Philosophy

Deadline for submitting applications: 1 August - 30 November

Deadline for submitting documents for the admission procedure: until 30 November

The admission procedure to doctoral study programmes at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University is two-round. In the first round, the documents submitted in advance are assessed. The second round takes the form of an oral interview. Only those applicants who succeed in the first round are invited to the second round.

Documents for the admission procedure (1st round):

• signed CV;
• list of publishing activities (if any);
• attached copies of publications (paper or electronic), whether published, accepted or under review; in the absence of publications, provide a copy of the thesis; due to the character of doctoral studies, preference is given to candidates who are able to publish well;
• any evidence of above-average academic performance or relevant awards;
• doctoral thesis project of about 5 pages (plus 1-2 pages of literature);
• motivational letter in which the applicant states why they want to study the field of Philosophy and why they have chosen the Department of Philosophy, FA MU.

  Documents for the admission procedure must be inserted into the e-application (rubric “Documents”) by 30 November. Applicants are required to include their full name and application number on all attached documents.

  The entrance examination (2nd round) takes the form of an oral discussion over the doctoral thesis project.

  Notice: Accepted applicants must submit proof of completion of a master's degree (an authorized conversion of the diploma, or, in the case of education obtained abroad, also known as nostrification) before enrolling in the program. Proof of completion of a master's degree is not required for the entrance examinations.

1st round: success limits 60 points (out of 90).

2nd round: success limits 70 points (out of 100) .

The PhD programme in Philosophy is designed to foster advanced, independent research on a highly specialized philosophical topic. Students engage in rigorous and systematic inquiry across a broad range of areas, including the history of philosophy, ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, logic, and related fields. The programme develops expertise in conceptual and argumentative analysis, critical interpretation of scholarly literature, and the exploration of the historical and contemporary significance of philosophical ideas. Emphasizing intellectual autonomy, creativity, and academic excellence, the programme encourages original contributions to philosophical research and the development of innovative solutions to complex theoretical problems.

Upon successful completion of the programme, the graduate is able to:

• understand theories, concepts, and methods that are currently employed in a given philosophical specialization;
• conduct independent research within the field;
• publish research papers in both national and international environment;
• present the results of his/her research at national and international conferences;
• think critically and rationally;
• qualification for employment in humanities and related fields;
• educate high-school and university students in philosophy;
• apply knowledge of the history of philosophy, ethics, or epistemology in scientific and popularisation activities;
• apply selected concepts at the boundaries of the field (e.g., ethics, argumentation, logic), depending on their specialization;
• recognize general (and even ethical) methodology of scientific work;
• prepare competitive grant proposals.

The dissertation must be delivered as a digital work (DOCX, PDF), 200000 symbols printed on white A4 paper (or digitally submitted), with numbered pages. (Alternatively, the thesis is already a printed book or a set of published papers accompanied by a commentary and introduction; both of these possibilities must be approved by the programme committee in advance). Each copy must contain a title page with the name of the university, faculty, and department; the field of study; title; the name of the author and supervisor; year; originality statement; English (German, ...) résumé; content; list of bibliography references. For details, please see The Masaryk University Study and Examination Regulations, article 32 and the actual faculty template.

When finishing the dissertation, a specialised seminar is obligatory. The dissertation thesis, also a report ('autoreferát'), must be submitted.

The Dissertation Thesis Report ['autoreferát']. Its goal is to present the thesis from a more general perspective; with the investigated topics one reports also the main results and the used methodology.

The form: A5 brochure, 20-25 (standard) pages. The title page is identical to the content identical with the dissertation thesis; the style and the list of references are also the same. A specific content: (1) annotation in Czech and English (German, ...); (2) an introduction to the main textual part; (3) a description of the state of art; (4) aims of the dissertation thesis; (5) methods; (6) main results (accentuating own contribution); (7) conclusions; in addition (8) list of student's publications.

For details, please see The Masaryk University Study and Examination Regulations, article 33.