Our programme comprises of both course-based and research-based elements. The aim of the doctoral programme is to enable students to conduct research in accordance with the common national and international standards in pedagogy. Academic research competencies of students are to be developed in order to enable them to carry out solid research, write and defend dissertations, and be prepared for working in tertiary education or research centres. Therefore, the credits students have to earn during their studies are divided in the following proportion:

33% for courses, 5% for complex examination, 45% for academic research, and 17% for teaching in tertiary education.

The application can be submitted for the following doctoral programmes:

The programmes of the Doctoral School of Education :

Theoretical and Historical Pedagogy Doctoral Program

The Theoretical and Historical Pedagogy Doctoral Program is based on the research projects carried out by the Research Group of Theoretical, Historical and Comparative Pedagogy and by the Research Group of Pedagogical Cultural Anthropology. These research projects are based on a wide national and international research area above all with a qualitative research orientation focusing on current research questions and subdisciplines (education in family outside the school, within the school, theoretical, systematic, comparative, and historical aspects of children and youth education) of educational sciences.

Theoretical and practical background of scholar training is granted by a wide repertoire of research possibilities. This wide range offering of courses provide students with an opportunity to gain experience in philosophical, pedagogical, ethnographical, theoretical, and historical aspects of education discipline. They can explore the peculiarities of educational institutes and pedagogical professions during their research activities. Therefore, students became familiar with the background of family and youth education and current questions of contemporary education. Students are also fostered conducting research in progressive education (reform pedagogy) and alternative types of schooling which enable them to explore their life reform and new religious movements. We also provide students with possibility to examine the actual questions and innovation possibilities relating to theoretical and historical background of critical citizenship, prison education (inmate education), dance, music and museum pedagogy.

Students’ research activity  is supported by a doctoral workshop focusing on a) discussing  students’ research findings b) offering regular block seminars held by internationally well-known professors (between 2012–2017 scholarships of ERASMUS, NSRF, DAAD and TEMPUS provided the financial background of visitation of numerous lecturers from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia), c), translating and publishing foreign literature and publishing students own research products d) organising conferences and international doctoral colloquiums e) participating in works of research groups and their publications activities.

Adult Learning and Education Programme

The programme welcomes research projects focusing on adult learning, education and knowledge production including formal, non-formal and informal learning. Since adult learning is mostly connected to workplace learning / work-based learning, high emphasis is put on job-related professional learning and development activities, as well as continuous vocational training in non-formal and informal learning spheres and particularly on the knowledge produced within these types of innovative learning environments and process.

Teacher education and higher education studies

Teacher education and higher education studies is focusing on the professional learning and work of teachers. The programme aims at meeting the growing demand to understand better the inter- and supranational trends related with teacher education, teacher professional development, teacher professional knowledge and teaching practice. It introduces international and comparative aspects and methods of educational research, familiarising doctoral students with both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Students of the programme will be developing competences of teacher education programme design and will understand the context and main trends of teacher education and teacher professional development systems in Europe at the level of policy discourse and of country practices. The programme is linked with “The Learning Teacher” research program of the Faculty of Education and Psychology, emphasizing the changing role of teachers, and increasing teacher professionalism. A major goal of the programme is to support the conceptualisation and implementation of the students’ individual doctoral research project within this broader research program and enrich their familiarity with the relevant international research literature. This programme, being part of an international doctoral programme supported by the European Commission and supervised by a consortium of five European universities, may lead to a joint European degree.

Special Education Programme

The Ph.D. program in Special Education is an interdisciplinary program that brings together scholars from education of children and adults with special needs, rehabilitation sciences, and disability studies. The mission of the Ph.D. program is to provide leadership personnel in academic, research and clinical settings concerned with the scientific study of human development and everyday life of individuals with special needs. Current research projects focus on inclusive education of children with disabilities, assessment, and intervention of individuals with learning disabilities, language impairment, autism, empowerment, and equal rights for people with disabilities, neurorehabilitation, among others. While it is our goal to provide students with individualized programs to meet their academic and career objectives, we also believe that all students need a basic understanding across fields of specialization.

Sports and Health Promotion Programme

The program focuses on the lifestyle and on mental-physical activity which are key factors in saving and promoting health. Students will become acquainted with the holistic concept of health, the basic elements of healthy lifestyle, especially focusing on physical exercise, relaxation, smoking cessation, and alcohol consumption. Major models of health behaviour will be discussed regarding both lifestyle change and long-term maintenance of the desired lifestyle.

Physical activity is also a major factor in mental health thus this relationship will be explored in the program. The students will also get acquainted with those exercise physiological and sport psychological methods by which they become able to characterize the psycho-physiological fitness in its complexity and which help them to determine the optimal load. The program also deals with representations of the body, which provide the basis for the self and are closely connected to characteristics important in education like self-esteem, perceived competence, and well-being.