Find PhD Programs in Social Sciences in Czech Republic 2019/2020

Students apply for a four-year term of full-time study. Applications for admission shall be addressed to the Mail Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Smetanovo nábřeží 6, 110 01 Praha 1. The doctoral study programme of Sociologie at the FSV UK prepares students for basic and applied research and teaching in the academia, in scientific and research institutes and in other institutions with this orientation requiring a high level of theoretical and methodological education in sociology or related disciplines. The doctoral study programme of Sociologie at the FSV UK is open: anybody with a Master’s (or equivalent) degree can apply. The admission proceedings take the form of an interview (discussion). The goal of the discussion is to verify the applicant’s ability to comply with the requirements of the Sociology doctoral programme. The proceedings are based on a written Dissertation Proposal, as specified below. Only applicants who pass the admission proceedings successfully shall be admitted to study. The written Dissertation Proposal forms the basis of the Admission Interview and shall include: - definition of the subject matter or research goal, - summary of existing knowledge, - goals and preliminary time schedule, - methods of implementation, - expected research outcomes, - bibliography, - English summary (300–400 words). The Dissertation Proposal shall be addressed to the Study Department, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Room 205, Smetanovo nábřeží 6, 110 01 Praha 1, no later than the beginning of June 2018 (deadline will be... [-]

Oral entrance exam:

During the entrance examination interview, applicants must demonstrate ability to defend their research proposal in critical discussion and prove that they

• can formulate research questions,

• understand their topic’s broader context, and

• are fairly knowledgeable in public and social policy and related disciplines.

(Other topics are not excluded, but they should be consulted and agreed upon by a future supervisor in advance.)

Public and social policies

Policy of social insurance and social security... [-]

The study program is primarily designated for the graduates with a Master’s degree in Political Science or any other field of Social Sciences who intend to deepen their knowledge in Political Science, focusing on the issue of democratic and nondemocratic forms of government, changes in political systems, with a special emphasis on development trends connected with modernization and democratization, other issues of comparative analysis, including national and regional identities, or the analysis of individual elements of political systems.

The doctoral degree programme is guided by the Rules for the organization of study at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University and higher legal standards of Charles University.... [-]

The proposal should cover

Applicants for the doctoral program in the field of International Relations may choose a dissertation topic from the list of priority topics provided by the Department of International Relations (IR) and the Department of Security Studies for the given academic year (these topics are published on the IR Department’s webpage by the end of March 2018 at the latest). The applicants are strongly advised to consult potential supervisor regarding the research proposal prior its submission. The admission procedure runs in two rounds. In the first round the admission board evaluates the research proposal on the basis of its academic value and its compatibility with the priority topics offered by the Departments and sets the required threshold in points for the advance to the second round. Applicants who pass the threshold are invited for an interview. The interview is evaluated in points as well. The Dean of the Faculty sets the required threshold needed for admission. The interview aims to assess... [-]

The aim of doctoral studies is to prepare qualified researchers in the field of Czech and Czechoslovak history, who will become the mainstay of further historical research. The studies develop special knowledge of doctoral students and provide them with a deeper understanding of the chosen specialization. Via lectures and seminars, doctoral students get acquainted with the latest knowledge of historical science as well as current trends in methodology. The focus of doctoral studies lies in presenting written dissertation thesis of original scholarly work based on the original source base. Ph.D. thesis should extend previous research findings, and doctoral students also demonstrated the ability to handle the topic with adequate methods and at the international level.... [-]

Longevity Studies enables a better understanding of the interfaces and challenges of prolongation of human life (longevity). It fosters further understanding and finding of appropriate answers and solutions of theoretical, applied, and ethical contexts of longevity. It reflects not only current demographic changes of the population but also reflects the fact that nowadays people with severe disabilities, chronic illnesses and impairment live longer than ever before, and also that some other specific groups of our population have needs related to longevity. Longevity Studies offers an integrated study on the border of humanities, social, biomedical, and other mainly applied sciences. The study responds to the needs of specialist analyses and solutions to problems related to longevity and demographic changes in society and in various fields of human life and activity.... [-]

The doctoral Contemporary European Cultural History program aims to prepare experts trained for a widely conceived scientific research in history and cultural history since 1918 until the present day, including cultural heritage and traditions. The field of research is defined as Europe, including the Czech Republic and/or Czechoslovakia, its predecessor. The research should be approached in a supra-regional, inter-disciplinary and possibly comparative way, focusing particularly on the cultural, spiritual, social and political as well as the day-to-day history of Europe since the end of World War I, and the history of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Lands perceived in its European context.

The main topics of historical sociology lie in questions of social change, modernization, modernization processes, civilizational analysis, the formation of states and nations, the formation of the world system, and globalization trends. These questions are studied from an extensive comparative analysis involving a wide geographical perspective and long-time intervals. Part of the field of historical sociology comprises a number of partial, specific research areas, which include issues such as collective mentalities, habits and social memory. Historical sociology is a very diverse and internally differentiated discipline that has general theoretical approaches, a number of special theories, a variety of specialized research directions, and develops research at an empirical level.... [-]

The doctoral study program at FHS is organized into the full-time (4 years) and correspondence form of study. The program offers studies focused on philosophical, historical, socio-cultural and socio-linguistic anthropology and human ethology. The general aim of the program is to solidify the theoretical basics and methods of this field and master the methodology of academic research.

The curriculum of Ph.D. students includes:

The subject of study is the geographical organization of society and its development. The courses on offer are particularly concerned with the following themes: analytical and synthetic evaluation of the system of settlement and the process of urbanization; hierarchical organization of regions; territorial differentiation of social and economic phenomena and identification of the role of their conditioning factors.

In terms of its applied dimension, this study relates to problems of regional development, administrative division and locational aspects of various socio-economic phenomena. Special importance is ascribed to the study of the interaction between society and its environment including related problems of social ecology.... [-]

The field is aimed at local, regional, macro-regional, continental, and global problems of landscape sphere.

The aiming is based on the study of the development of Nature - Sociogeographical interaction on different hierarchy level. The study is aimed at regions of the Czech Republic and foreign countries as well. It gives scientific and manager training focused on:

Demography is the scientific study of human population dynamics. It encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of populations, and how populations change over time due to births, deaths, and migration including related events of marriages, divorces, and abortions. The relationships between economic, social, cultural, and biological environments and population development in terms of causes and effects (including forecasting) are the object of population studies in a broader sense. Demography compiles and analyzes data that are useful for various disciplines dealing with human populations such as economics, sociology, social medicine, anthropology, historiography, social geography, ecology, etc. Outcomes of demographic studies are important for public administration, policymaking, health service organization, educational system, insurance companies, etc.... [-]

The discipline is focused on physical anthropology and human biology, genetics, ecology, and ethology. It deals predominantly with ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of man, morphological variability and evolution of populations, ethnic anthropology and ethnology, human growth and its disorders, body composition and nutrition, the action of environmental and social factors on man, human behavior and with characteristics at various levels of the biologic organization and their heredity. Molecular genetics includes analyses of different human receptor genes and genetic polymorphisms in variable regions of human chromosomes. Applied specialties include forensic, functional, clinical and industrial anthropology. Special position occupies skeletal and dental anthropology.... [-]

Graduates of the doctoral program in Asian History and Culture are highly qualified specialists in the area of their specialization. Their excellent command of a selected Asian language enables them to work critically with primary sources, and they have a solid grounding in secondary literature and contemporary research. Their excellent level of erudition enables them to pursue careers in the academia (universities, research centers, etc.); they can, moreover, seek employment in cultural institutions, diplomacy, mass media, specialized think-tanks, etc.

Length of study: 4 years

The language of instruction is English. Asian History and Culture is a fee-paying program.

Graduates possess a general knowledge of the problems of Latin America in relation to its historical development and characteristic culture that has evolved since the late 16th century, on the basis of pre-Colombian communities and immigration from colonial metropolises and Africa. Graduates have a knowledge of the basic facts of Latin American history, and the ability to learn new facts, being helped by the knowledge of the theory and methodology of the discipline. Graduates are familiar with the development of opinions on the basic problems of the region’s history, and the discipline’s institutions, personalities, periodicals, and key works. They have developed language skills in Spanish and English enabling them to study specialized literature and engage in discussions within the international scientific community.... [-]