Czech language

Česká verze

Graduate profile

Graduates are experts in the Czech language as a system and/or as a form of human behaviour. They are able to find positions in the academic sphere with the focus on studying or teaching Czech or in fields dealing with the language in general and with its applications (i.e. the graduates are able to work as university teachers, independent research workers or to work in the sphere of development). Depending on the topis of their dissertation, graduates are also able to fulfil various expert tasks for memorial institutions in which knowledge of history or present‑day state of language is required, especially with regard to sources and information databases (they may create information databases, work with manuscripts and old prints or to be curators of collections containing written sources/digital databases).

Admission procedure

Entrance exams for Ph.D. studies are held twice a year, i.e. to begin in the autumn semester or in the spring semester.

Applicants will provide their CV, a list of their published works and a project of their planned Ph.D. dissertation.

At the Department of Czech Language, it is possible to study the doctoral programme Czech Language, offering students a specialization in these three fields of study:

1. Synchronic linguistics (formal syntax, morphology and phonology, typology of languages) – guarantors: prof. PhDr. Petr Karlík, CSc., and Mgr. Pavel Caha, Ph.D.
2. Diachronic linguistics (syntactic, morphological and onomastic aspects of the development of Old Czech and Middle Czech, etymology, dialectology) – guarantor: doc. Mgr. Pavel Kosek, Ph.D.
3. Corpus and computer linguistics (creating, tagging and using specialized language corpuses, the process of creating algorithms) – guarantor: doc. PhDr. Klára Osolsobě, Dr.

According to their specialization, students become members of one of the three study groups, organized by the particular guarantors, taking as members of the group mandatory doctoral seminars I-VIII (CJDY03-10).

In accordance with the Minutes from the 1st regular meeting of the Council of the National Accreditation Office held on January 23, 2020, the admission procedure for study plans specializing in doctoral study programs of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University will no longer be published. If you still planned to submit an application for such a study plan, please direct it to the single-field study plan of the doctoral study program in question.

What can we offer to Ph.D. students?

• the background of a traditional institution
• possibilities to participate in research projects of staff members
• a wide network of contacts with universities abroad
• financial bonuses above the level of a standard scholarship

What do we require of Ph.D. students?

Participation in specific research at the Department of Czech Language, i.e.:

• at least twice per the period of studies Ph.D. students (full-time mode) publish an article in which they present results of research relating to the topis of their dissertation (in the first year of their studies it may be just a review); the article must be published either in an academic linguistic journal (especially Linguistica Brunensia, Naše řeč, Slovo a slovesnost or Listy filologické, as far as Czech journals are concerned), or in a conference proceedings (see the courses Publication I – CJDY14 and Publication II – CJDY20);
• at least twice per the period of studies Ph.D. students (full-time mode) present results of research relating to the topis of their dissertation at a conference (see the courses Presentation I – CJDY13 and Presentation II – CJDY21);
• Ph.D. students every year participate in the Ph.D. Day at the Department of Czech Language, at least twice per the period of studies active participation is required (see the courses PhD Day I – CJDY11 and PhD Day II – CJDY12);
• Ph.D. students regularly attend Ph.D. seminars organized by guarantors of their study group.

Participation in teaching at the Department of Czech Language, which means that Ph.D. students are trained at teaching skills of a university teacher, as the ability to teach is a part of curriculum of a scholar. An elective course Teaching (CJDY24) is designed for this specific purpose.

Participation in activities of the Department of Czech Language, which means that Ph.D. students participate in events organized by the Department of Czech Language (lectures of guest experts from abroad, conferences, workshops) and take part in their organization.

Completing the studies

Requirements for completing the studies:

• to gain at least 240 credits
• to pass successfully the state exam (see PhD exam CJDY16)

The exam has the form of an academic disputation on linguistic issues with members of the examination board. A month before the exam at the latest the board assigns a set of topics to be discussed, getting the applicants acquainted with the topics. The exam takes place independently of defence of the dissertation, always during the exam period and students must pass it successfully by the end of the sixths term of studies.

• submitting the dissertation and the theses relating to it (see Doctoral dissertation – CJDY18 and Theses – CJDY17) and a successful defence of the dissertation

Board for doctoral studies (since September 2019)

Chair

Internal members

External members