FIIT offers the following accredited study program in 3-year full-time and 4-year external doctoral studies (within the meaning of Act No. 131/2002 Coll. on Higher Education and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts, as amended):
- Applied Informatics (in the field of study Computer Science
)
General characteristics and objectives of doctoral studies
Doctoral studies are the highest level of university education. The aim of doctoral studies is to acquire comprehensive knowledge in a selected part of the relevant field at the level of world knowledge and to acquire the ability to work scientifically.
The standard length of all the above study programs is
- in the full-time form 3 years,
- in the part-time form 4 years.
During the whole doctoral studies in the full-time form, the student carries out pedagogical activity. The standard scope is 4 hours per week on average per academic year in which teaching and supervision of 2 bachelor's projects per academic year (except in the first year of study, when the student does not normally supervise bachelor's projects).
In both forms, the study ends with the defence of the dissertation, which is one of the state examinations.
State examination and dissertation
Doctoral studies have 2 state examinations:
- Dissertation examination - the doctoral student takes the dissertation examination after obtaining at least 40 credits, no later than half of the standard length of the study program.
- Dissertation defence.
The necessary information can be found in the brochure Study programs and study organization for the current academic year (in Slovak) a Study Regulations of FIIT STU in Bratislava (full text of Internal Regulation No. 1/2014; in Slovak).
The level and applicability of graduates
The skills acquired during doctoral studies are not only necessary for scientific research itself, but are also useful for social practice, especially at the level of senior management. This is reflected in the demand from larger private companies for graduates with the highest level of university education. Such graduates are capable of independent scientific work and also of working as part of a team. They are able to analyze problems and find solutions, which makes them suitable for senior management positions in companies, as well as leaders in R&D organizations and, last but not least, universities.
In order to ensure a high minimum standard of quality for PhD graduates in the fields of computer science and information technology, minimum requirements for the award of the academic degree of PhD have already been taken in the past. These are recommendations on the structure and number of publications that each PhD student should have as a minimum. This means that the results of each successful PhD student must be published, with an emphasis on peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals or international conferences (including active presentation of results). As a minimum, publication at an international conference is expected, and publication in a scientific journal in a world language is recommended.