Branch programme/details

The study programme Neurosciences is concerned with all aspects of the study and research of nerve tissue, both central and peripheral, in its physiologic state and in disease, in basic research and in clinical applied research. The study programme consists of the following parts: Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology, Neurogenetics, Neuropathology, Neurology, Psychiatry, Neurosurgery, Neuropharmacology, Neurorehabilitation, Neuroimaging.

The goal of the study is that the student may obtain knowledge of the field of neurosciences as a whole, ability of independent scientific work, ability of independent research including of publication of its results in scientific/professional periodicals with a defined IF, all of that with the respect of nerve tissue and its physiology and pathophysiology, and clinical research.

The programme is carried out without any specialization.

The entrance examination takes the form of an oral interview before a board. The applicant's readiness for independent scientific work in the selected field and the applicant’s professional and language knowledge will be evaluated. The interview will include a discussion of the submitted project, where its meaningfulness and feasibility will be evaluated. The length of the project presentation should not exceed 5 minutes.

The criteria of evaluation:

1. Quality of the submitted project and level of compilation of the project’s annotation – maximum 40 points
The board will evaluate if the objectives of the project are specific and original, the hypothesis is clearly defined and the methods are adequate.

The project’s annotation should have a maximum length of 2 pages and contain the following:
- Title (and subtitle if applicable)
- Background
- Objectives and working hypotheses
- Methodology with time schedule, specification of the applicant's work on the project and expected research results
- References (related to the topic of the project)
- Financial coverage of the project (including the title and registration number of the appropriate grant project or institutional support) – it is part of the evaluation of the criterion number 4

2. The form of presentation of the submitted project – maximum 20 points
The board will evaluate the applicant’s ability to present the project, respond to questions from board members, the applicant’s basic knowledge in relation to the topic of the submitted project, including knowledge of the researched topic and the theoretical background of the project and its critical comparison with previously published findings.

3. Previous scientific and professional activity – maximum 20 points
The board will evaluate the previous activities of the applicant related to the project or research in the given or related scientific field. Especially, the publishing activity, active participation in conferences or symposia including student scientific conferences and participation in grant projects will be evaluated. (The full number of points will be allocated if the applicant is a first author or a principal investigator of a grant and up to 50 % of points will be allocated if the applicant is a co-author or a co-investigator of a grant.)

4. Professional, material and financial support of the submitted project – bonus of maximum 20 points
The board will evaluate relation of the submitted project to the scientific focus of the intended supervisor with a sufficient recent publication activity and his/her research projects, if the technical and material equipment of the intended workplace is adequate and consent of the head of the institution/department, where the submitted project will be carried out, and financial support of the project by grant or institutional research funding (grant application does not mean financial support of the project), is available. Based on these criteria the certain number of bonus points could be allocated.

Each member of the board grades separately each criterion. The arithmetic mean is calculated on the basis of the point evaluation of each board member. The result is rounded to the nearest whole number – for values from 0.0 to 0.49 in the downward direction to the nearest whole number and for values from 0.50 to 0.99 in the upward direction to the nearest whole number.

The minimum point limit required for admission is 60 points.

Admission to Doctoral studies is conditioned by successful completion of a Master's study programme.

Verification method:	entrance exam
Confirmation date (of entrance exam) from:	01.06.2024	Until:	30.06.2024
Alternative date (of entrance exam):	06.06.2024	Until:	10.08.2024

Readings are recommended by individual potential supervisors, and are based on professional issues of the potential dissertation and the chosen particular discipline. In particular, monographs and respected IF magazines. Suggested literature and resources can be viewed within the profiles of the specific supervisors.

A graduate of the doctoral study programme in Neurosciences is designed for the study of the structure, functions and disorders of the nervous system. The neurosciences programme covers, in particular, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neurogenetics, neuropathology and neuropathophysiology, methods used in those disciplines, essential clinical knowledge of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry as well as of the diagnostic methods used in those disciplines. A graduate of the course of study in Neurosciences has the basic knowledge of all the above parts of the discipline, is capable of independent scientific work, and well-versed in the current state of knowledge in the field of his/her dissertation. A graduate of the course of study in Neurosciences is mentioned as an author/ess in the basic reference databases of his/her field of study.