The defense can only take place after a PhD student meets all degree requirements.

Degree requirements in a nutshell

• Have at least one first author publication in an international research journal with an impact factor above the median IF in the field or have two first author publications with the IF in Q3. Importantly, the affiliation to the training department at the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University must be listed.

• Gain a set of minimum credits (240 ECTS in 4-year study period), pass 4 faculty-wide courses and 4 field-specific courses.

• Pass the doctoral state exam (the requirement applies only to students who started their studies before March 2025). 

• Take an active part in teaching.

• Participate at the Annual PhD Conference in Biomedical Sciences.

• Present research outcomes at least once at an international conference (poster, presentation).

• Spend at least one month abroad on an internship.

If the student meets all degree requirements and plans to defend in the upcoming months, there are several steps to follow:

Before Defense

• Write thesis 😊 (formal requirements).

• Contact the program coordinator and let him/her know a list of publication(s) that will be included in the thesis.

• The Doctoral Board approves the thesis defense and establishes two reviewers.

• Register for the defense at the Office for Qualifying Development (Czech program) or Office for Quality (English program). When registering, the student needs to provide several documents listed in the registration form: czech/english version. Part of the registration form - Annex 3 is available here. Importantly, students can register only once the thesis is ready, as the on-line version of the thesis has to be uploaded into the Archive in IS MU (a quick quide).

• The Office for Qualifying Development/Office for Quality sends the thesis to the reviewers.

• The Doctoral Board establishes a thesis defense committee and set a date and place of the defense.

Thesis Defense

After the opening words by the Chair of the Defense Committee, the floor is given to the student for a 15 minute presentation. The presentation is followed by a summary of the reviews and students are asked to comment on the reviewer´s questions. After the presentation and reviews, a general discussion starts followed by the evaluation of the student by the committee.

Thesis Defense Viva voce

Viva voce is an alternative to regular thesis defense exceptionally allowed by the doctoral board in case a PhD student does not have accepted/published first author publication, but the research outcomes are of exceptionally high quality.

Several prerequisites apply when requesting the viva voce defense - a PhD student must meet all of the following points:

1. Have the first-author publication that has passed at least the first round of peer review and is currently under revision in an international research journal with an impact factor in Q1.
2. Be a co-author of at least one already published article and include these results in the thesis
3. Have personal or professional reasons that possess a limit to the doctoral studies (e.g., ending of a working contract, time-limited offer for a post-doc position, medical reasons including pregnancy, supervisor´s retirement or departure from the institute)"

Evaluation summa cum laude

The examination board may, upon the proposal of the doctoral board/committee, award the summa cum laude evaluation to a doctoral thesis defended in the PhD program Biomedical Sciences.

The following conditions must be met (see the Section 32(9) of MU Study and Examination Regulations):

• - The PhD student will defend their thesis no later than in the 6th year (12th semester) of study,
• - All opponents’ reviews contain positive evaluations of the doctoral thesis,
• - The doctoral thesis surpasses in importance and quality the theses usually defended in the Biomedical Sciences PhD program,
• - The PhD student’s performance on the state examination significantly exceeds the usual performance on the state examination in the Biomedical Sciences PhD program,
• - Before the doctoral thesis defense, the Doctoral Board submits a statement to the examination board with identification of the PhD candidate’s results achieved throughout studies.
  • - The Doctoral Board monitors the following criteria:
    • - Publications:
      The dissertation must include at least one high-quality publication (or a manuscript accepted for publication) in a prestigious, field-relevant journal (typically Q1 or D1), with the student as the first author, demonstrating a significant contribution to the field.
    • - International cooperation and recognition:
      The student is recognized by the international scientific community, which is demonstrated through international collaboration, awards for presentations at international conferences, invitations to give lectures at foreign institutions, or similar achievements.
    • - Other outstanding results:
      as assessed by the Doctoral Committee or the supervisor on individual basis.

After Defense

The Office for Qualifying Development/Office for Research and Quality prepares the PhD diploma and sends it for a signature to the Dean´s and the Rector´s Office. Once the Diploma is ready, the Rector's Office informs the student about the graduation ceremony (he/she can collect their diplomas before the graduation ceremony).

In the meantime, students can also pick up the electronic version of their diploma from the information system (is.muni.cz). It is available shortly after the defense and students can download it at any time (also in the future).