Incoming doctoral students will not have their previous study results counted. Results will be counted only from the start date of their doctoral studies. This decision not to score results from the previous period is a logical step since the evaluation focuses on activities during the doctoral studies, and each student starts from a different position, often not entirely due to their own efforts. To partly compensate for the potential disadvantage for incoming doctoral students and also because the new system was announced later, there will be an extraordinary increase of 500 CZK per month in regular stipends until the end of 2023 for first-year doctoral students newly enrolled in IGA projects. Subsequently, everything will be adjusted with the new limits.

All scored results are evaluated only after their completion. This has led to the unification of the previously inconsistent approach that was applied. For example, publications are scored only after their acceptance, internships after their completion, and points for thesis consultation after its defence.   

It's good to know that, unlike the previous system, the annual evaluation is entered as text, not as a PDF, and there is a limit of 6000 characters, including spaces.

In the new evaluation, pedagogy has been almost entirely excluded, and this is not a mistake. The new evaluation focuses solely on assessing the scientific activities of doctoral candidates, which means it considers only scientific outputs (publications, conferences, patents, etc.) and activities leading to scientific results (consulting on qualifying works). Pedagogy is covered separately through a pedagogical scholarship, and there is a plan to introduce more levels for this. This should be resolved before the announcement of the IGA for the year 2024.

Since the change in the scoring system applies to all doctoral candidates, there will also be a recalculation of points for the distribution of scholarship from the specialized IGA grant in 2023. The new scoring system will bring completely new limits for increasing scholarship through specialized IGA projects. These limits will be determined before the new IGA announcement (i.e., before December 1, 2023). Each of you has different scoring values compared to the original system, but for most of you, it will not result in any changes concerning your placement within the relevant category of the specialized IGA project.

The system provider is aware of this issue, and work is underway to address it. However, this will not have an impact on the annual evaluation. Your supervisor and other authorized individuals can verify the fulfilment of study obligations, for example, in the “Výsledky zkoušek” (Exam Results) module. Additionally, it is recommended to mention the completion of study obligations in the comments section of the annual evaluation, which is uploaded to text field. 

Please contact the relevant faculty administration, which will address the issue.

In order for a publication from the OBD to be transferred to the E-Doktorand module, two conditions must be simultaneously met: a) the year of enrollment from DPS ≥ the year of publication in the OBD, and b) the author-doctoral student must be selected from the UCT directory. Therefore, if it concerns a publication from a bachelor's/master's study or if the doctoral student is enrolled under their name but is not selected from the UCT directory, the publication will not be transferred by E-Doktorand. In the latter case mentioned, it is necessary to contact the "Owner" of the record and request a correction. If the record has been recently added, it's necessary to wait for approximately a day until the synchronization between E-Doktorand and OBD takes place.

These outputs (referred to as D_conference-proceedings-paper) are no longer evaluated for points in comparison to the original system.

The E-Doktorand module has been imported with data from both OBD and the old E-Doktorand system, which can lead to duplicated records. In such cases, you can use the "eye" icon in the left column to hide the duplicate entries. Hidden records will not be included in the annual evaluation.

In such a case, contact the vice-dean for research and development at your faculty and inform them of the situation. Points in the annual evaluation are awarded only to the presenting author, and in the system, the first author is automatically considered the presenting author. The vice-dean will need to manually adjust the evaluation and allocate the corresponding points to the presenting colleague.

Points in the annual evaluation are awarded only to the presenting author, and in the system, the first author is automatically considered the presenting author. If you presented as a team, the vice-dean will need to manually adjust the evaluation and distribute the points among all the presenting authors. Contact the Vice-Dean for Research and Deevelopment of your faculty and communicate the information to them.

These data were imported from the old E-Doktorand system, so any error was already present in the source data. However, this has no impact on the current functioning of the annual evaluation and is not considered a problem.

The E-Doktorand module shows only completed fellowships, which means if a fellowship is entered in advance, it will be visible only after the planned completion date. The new system awards points for foreign fellowships if they last at least 3 months (90 days) continuously. This is meant to encourage longer international experiences, but it is not mandatory. A mandatory fellowship of 1 month (for full-time and part-time study in "new" study programs) can be obtained by combining shorter stays or, in extreme cases, by replacing it with other international activities of corresponding scope. Scoring longer felloships is also justified because during longer work in laboratories at another workplace, it is likely that fewer publications will be written, so it serves as a compensation for a possible decrease in the scoring. On the other hand, such an internship will undoubtedly benefit you not only in publications but also in your CV.

The criterion displayed in the E-Doktorand module is calculated using the formula SB/(n+1), where SB is the sum of points obtained so far, and n is the current year in which the student is enrolled.

Only those records of supervision or consultation for final theses that are listed in SIS (Study Information System) during its registration will be visible in the E-Doktorand module. If you were not listed as a supervisor or consultant in SIS, unfortunately, such an activity cannot be counted in your annual evaluation. It is also important to note that points for supervising or consulting final theses are awarded only after the theses have been defended by students.

Unregistered outputs in the UCT Prague systems can be added using the "add obligation" button under the list of Obligation Overview. From the menu, you need to select the option "other." Subsequently, contact the Vice-Dean for Research and Development of your faculty and send them the materials confirming the output you have entered. After submitting the Annual Evaluation, this output will be scored for you

Doctoral studies are supervised by a formally-assigned mentor, always according to an individual study plan (ISP) approved by the faculty’s Scientific Council and the Faculty Dean. During the course of doctoral studies, the candidate must pass the required examinations in given subjects prescribed by the DSP and approved in the ISP.

Active participation in professional conferences in the Czech Republic and abroad is an integral part of the studies. Since the 2020/2021 academic year, doctoral candidates are required to go abroad for at least 30 days during their studies.

During their studies, every doctoral candidate must give a professional lecture in English at UCT Prague’s scientific conference for doctoral candidates.

At the end of each academic year, before a given deadline, all doctoral candidates are required to submit an annual progress report to their mentor via UCT Prague’s module E-doktorand in SIS. The deadlines are available in the E-doktorad after logging in.

Doctoral studies are officially concluded with a state doctoral examination and a public defense of the dissertation. The essential part of the state doctoral exam, which takes place prior to the dissertation defense, is a theoretical oral exam verifying your knowledge of the professional subjects. The exam consists of three thematic areas chosen in agreement with your mentor and related to your ISP. The dissertation defense is the professional component of the state doctoral exam used to verify professional competencies related to the completion of your own doctoral research. The exam takes place in the form of an extended debate after the dissertation presentation. To schedule your dissertation defense, you must submit a list of at least two co-authored scholarly articles, preferably in peer-reviewed academic journals (note that each UCT faculty may have different requirements, so be sure to check this far in advance).

It is assumed that doctoral candidates will pass the exams in all ISP subjects at the latest by the end of their second year of studies (this assumption is included in the regulation determining the amount of the basic doctoral stipends). Each doctoral candidate is also obliged, usually by the end of the second year, to participate in the academic conference for doctoral students. At latest by the end of the second year of studies, doctoral candidates must choose the three thematic areas for their state exams. You are expected to successfully complete the state doctoral examination by the end of the third year of your doctoral programme.

The graduation ceremony for doctoral candidates only takes place once a year, usually in the second half of June, at Bethlehem Chapel, Prague 1. The number of guests, unless otherwise stated, is not limited.

In order for a graduating candidate to be included in the doctoral graduation ceremony, s/he must defend her/his disertation by the end of the month preceeding the ceremony. That is, if the ceremony is scheduled for June, all graduates who defended their PhD thesis by May 31 are included.

By default, diplomas are issued to doctoral programme graduates at the graduation ceremony, where graduates also make a doctoral graduate pledge. Between a candidate’s successful dissertation defense and the issuance of the diploma at graduation, an “Addendum to the diploma” (in both Czech and English) and the “Decree on awarding the degree”, both issued by the Dean of the candidate’s Faculty, are usually sufficient documents for official purposes. In the event that these documents are not sufficient or if a graduate has other serious reasons for not attending the graduation ceremony or needs the diploma to be issued before the graduation date, diplomas are issued upon request and can be picked up upon prior agreement at the Research and Technology Transfer Department from Ms. Mgr. Veronika Popová.

The competition takes place annually. It is announced at the end of November by the rector's decree "Announcement of the internal grant competition of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague" for a specific academic year. The application submission usually starts at the beginning of December, and the deadlines for submitting grant applications are in mid-January. The exact dates are specified in the current rector's decree.

Every late November, the Rector's IGA Announcement for the coming year is published (hereinafter referred to as the IGA Announcement).  It contains all the dates and necessary information for the given competition year. The tender documentation for the IGA also includes the internal standards (“Principles of the student grant competition for the support of specific university research projects at UCT Prague”) and the “Grant Rules of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague”. Both documents are stored and accessable here. here. Each faculty also issues its own adjustments to the limits that must be met in the project proposal. More information can be found on the IGA faculty pages.

The announcement specifies the relevant date as 30/11, but this does not mean that results are continuously recorded until this date, and evaluations from unfinished assessments are taken into account. It is stated that the value of the criterion is determined at the end of each academic year, and throughout the year, it remains unchanged for the entire following academic year. By 30/11, verified and finalized annual assessments for the previous academic year are available for the majority of students. The academic year for most doctoral students concludes on 31/8, followed by an assessment process. In exceptional cases, some doctoral students finish their academic year a few weeks later, and if their annual assessment for the completed academic year is verified and closed by 30/11, their criterion may also be used in the IGA from January onwards.

Publications entered into the Research Outputs Database (OBD) after the end of the academic year will be automatically imported into the electronic student record for the new annual assessment for the next academic year after the system reopens.

The results are published according to the date in the IGA Announcement, typically by the end of February. Supported projects are then visible on this page , and their implementers, upon agreeing to the contractual terms of project implementation and signing the contract, will be informed of the order number (fund) from which they are allowed to draw financial resources for project implementation. Proposers of unsuccessful projects will find feedback on why the project was not supported directly in the information system under the submitted project

According to Article 8 of the Grant Regulations, only full-time students or those from another research institution (a contractual institute under the valid accreditation of the Doctoral Study Program) can submit an application. However, at least 50% of the points earned for publication activity must come with an affiliation to the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (VŠCHT Praha).

To enable the disbursement of approved financial resources, it is first necessary to express acceptance of project implementation based on the email invitation. Upon the electronic acceptance of implementation by the proposer, a purchase order will be created for the successful project in the Financial Information System (iFIS). Afterward, it is necessary to sign the Contract on the Conditions of Implementing the Student Scientific Project IGA, and from that moment on, the implementer can start drawing financial resources.

According to Article 8 of the Grant Regulations, only a student of the UCT, PragueVŠCHT s can submit an application, possibly also from a contractual research institute (e.g. CAS), but at least 50% of the points obtained for publication activity must come with an affiliation to the VŠCHT Praha.

The principal investigator's supervisor is the only case when an external researcher without full-time employment at the UCT, Prague can be included in the research team.

The Principal Investigator will submit the project to his/her faculty so that it meets all of their constraints. The student is obliged to familiarise himself/herself with the binding regulations of his/her faculty, and in the case of inter-faculty research projects, of both faculties, and to follow them. In particular, the guidelines for planning stipends and salary costs according to the regulations of the faculties of the respective researchers must be followed. Other items should be planned according to the regulations of the proposing faculty. The proposer is required to inform the chairs of the faculty grant committees of all participating faculty, send them the projected costs of the project, and seek their written approval to submit an interfaculty project before submitting the application.

The project’s principal investigator must first sign the contractual terms (“Agreement on the conditions for the completing a student scientific IGA project”), upon which s/he will be given the project’s financial operation number in the UCT financial information system (iFIS), which enables her/him to start withdrawing the approved funds.

The fund number (iFis purchase order number) will be specified in the contract.

Yes, if they are a full-time UCT Prague students meeting the conditions of Article 8 of the Grant Regulations.

No. Only supervisor/mentor of a student project’s principal investigator who works at an accredited institution that has a contract with UCT Prague can be included on the IGA project team. According to Article 8 of the Grant Regulations, IGA applications can only be submitted by full-time UCT Prague students, including those from other research institutions who have a contract with UCT Prague (i.e. a DSP training accreditation)—assuming that at least 50% of the points earned for publication activities come from the research papers in which the applicant is explicitly affiliated with UCT Prague.

The principal investigator submits the project proposal to her/his Faculty in such a way that it meets all its limits. If the co-investigator is from another Faculty, her/his compensation shall be planned within the same proposal in such a way that it meets the funding limits of both Faculties. In the same way, salary adjustments/compensations for the supervisor or/and consultants of such a co-investigator (if they are to be included in the project) should be planned in such a way that they comply with the rules of both Faculties. Both Faculties will then assess the project.

It should be stated in the project proposal how the funding will be allocated, i.e. if operating funds will be needed for the co-investigator's faculty and how much.

Yes. The IGA Declaration, paragraph 3.1., specifies that the project application, together with the project description, is submitted electronically by the principal investigator either in Czech, Slovak, or English. The annotation is part of the application, so it is in the same language as everything else.

If the faculty sub-announcement/faculty IGA binding rules do not preclude a 4th year student from submitting a project, then yes, the project description should identify the student who will assume the role of PI in September.

This reduction of the compensation limit is not prescribed by the university-wide IGA Announcement. However, you must familiarize yourself with your Faculty’s internal binding rules, where such a reduction is usually established for second-year Master programs students. The principal investigators must familiarize themselves with these internal Faculty rules and proceed in accordance with them, since they are binding as well, according to the IGA Announcement.

For IGA projects, working hours and working capacity are not counted. Therefore, FTE concerns are not an obstacle for submitting an IGA project proposal. One must only ensure that the topic of the projects does not fundamentally overlap (see the IGRA Principles and Declaration, Czech only) since “double dipping” is prohibited for the entire duration of an IGRA project.

Instructions for researchers are available here (in Czech). Financial management principles (“Pravidla hospodaření”) and the necessary forms as well as a presentation from the Finance Department with all the details for IGA projects are available here (in Czech).

If the principal investigator decides to end his participation in the project for any reason, a request for a change in the project must be submitted. A change of principal investigator can be requested by submitting the form Proposal for a change of investigator in a student scientific project for approval by the Faculty Grants Committee. You can find the form in MIS - Grants and projects - on the project line under the icon Actions - Forms - Proposal for a change in the project. In the event of an approved change of principal investigator, inform the contact person of the department for science and research (Mgr. Veronika Popová).

If, as a doctoral candidate, you enter the results into the OBD and terminate your tenure at UCT, Prague, transfer ownership of the OBD results to your supervisor so that any incomplete or incorrect entries can be supplemented/corrected.

The project can be terminated prematurely only in completely unforeseeable, exceptional cases. According to the IGA Announcement, a principal investigator is obliged to complete the project within the specified duration of one year.

If the project must be stopped early, the principal investigator is required to apply for approval from her/his faculty’s Grants Committee  (using the :Návrh na změnu v projektu” form) and then submit the final project report.

You can make the change by submitting a Proposal for Change to the Chair of the FGK. The proposal form can be found in MIS - Grants and Projects (GaP) - under the Actions button for your project - Forms.

We recommend that the form be signed not only by the principal investigator but also by the newly proposed member of the project team. Submit the form for approval to the chairman or administrator of the FGK at your faculty. In the case of a change in the principal investigator, it is necessary to inform the contact persons at the Department for Research and Technology Transfer (Mgr. Veronika Popová). Once the form is approved, you will then upload it into the system, and no further action is required.

No, there is no need to apply for approval of reallocation of expenses for the individual sub-components of operating costs, if the overall operating amount stays the same. The description of such changes and a financial overview are part of the final project report.

The use of travel expenses funds varies depending on whether a university employee (having an employment relationship with UCT Prague) or a student is traveling. Everything is described in detail in the Financial management Rules (“Pravidla hospodaření”, in Czech).

The necessary forms are available here (in Czech).

The deadline is set in the current IGA Announcement. The details are found in the internal UCT Prague’s standard “Principles of the student grant competition for the support of specific higher education research projects (Article 7)”, and also in the final report form, which is adapted to the IGA final reporting requirements. More internal instructions for submitting final reports can be found here (in Czech only). Starting in 2023, it will be possible to generate the final report form directly in the information system and to submit it electronically for approval by the pertinent Faculty’s Grants Committee.

ENG: “This work was supported from the grant of Specific university research - grant No fill in the project application number from IGA (e.g. A2_FCHT_2020_123)”. A Czech version is here.

Acknowledgements are not required for the pedagogical (PIGA) and social (SIGA) projects.

Incomplete records in OBD need to be handed over to another researcher in case of planned termination of studies.

At the end of each year of study, doctoral candidates are required to submit an annual progress report on completed exams, research publications, and other outputs of doctoral research work (together with any pedagogical and academic activities) to the “E-doktorand”, the UCT Prague online evaluation system.

You can find more information about the allocation of points to particular results for PhD students of UCT Prague here.

You can start adding information into the system six months before the end of the academic year upon an automatic notification is sent to your UCT email. This long opening period is because some PhD candidates want to record data continuously. If there are any technical problems, the editing period can be shortened by opening the form later. You will receive an automatic notification.

It must be completed and forwarded to your supervisor/mentor for evaluation one month before the end of the academic year.

Yes, the annual evaluation applies to all PhD students, including incoming doctoral candidates, who shall simply describe their previous studies, publications, international experiences, and conference attendance—everything that should be mentioned in the first annual progress report.

Yes. All you need to do is to contact your supervisor/mentor or the Chair of your Faculty’s Scientific Council and ask them to return it to you for revision.

In this case, contact the Vice-Rector for Research and Development.

Be sure to first fill in the form and insert or upload your progress report (either a text or a PDF file with your annual self-evaluation). After uploading the document to the system, a button should appear.

The Scientific Council’s Chair, as well as your supervisor/mentor, always adds a message describing why an ISP or annual progress report is returned for revision. Follow the instructions. Alternatively, contact the Scientific Council’s Chair or your supervisor/mentor for clarification.

After enrolment, you should have access to the E-doktorand evaluation system. If you have access problems, be sure to log out with the logout button and then log in again. If the problem persists, contact the E-doktorand helpdesk. It may happen that you are not registered in the UCT Prague study system, meaning you might not yet be registered as having access to the E-doktorand evaluation system.

If you have just started and your ISP has not yet been approved by your Faculty’s Scientific Council, please ask your supervisor/mentor to send the ISP back to you (there is a "Return to student" button for this). You then change the courses in your ISP and resubmit it to your supervisor.

If your ISP has already been approved, the only way to change it is to make an official request to do so using the appropriate form, which you can obtain in your Faculty Dean's Office. After the form has been approved by all the appropriate parties, the Dean's Office will enter the changes into the IS Student application and these will be sequentially propagated into the E-doktorand evaluation system. Unfortunately, customized ISP editing function is not yet available in the E-doktorand evaluation system.

Yes, for mandatory courses (this is your compiled ISP, which must be approved by your faculty’s Scientific Council). Changes can be made, but must always be approved by the Scientific Council as an ISP modification. Do not enter elective courses that are not required by the Scientific Council when you do your ISP.

In principle yes, but again, this must be approved by the Faculty’s Scientific Council as an ISP modification. So it's a good idea to plan realistically in your ISP.

It is possible, but it does not happen automatically (there is no “entitlement” to such changes).

You must submit a request to cancel the course and state why. This request must be signed by your supervisor/mentor, the head of your department, and the chair of your PhD Study Board.

Yes, fulfilling a part of your doctoral study requirements abroad is obligatory (it has been since the 2020/2021 academic year). The minimum time for doctoral study/research-related stays abroad is 30 days. The 30 days do not have to happen at one time and they can be accumulated with international conference attendance or with a series of shorter study/research-related stays. This obligation can also be fulfilled by direct participation in an international project or work with an international research group, if the results are published in an international journal or presented to the international academic public in another way.

There are many options. Start by learning about student activities at UCT Prague that you can participate in. Options range from active involvement as a student in the Academic Senate to various cultural and artistic clubs and groups. If you want to form a new group or club, you are welcome to submit a registration here.

The Department of Languages organizes Effective Scientific Writing for PhD students courses, where they will show you how to write scientific articles.

The National Library of Technology (NTK) organizes free webinars that, among other things, focus on writing articles, applications, and dissertations. You can learn more about NTK from the presentation about NTK here (in Czech), also from the webinar recordings and workshop announcements here.

You will have student status for the entire duration of your doctoral studies, but you can only renew your international student identity card (ISIC) while you are studying full-time (usually for four years from the start of your doctoral studies). Note that many discounts and benefits are capped at 26 years of age and you need to check this with each discount provider. For example, public transportation discounts can be used during doctoral studies, but usually only up to the age of 26. Up to the age of 28, you can apply for discounts when filing your tax return if you are a full-time doctoral student. Nonetheless, some discounts have no age restrictions.

Starting 1 January 2018, a change in Czech Act No. 48/1997 Coll. came into effect, which decrees that if you are studying in your first doctoral programme full-time, Czech national health insurance is covered for you by the state. But only if you don't have any employment aside, then Czech national health insurance is paid for you by your employer according to a calculation based on your employment contract, i.e. how much you work part-time.

Over the age of 26, you are required to report to the Czech health insurance company (“Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna“, abbreviated as “VZP”) the fact that the state is paying for your insurance on the basis of your doctoral studies. UCT Prague should report this for you, but it is a good idea to double-check with your Dean's office or with your health insurance company directly. 

If you end your side job (at UCT Prague or anywhere else) during your full-time doctoral studies, you must report this personally to your health insurance company. The insurance will then (if the conditions in the first paragraph are met) be again paid by the state.

By the way, most health insurance companies now offer policyholders electronic access to their data (similar to internet banking) so you can check what data and payments the insurance company has on record for you.

Paying social security insurance is not obligatory, assuming that you are enrolled in a full-time doctoral programme and you don’t have any side job (but you can voluntarily pay for it) and you do have to report anything anywhere. If you get a side job during your studies, social security insurance will be paid for you by your employer.

Yes, during your doctoral studies, you still have student status and you are entitled to live in the dormitories at a discounted price.

The basic doctoral stipend is 7,700 CZK/month. If you are engaged in teaching activities, an additional 3,500 CZK/month will be added to this amount. Your basic doctoral stipend may be reduced if you do not fulfill your individual study plan, as determined by UCT Prague internal regulations (see Determining the amount of the basic doctoral stipend, in Czech).

For the calendar year of 2023 the basic doctoral stipend has been raised by 2,900 CZK/month effective from 01.06.2023. Only PhD candidates satisfying the criteria stated in the Rectors decree (in Czech). These are:

1. The student is at the time of enrolment part of the solver team of A1 grant of the Internal Grant Agency and is in their 1st year or in the 2nd to 4th year. If the latter applies, the student needs to the criterium in the yearly report grater/equal to 2.00 as of 30.11.2022.
2. The student is in a given month part of the solver team of a running A1 grant of the Internal Grant Agency.

Doctoral candidates work 40 hours per week, and you are entitled to 30 days of vacation. Working hours can be adjusted upon agreement with your supervisor/mentor.