-language scientific literature, present the results of the work both verbally and in writing)
• To discuss at an appropriate level the issues related to the subject field and to take an opinion corresponding to the current state of knowledge

The graduate will have sufficient qualifications to work in a microbiological laboratory, especially in laboratories in health care, food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, institutes of the ASCR, laboratories of agricultural enterprises and environmental protection companies, including the Ministry of the Environment at various levels.

The professional practice is not a compulsory part of the study program of Microbiology.

The standard scope of the diploma thesis is 140 000 characters, including footnotes, content, annotations and a list of literature (without tables and pictures). The diploma thesis aim is to demonstrate the ability of the student to work independently, which means the theoretical processing of the given problem (literary research), hypothesis formulation, planning and experimentation, evaluation of obtained results (including statistical evaluation), formulation of conclusions and comparison of own results with the results of other authors ability to discuss the information. Of course, the use of current foreign language resources is considered. The content of the work must not be significantly diverted from the given topic, the change of the name of the work (and the topic) must be agreed with the head of Section of microbiology. In the grammar and correctness of foreign and common words the student must follow the New Academic Dictionary of Foreign Words (Academia, Prague 2009), the Dictionary of the Czech Writing Language (http://ssjc.ujc.cas.cz/) and the Rule of Czech Spelling (Academia, Prague 2010; http://prirucka.ujc.cas.cz/). The standard language of the diploma thesis is Czech. In case of interest in working in Slovak or English, this fact must be mentioned in the official assignment of the thesis, while the supervisor and the director of the Institute of Experimental Biology with his signatures will allow this exception. Formally, the submitted work must meet the conditions defined by Dean's Decree No. 5/2014.

Graduate of the master's degree program has the possibility to continue to study microbiology at MU in the doctoral study program Biology, in the field of Microbiology.