The programme focuses on the full breadth of cardiovascular research. From clinical disciplines, it includes cardiology, paediatric cardiology, cardiac surgery, angiology, vascular surgery, vascular neurology – as well as related theoretical and preclinical disciplines, respectively. Their parts dealing with cardiovascular research – anatomy, biology, embryology, histology, physiology and pathophysiology, medical chemistry and biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology, medical immunology, preventive medicine and epidemiology).

The conditions and course of the admission procedure for the part-time of study are the same as the conditions for the full-time form.

We recommend to contact your potential supervisor in advance and consult the suitable form of preparation for the interview. Each study programme has its own specifics, so the supervisor can help you to prepare for the specialized entrance examination (the interview).

Supervisors of the study programme

Each supervisor must be approved by the SAB. The criteria for admitting new supervisors are determined by the SAB. If the proposed supervisor has not yet been approved by the SAB, this must be done no later than the enrollment of the applicant in the study (provided that the applicant is accepted). You can find a list of supervisors approved by the SAB here. After clicking, the supervisor's workplace and contact information will be displayed.

Requirements during the study

Study obligations for full-time and part-time form of study are the same.

The student of the doctoral programme is obliged to take an active approach to the solved tasks, to adhere to the schedule set by the supervisor. He/she regularly informs the supervisor in writing about the course of the study and consults with him on the achieved results. The student is interested in current knowledge related to the topic of study, he/she studies professional literature, he/she watches presentations at important international conferences. It is the student's responsibility to outline the Individual Study Plan in accordance with the requirements presented here. The general plan is shown below, all requirements are also elaborated on in the following sections.

1st year
Requirements that must be fulfilled. Otherwise, the SAB will assess the annual assessment with the grade C, and the student will be withdrawn.

Other requirements that may be, in justified cases, transferred to the 2nd year:

3. An elective course in science methodology, statistics in medicine, presentation & soft skills in science. Recommended courses are listed below.

4. A month-long internship at a top domestic workplace (different than the student's workplace) focusing on cardioscience.

2nd year
Requirements that must be fulfilled. Otherwise, the SAB will assess the annual assessment with the grade C, and the student will be withdrawn.

1. Presentation/poster in English at a scientific conference in the Czech Republic or abroad. It can be in a form of an overview or a case-study; the student has to be both the first author and the presenter.

2. (Co-)author of an article related to the topic of the dissertation. This publication must be written in English, and must be sent/published in a journal with IF.

3. Any requirements that weren't fulfilled in the 1st year.

Other requirements that may be, in justified cases, transferred to the 3rd year:

4. A month-long internship at a top institution focusing on cardioscience abroad. Alternatively, at least one-month internship at an institute or clinic of the opposite focus than the student's home workplace: i.e. students primarily enrolled in theoretical or preclinical institutes complete at least one-month internship at a clinical workplace with a cardiovascular focus (of their choice) and, conversely, students primarily enrolled in clinics complete at least one-month internship at a theoretical or preclinical institute (of their choice).

Requirements that must be fulfilled. Otherwise, the SAB will assess the annual assessment with the grade C, and the student will be withdrawn.

1. Co-authorship of at least one article in extenso in a journal with IF>1,5. If the article was published in the second year, it can be recognized for this requirement.

2. Presentation of one's own scientific results at a conference (not a review or a case-study) in English at an international congress/conference abroad. The student has to be the first author and presenter, his/her name has to be marked in the conference programme.

Recommended requirement:

3. State Doctoral Exam/PhD thesis pre-defence. If the student decides not to sit the exam, it has to be justified and fulfilled in the 4th year of study.

Requirements that must be fulfilled. Otherwise, the SAB will assess the annual assessment with the grade C, and the student will be withdrawn.

1. Second presentation of one's own research outcomes at an international scientific conference abroad (1st author & presenter).

2. A publication of research outcomes in a journal with IF>1,5. This article cannot be a case-study or a review.

Recommended requirements:

4. Dissertation defence.

Listed courses

Doctoral students may choose a course focusing on science methodology, statistics in medicine, presentation & soft skills in science, epidemiology, or a course focusing on the topic of the dissertation. The conditions are:

• the course is at least 8 hours long
• the guarantor is Charles University, Academy of Science, or any European university (that has a faculty of medicine)
• the course is approved by the supervisor

CPGS014 Methodological bases of cardiovascular disease research – not taught in the AR 24/25

B90252 New Horizons in Cardiovascular Research

B90275 Biomedicine and Biotechnology

B90203 Biomedical Research News

Requirements for the SDE/PhD thesis pre-defence

Students enrolled in the academic year 2025/2026 onwards are obliged to pass the PhD thesis pre-defence by the end of the third year of studies.

The requirements will consist of a pair of questions, one of which will be from preclinical and theoretical disciplines and one from clinical disciplines.

A student can register for the SDE/pre-defence if he/she has fulfilled the above-mentioned obligations of the 1st–3rd year (full-time form) resp. 1s–4th year (combined form).

Examination topics for the SDE/pre-defence

Publication activity requirements

1st year of study: writing a review article in a peer-reviewed journal and sending it for publication (the student is the first author). In this way, the student demonstrates the ability to study professional literature and synthesize the acquired knowledge and process it in a comprehensible way. In case of non-fulfilment, the study will be completed at the end of the 1st year.

2nd year: presentation (lecture or poster, does not necessarily contain its own results, it can be a clear message, case study, etc.) in English at a scientific conference or congress.

3rd (4th) year: presentation of own results at an international congress or conference (first author), co-authorship of at least one article in extenso in a journal with an impact factor higher than 1,5.

4th (5th) year: second presentation of own results at an international congress (first author), in extenso publication of an article with the main results of the student's research in a journal with an impact factor higher than 1,5 (first author).

Defence requirements

Analysis and publication of the obtained results in an international journal with an impact factor higher than 1,5 (the student is the first author of at least one article with his own results, published in extenso), writing and defending a dissertation.

The SAB does not require a summary of the dissertation. On the other hand, the SAB does require four copies of the dissertation bound in hardback.

Profile of a graduate of the study programme

The graduate is capable of independent research as well as research in a multidisciplinary team in the field of cardiovascular science on a high internationally recognized level. He/she acquired a deep knowledge of the entire spectrum of cardiovascular (c-v) research fields: c-v anatomy, c-v histology, c-v embryology, c-v physiology, c-v pathology, c-v pathophysiology, c-v biochemistry, c-v epidemiology, diagnostics, treatment and prevention of c-v diseases.

The graduate is able to realize his/her original research ideas and present them internationally in the form of original papers in leading international peer-reviewed journals and also presentations at leading world conferences in the given specialty.

Information about graduate employment

The acquired knowledge and skills will be used by the graduate as an academic employee of a university, a researcher of another research institution, a manager of a company in the private sphere (with a focus on cardiovascular diseases), a senior physician or a primary care physician in clinical practice.