Combined study

4 years

prof. Ing. Valentine Provazník, Ph.D.

Chairman :
prof. Ing. Valentine Provazník, Ph.D.
Councillor internal :
doc. Ing. Radim Kolář, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Jana Kolářová, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Daniel Schwarz, Ph.D.
Councillor external :
Prof. José Millet Roig
prof. Mgr. Jiří Damborský, Dr.
prof. MUDr. Marie Nováková, Ph.D.
prof. Ewaryst Tkacz, Ph.D.,D.Sc.
prof. Pharm.Dr. Petr Babula, Ph.D.
prof. Dr. Marcin Grzegorzek

The doctoral studies of a student follow the Individual Study Plan (ISP), which is defined by the supervisor and the student at the beginning of the study period. The ISP is obligatory for the student, and specifies all duties being consistent with the Study and Examination Rules of BUT, which the student must successfully fulfill by the end of the study period. The duties are distributed throughout the whole study period, scored by credits/points and checked in defined dates. The current point evaluation of all activities of the student is summarized in the “Total point rating of doctoral student” document and is part of the ISP. At the beginning of the next study year the supervisor highlights eventual changes in ISP. By October, 15 of each study year the student submits the printed and signed ISP to Science Department of the faculty to check and archive.
Within mainly the first four semesters the student passes the exams of compulsory, optional-specialized and/or optional-general courses to fulfill the score limit in Study area, and concurrently the student significantly deals with the study and analysis of the knowledge specific for the field defined by the dissertation thesis theme and also continuously deals with publishing these observations and own results. In the follow-up semesters the student focuses already more to the research and development that is linked to the dissertation thesis topic and to publishing the reached results and compilation of the dissertation thesis.
By the end of the second year of studies the student passes the Doctor State Exam, where the student proves the wide overview and deep knowledge in the field linked to the dissertation thesis topic. The student must apply for this exam by April, 30 in the second year of studies. Before the Doctor State Exam the student must successfully pass the exam from English language course.
In the third and fourth year of studies the student deals with the required research activities, publishes the reached results and compiles the dissertation thesis. As part of the study duties is also completing a study period at an abroad institution or participation on an international research project with results being published or presented in abroad or another form of direct participation of the student on an international cooperation activity, which must be proved by the date of submitting the dissertation thesis.
By the end of the winter term in the fourth year of study the full-time students submit the elaborated dissertation thesis to the supervisor, who scores this elaborate. The combined students submit the elaborated dissertation thesis by the end of winter term in the fifth year of study. The final dissertation thesis is expected to be submitted by the student by the end of the fourth or fifth year of the full-time or combined study form, respectively.
In full-time study form, during the study period the student is obliged to pass a pedagogical practice, i.e. participate in the education process. The participation of the student in the pedagogical activities is part of his/her research preparations. By the pedagogical practice the student gains experience in passing the knowledge and improves the presentation skills. The pedagogical practice load (exercises, laboratories, project supervision etc.) of the student is specified by the head of the department based on the agreement with the student’s supervisor. The duty of pedagogical practice does not apply to students-payers and combined study program students. The involvement of the student in the education process within the pedagogical practice is confirmed by the supervisor in the Information System of the university.

1. Genetic variation in cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease

   Patients suffering cardiovascular diseases such as cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease tend to cluster in families due to underlying monogenic or polygenic genetic architectures. The main aim of the project is search for genetic variation in these diseases in order to find causative genes and susceptibility loci. Distribution of the allele frequencies of the selected set of loci in a sample population will be analyzed and modelled. The study will be extended to identify loci that implicate pathways in blood vessel morphogenesis and inflammation related to the diseases. Data from 1000 Genomes Project and from CARDIoGRAMplusC4D Consortium project will be used to conduct large genome-wide bioinformatics analysis. There will opportunities to develop and apply research methodologies in statistical genetics and bioinformatics, develop skills in programming in high-level analysis packages, and develop skills in high-performance computing. PhD students will complete a six-month internship at attractive partner universities abroad. UBMI provides doctoral students with a stipend and/or a part-time contract beyond the state stipend when joining a grant project or engaging in teaching.

   Tutor: Provazník Valentine, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

2. Perfusion Imaging in Cardiology

   The aim of the PhD project is to design and validate new methods of perfusion imaging in cardiology using MRI. Cardiac perfusion imaging using MRI is an experimental method in clinical and preclinical research. The project should contribute to increased accuracy of the perfusion-parameter estimates provided by this methodology with the aim at better applicability in practice. In frame of the project, methods for absolute perfusion-parameter quantification will be developed with regard to the specifics of myocardiac imaging (movement, synchronization with ECG and possibly respiration). The project will be mostly run on the preclinical MRI scanner available at ISI CAS. The project will involve design of acquisition and data processing methods and validation.

   Tutor: Jiřík Radovan, doc. Ing., Ph.D.