General information on studies

The Doctoral Study Programme (abbreviated as DSP) at Faculty of Arts, Palacký University can be studied in the two following ways:

• In a full-time form (the student receives a bursary and is involved in the organisation, teaching and scholar work of their department or other training unit) or
• In a part-time form (the student fulfils the study duties on the grounds of the FA UP or another training unit only to a limited extent and studies mainly remotely).

The study is divided into five modules. Each module represents an individual area in which students need to acquire certain knowledge and competences. For every module, there is prescribed a minimum number of credits that the student needs to acquire depending on the study mode they study (four-year or three-year mode) and whether they study in the full-time or part-time form. This way, doctoral students cannot avoid any area that is of key importance for the DSP, on the other hand they can, when they acquire the minimum number of credits, choose extra courses depending on their interest and focus. What matters is to complete the total number of credits: 180 credits in the three-year study and 240 credits in the four-year study. An exact description of the modular study and study plans are to be found in the “Study plans” tab.

First year doctoral students should study the Brief guide for doctoral students through doctoral studies at FA UP.

First year DSP students should remember to take the following steps when they have started their studies and have enrolled for them:

1. Read the study plan of the subject area.
2. Together with their supervisor, make an individual study plan that will determine the outline of their studies for the whole three or four years and prescribe the specific courses to be taken in the first academic year.
3. Register in the IS/STAG for courses corresponding with the individual study plan. This is done via the UP Portal. https://stag.upol.cz/portal/studium/index.html

Important messages are sent to doctoral students’ university e-mail addresses. Students must check their e-mail or they can activate the automatic forwarding of university mail to their private e-mail address. Please find the information and instruction for signing up at https://cvt.upol.cz/email/ .

Students can see their DSP courses in the study database IS/STAG, which they access via the Portal using their “Portal ID” and a password. The log-in data is generated only after the study enrolment. Students can see their “Portal ID” in their electronic application for study and they set their password by themselves (instruction for logging in to Portal is found at: https://wiki.upol.cz/upwiki/Portal#Jak_se_p.C5.99ihl.C3.A1sit_do_port.C3.A1lu.3F).

FA UP Master’s study programme graduates keep the same log-in name and password for Portal as they had in their previous studies. For their next studies they only get a new ID number for the specific subject area and level.

Exact dates for the pre-registration for courses are specified in the annually updated academic calendar (https://www.ff.upol.cz/studenti/studium/harmonogram-ak-roku/). Deregistration from courses outside the prescribed periods is only possible in sporadic cases upon the recommendation by the supervisor or the Subject-area Board. Students record their courses into the IS STAG themselves. Results of testing, examination, colloquia and the completion of other study duties are recorded into the IS STAG by the course guarantor or a person delegated by them. However, the guarantor is always responsible for the correct record of the results.

Detailed rules for the DSP study and work with the IS STAG are found in the Study and Examination Code and in the Dean’s Directive to Implement the UP Study and Examination Code. Students must not only know and observe the abovementioned Code and Directive but also all valid norms and directives issued by UP and the FA UP. The DSP organisation is managed by the Science and Research Office and is supervised by the FA UP Vice-Dean for Science and Research.

The standard time to study the doctoral study programme is prescribed by the programme accreditation; it is three or four years long. Previous unsuccessful doctoral studies of the individual are subtracted from the standard study time (the data is stored in a comprehensive register). This rule therefore also limits the length of the period of receiving the doctoral bursary, which is paid only to students in their standard study time.

The maximum length of doctoral study is the standard time (three or four years based on the specific accreditation) plus three extra years. Neither the standard nor the maximum study time includes the time which the study was interrupted for.

The Higher Education Act (provisions of Section 21, paragraph 1 item f, Section 54, paragraphs 2–4, Section 58, paragraph 3) enables students who have become parents to ask for a record of parenting period within their study time and by this to receive the following benefits:

• Interruption of studies (in this case the recorded parenting period is not included in the interruption time or in the total study time)
• For mothers, the deadline to complete their study duties can be postponed (only for the period of maternity leave, i.e. 28 weeks).

For the mother, the recognised parenting period starts in the eighth week before the expected childbirth and finishes when the child is three years old. For the father, the recognised parenting period starts with the childbirth and finishes when the child is three years old. An adequate approach is taken when a child is taken into foster care based on a decision issued by a relevant institution.

The mother and the father can apply simultaneously for the record of recognised parenting period at the faculty. If the mother/father wishes to apply for a study interruption in relation to the recognised parenting period, they also submit an application for study interruption in relation to the recognised parenting period. Both the applications shall be sent to the FA UP Doctoral Study Officer.

The following documents need to be submitted:

• Application for Recognised Parenting Period Record, and, if desired, also the Application for Study Interruption Period in relation to the recognised parenting period
• A photocopy of the child’s birth certificate
• Before she gives birth, the mother shall submit a photocopy of the pregnancy card (after the child is born, a photocopy of the birth certificate must be submitted as soon as possible but within 22 weeks maximum from the birth, otherwise the record of the recognised parenting period shall be terminated).

Upon the doctoral student’s request and upon the approval by the supervisor, the Dean can interrupt the study. The study can always be interrupted only for the whole semester or for the whole academic year, not freely throughout their course. The doctoral student’s application with the supervisor’s statement shall be sent to the Dean via the Doctoral Study Officer. In the first year of study, the study can only be interrupted for serious reasons.

Upon the doctoral student’s request and upon the approval by the supervisor and by the Subject-area Board Chairperson, the Dean can also prong the studies after the standard study time is over. Within one application, the study can only be prolonged for the whole semester or for the whole academic year. The doctoral student’s application with the supervisor’s statement shall be sent to the Dean via the Doctoral Study Officer. A doctoral student who does not complete all the study requirements in the standard study time or does not apply for a study prolongation may be expelled from the studies.

The date of proper completion of doctoral studies (and therefore the last day of the proper study time) is understood as the day of passing the State Doctoral Examination or succeeding in the dissertation defence, depending on which of these dates was later. Students have the right to withdraw from their studies at any time. They must report this fact in writing to the faculty Dean via the Study Officer.