Supervisors and Advisors

Doctoral study is primarily conceived as individual study, where the professional relationship between the supervisor and the student is crucial. The supervisor is mainly an academic or scientific worker (e.g. an associate professor, professor or an expert on a given issue) who should be a guarantee of quality and proper leadership of the student through his or her national and international expertise and at the same time have sufficient time space for supervisoring the student. The supervisor is appointed and dismissed by the dean on the basis of a proposal of the subject area board (SAB) and prior approval of the Research Board of the faculty at which the student is enrolled for study. A supervisor may also be a person other than an employee of Charles University if a contract is concluded between Charles University, or the relevant faculty and a specific supervisor or workplace. The expression of mutual communication between the student and the supervisor is the fulfillment of an individual study plan. The position of supervisor is therefore not representative for doctoral studies.

The supervisor may propose an SAB to appoint an advisor from among the experts of a given study programme who, thanks to his special expertise or methodological and technical possibilities, is able to lead the student within a certain factual or time section of the doctoral study. An advisor as a top specialist in a given field is able to lead the student and complement the supervisor's professional work. A n advisor for a given student is appointed and dismissed by the dean of the faculty on the proposal of the SAB. It may also be a person other than an employee of Charles University if a contract is concluded between Charles University or the relevant faculty and a specific advisor or workplace.

Further information on the supervisor’s study agenda is available on the Charles University website.

Supervisor

The   supervisor   in   a   member   of   academic   staff   (associate   professor,   professor  or accomplished specialist), who with regard to the expertise at national and international level, personal integrity and moral qualities represents a guarantee of superior and proper supervision of the student. The supervisor shall also possess enough time  availability to advise and consult the student. Each supervisor shall prove adequate knowledge of the valid internal regulations of the university.

  • a supervisor for the  given student shall be appointed and dismissed by the dean  on the  proposal  of  the  SAB;  the  appointment  or  the  removal   of the supervisor  by  the  dean  shall   be   filed   in   the   student’s   records   kept   by the faculty
  • the scientific-research activity of the  student  may take  place  under  the  guidance  of a supervisor who is not employed by Charles University, or who is employed at a different workplace than Charles University, provided an agreement between Charles University or the relevant faculty and the particular supervisor or workplace has been concluded
  • together with the student, the supervisor shall prepare a proposal for the ISP, including the topic of the dissertation; if the student does not exercise his/her right to participate in drawing up the ISP, it will be established by the supervisor
  • approves the topic of dissertation proposed by the student or helps the student formulate it
  • shall continuously monitor the fulfilment of the student's study obligations and consult the results of the study with the student on a regular basis
  • shall  check  that  the   content   of   the   dissertation   corresponds   to   the   content of the programme  of  study  that   the   student   is   studying.   In   the   case  of inconsistency with the content of the programme of study, the supervisor shall propose a solution to the SAB
  • shall evaluate fulfilment of the ISP in  writing on a regular basis  (at least  once  a  year)  and  present  this  evaluation to  the  SAB for approval
  • shall express own opinion on the content of the ISP agreements, the so-called cotutelle (agreements on joint supervision of dissertations between Charles University and a foreign university), especially with regard to the ISP
  • recommends, together with the SAB, a student's request for a change of study form to the dean; after the standard length of the student's study, his recommendation is no longer required
  • may propose to the SAB that an advisor from among appropriate experts shall be appointed to supervise the student during a particular section or time period  of doctoral study due to the advisor's special expertise or methodical and technical possibilities
  • together with the relevant workplace they shall provide their own/individual operational and technical facilities for the student
  • shall remain in regular contact with the student
  • shall supervise and provide guidance to the student, recommend specialised literature (resources), teach the student to be in the company of  experts,  to present the results  of own research work to  the  public  (soft  skills),  teach  the  student  to  raise  funds to finance the projects, help  him  establish  expert  contacts  at  home  and  abroad  and enter the international scientific community, pass their knowledge on to students and enable them to teach to a reasonable and suitable extent according to their approved ISPs

Advisor

 

An advisor, as  a  leading  specialist  in  the  relevant  area,  is  able  to  guide  the  student  and complement  the  expert  activities  of  the  supervisor.  The  advisors  are  responsible   for the supervisor's obligations that were entrusted to them. However, the advisor cannot replace the primary responsibility of the supervisor for the expert aspect of the student's doctoral study.

  • may be proposed by the supervisor or the student and shall be chosen from among appropriate experts to supervise the student within a particular section or time period of doctoral study due to the advisor's special expertise or methodical and technical possibilities
  • the advisor for the given  student  shall  be appointed  and  dismissed  by the  dean  on the proposal  of  the  SAB; the  appointment  or  the  removal  of the advisor by the dean shall be filed in the student’s records kept by the faculty
  • is not usually from the same workplace as the supervisor
  • does not have to be employed by Charles University provided an agreement between Charles University or the relevant faculty and the particular advisor or the workplace has been concluded. The advisor shall be co-responsible for the realisation of the doctoral project
  • shall be in regular contact with the student; in addition,  the advisor communicate  with the SAB and the supervisor, or also with the dean

See the list of supervisors in the Study Information System (SIS). This is a list of active supervisors, i.e. supervisors who currently supervise at least one student.

Supervisors within the CU according to study programmes (including those who do not currently supervise anyone):

Anatomy, Histology and Embryology

Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry

Cell Biology and Pathology

Biomedical Informatics

Experimental Surgery

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Human Physiology and Pathophysiology

Immunology

Cardiovascular Science

Kinesiology and Rehabilitation

Medical Biophysics

Microbiology

Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics and Virology

Neurosciences

Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology

Imaging Methods in Medicine

Last update: 8. 2. 2023 / ThDr. Jitka Sýkorová, Ph.D.