Specializations in Ph.D. study programme Biology

Faculty of Science - Ph.D. study programmes accredited in English

Specializations in Ph.D. study programme Biology

• Specialization Entomology
• Specialization Hydrobiology
• Specialization Parazitology

Programme Director:
Ass. Prof. Oldřich Nedvěd, PhD.
Contact phone: ++420-387772253; e-mail: nedved@entu.cas.cz

Co-operating institution:
Biological Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Entomology,

Characteristics:
Study specialization in entomology offers the training of students in basic entomological disciplines and their general scientific basis with respect to modern, contemporary field and laboratory methods and laboratory equipment. All the thesis advisors are actively working in the field in question and most of them are distinguished specialists in entomology. Subjects of Ph.D. theses are related to both the general and/or theoretical research in (arachno-) entomology, i.e. morphology, physiology, genetics, systematics and taxonomy, and phylogeny, as well as to the applied research (e.g. integrated plant protection or protection of biodiversity).

The degree Doctor of Philosophy ensures that the students are equipped with the necessary skills and methodological knowledge to undertake original research in their chosen field of study. They have all the necessary pre-requisites for leading positions in a broad array of biologically oriented fields of research and management. Graduates are expected to launch their professional career at research and education institutions including universities, at institutes of applied research (e.g. plant protection and biological control in agriculture and forestry, management of environment), at nature conservation, in museums, as well as in basic research or university activities.

Areas of Ph.D. research:
Relations of herbivores and plants in the tropical rain forest ecosystem. Metapopulation ecology and mobility of butterflies. Taxonomy of selected insect groups. Relations of diapause and cold/heat/drought resistance in arthropods. Effects of natural plant substances on development. Aphidophagous insects and their use in biological control.

Recently defended Ph.D. theses - Entomology

Programme Director:
Prof. Karel Šimek, PhD.
Contact phone: ++420-387775873; e-mail: ksimek@hbu.cas.cz

Co-operating institutions:
Biological Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Hydrobiology

Characteristics:
The doctoral programme in hydrobiology assures the training of students in various areas of current limnology, dealing mainly with the production, microbial and chemical processes and nutrient transformation in reservoir and lake ecosystems and their watersheds. In the scope of the programme, one can select specific topics of fundamental research of different aspects of the functioning of reservoir and lake ecosystems. Alternatively, a holistic approach or other approaches suitable in applied research and water management area are taught. Specific aspects of fundamental research can be solved by means of cultivation of organisms under controlled conditions in simplified model systems. Special attention is paid to the acquisition of proper experimental and monitoring skills, supporting the students’ ability of an appropriate planning of experiments, sampling strategy, and adequate statistical evaluation.

The degree Doctor of Philosophy ensures that the students are equipped with the necessary skills and methodological knowledge to undertake original research in their chosen field of study. They have all the necessary pre-requisites for leading positions in a broad array of biologically oriented fields of research and management. Graduates are expected to launch their professional career at research and education institutions including universities (limnology), at institutes of applied research (e.g. water management authorities, management of environment), at nature conservation, in museums, as well as in basic research or university activities.

Areas of Ph.D. research:
Nutrient resources in watershed and their transport by streams and rivers to reservoirs and lakes. Chemistry and microbiology of sediments in reservoirs and lakes – importance for nutrient cycles. Mathematical modelling of hydrodynamics, eutrophication, and water chemistry in reservoirs. Feeding biology of fish, spatial distribution of fish in reservoirs and lakes, interaction of fish-zooplankton. The zooplankton population structure in relationship to environmental conditions in lakes and reservoirs. Trophic relationships within predaceous crustacean zooplankon. Life strategy and migration of the genus Daphnia. Ecological interactions in reservoir and lake phytoplankton communities. Extracellular enzyme activities in a water environment: ecological significance, resources, kinetics. Factors shaping bacterial dynamics and community composition in lakes and reservoirs. Food-web interactions of pelagic protists with bacteria and phytoplankton.

Recently defended Ph.D. theses - Hydrobiology

Programme Director:
Prof. Iva Dyková, DSc.
Contact phone: ++420 - 387775415, e-mail: iva@paru.cas.cz

Co-operating institution:
Biological Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Parasitology

Characteristics:
This study program offers training in the basic fields of parasitology. The lectures and laboratory assignments are given by instructors engaged in parasitological research. They have at their disposal the latest laboratory equipment. Topics of dissertations involve fundamental research of biology of parasitic organisms and their host relations and the region of medical and veterinary parasitology.

The degree Doctor of Philosophy ensures that the students are equipped with the necessary skills and methodological knowledge to undertake original research in their chosen field of study. They have all the necessary pre-requisites for leading positions in a broad array of biologically oriented fields of research and management. Graduates are expected to launch their professional career at research and education institutions including universities, at institutes of applied research and in specialised laboratories of medical and veterinary parasitology.

Areas of Ph.D. research:
Human parasitoses: protozoan infections in immunodeficient patients, host-parasite relation including the immune response.  Protozoan and myxosporean parasites in fish: morphology, life cycles and pathogenicity. Amphizoic amoebae – distribution in fishes, pathogenicity and molecular phylogeny. Biology, ecology and diversity of all principal groups of helminths parasitic in fishes. Molecular biology and biochemistry of parasites: phylogenetic relationships of selected groups of protists based on the analysis of ribosomal RNA genes; structure of mitochondrial DNA in various groups of protists. Molecular ecology of blood sucking vectors in relation to mechanisms of pathogen transmission: protein-saccharide interactions, immune reactions in disease vectors.

Recently defended Ph.D. theses - Parazitology

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