Admission procedure rules at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in the academic year 2024/2025
The Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava (hereinafter referred to as "FiF UK" or "the Faculty"), after approval by the Academic Senate of Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, establishes the following rules of the admission procedure for doctoral studies at the Faculty in the academic year 2024/2025, in accordance with Article 35(2) of the Internal Regulation of Faculty of Arts, Comenius University No. 4/2023, approved by the Academic Senate of Faculty of Arts, Comenius University and the Academic Senate of Comenius University in Bratislava – the Statute of Faculty of Arts, Comenius University.
Art. 1
Introductory provisions
(1) The admission procedure for doctoral studies at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University is governed by a special internal regulation. [1]
(2) These Rules of the Admission Procedure for Doctoral Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University for the Academic Year 2024/2025 (hereinafter referred to as „rules of the admission procedure“) determine: [2]
a) the deadline for submitting an application for studies at the Faculty,
b) additional admission requirements to studies,
c) The deadline and method for verifying the fulfilment of additional requirements for admission to studies,
d) the form and framework content of the entrance examination, as well as the method for evaluating its results,
e) information on the number of applicants planned for admission.
(3) The Faculty announces the dissertation topics available for applicants to apply to as part of the admission procedure. The applicant applies for one of the listed dissertation topics. [4]
Art. 2
Application for studies
(1) The Faculty must announce the dissertation topics for which applications may be submitted in the admission procedure by no later than March 31, 2024. The list of announced topics must also include topics assigned by external educational institutions, with which the faculty has concluded framework agreements for cooperation in carrying out study programs (hereinafter referred to as the 'external educational institution'). Dissertation topics should be listed separately for each study program, form of study, and supervising department. [5]
(2) The Faculty publishes information on the dissertation thesis topics in Slovak and English. This information covers the following details: title of the dissertation topic, name of the supervisor, name of the supervising department, form of study, and annotation. In the case of a topic whose nature precludes the admission of several applicants, the Faculty also publishes information on this fact.
(3) The applicant submits his/her application for studies through the e-application portal of Comenius University in Bratislava (hereinafter referred to as "CU"). The applicant also sends the application form attachments (paragraphs 6 and 7) to the Faculty (via the Department of Science and Doctoral Studies) in paper form.
(4) Applications for doctoral studies are accepted from May 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024.
(5) The deadline for payment of the admissions fee is May 31, 2024. The amount of the admissions fee is determined by special regulation. [6]
(6) Mandatory annexes to the application form for doctoral studies are:
a) curriculum vitae (in Slovak, Czech or English),
b) Certified copies of second-degree education evidence are required. An applicant who has completed a Master's degree at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, should submit copies of their education evidence. If the applicant completed their Master's degree at another faculty of Comenius University, they should provide copies of education evidence along with the originals for inspection and verification by an employee of the Department of Science and Doctoral Studies of the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University. If the applicant hasn't completed second-degree education at the time of application, they must submit a certified copy of their educational qualifications no later than the enrolment date. For applicants who obtained a second-degree education at a higher education institution outside the territory of the Slovak Republic, a decision issued by an authorized authority on the recognition of the attained education must also be submitted, [7]
c) Dissertation project focusing on the specified topic, which should include defining the subject of the research, providing methodological background and procedures, outlining research objectives, and presenting a list of relevant literature,
d) List of published articles or a list of other professional or artistic activity results, along with evaluations of those works and activities if they have been produced, [8]
e) confirmation of payment of the admission fee,
f) in the case of the clinical psychology study programme, a letter of motivation.
(7) The applicant may also add other documents as annexes (e.g. a letter of recommendation or a motivation letter if the study programme is other than clinical psychology).
Art. 3
Entrance examination and its evaluation
(1) Only an applicant who has fulfilled the basic requirements for admission to doctoral studies may be admitted to the study and additional requirements for admission to doctoral studies according to these admission rules. Additional requirements for admission to doctoral studies include passing the entrance examination.
(2) The entrance examination for doctoral studies in the academic year 2024/2025 shall be held on June 17, 2024.
(3) For each study programme, an admission committee is established to conduct the admission examination for doctoral studies (hereinafter referred to as the "admission committee"). The chairperson of the admission committee and its members are appointed and dismissed by the dean upon the proposal of the chairperson of the board for the respective study programme. In the case of admission examinations on topics assigned by an external educational institution, the members of the admissions committee shall include members from the Faculty and members designated by the director of the external educational institution. The members of the admissions committee from the Faculty shall be appointed by the dean. The entrance examination may, by agreement between the Faculty and the external educational institution, be held on the premises of the external educational institution with the participation of the Faculty representatives. [10]
(4) The entrance examination shall assess:
a) the quality of the dissertation project submitted by the applicant,
b) the level of the applicant's theoretical and methodological knowledge in the field and knowledge of the scientific literature relevant to the topic of the dissertation for which he/she is applying,
c) the extent and quality of the applicant's previous publications and the results of his/her other professional or artistic activities.
(5) The admissions committee shall evaluate the result of the admission examination in closed session. The admission committee shall assign points for the entrance examination to each applicant. The maximum number of points for the admission examination shall be 50, distributed as follows:
a) a maximum of 25 points may be awarded in the assessment referred to in paragraph 4(a),
b) a maximum of 20 points may be awarded in the assessment referred to in paragraph 4(b),
c) a maximum of 5 points may be awarded in the assessment referred to in paragraph 4(c).
(6) An applicant passes the entrance examination by obtaining at least 40 points. Failing to achieve this score means the applicant does not meet the other admission requirements outlined in the following admission procedure rules.
(7) The admissions committee will rank applicants who have scored at least 40 points in the entrance examination in descending order for each study programme, form of study, and supervising department. Each place in this order will be occupied by only one applicant.
(8) The admissions committee shall draw up minutes on the course of the admission procedure separately for each study programme, form of study, and supervising department. For each applicant for study in a given study programme, form of study, and at a given supervising department, the minutes shall state:
a) the score as referred to in paragraph 4 (a) and a narrative justification of the score awarded,
b) the wording of the questions asked to the applicant in the evaluation under paragraph 4 (b),
c) the score given under paragraph 4 (b) and a narrative justification of the score given,
d) the score given under paragraph 4 (c) and a narrative justification of the score given.
(9) The admissions committee shall attach to the minutes of the admissions procedure a protocol containing the ranking according to paragraph (7).
(10) Number of applicants planned for admission separately for each study programme, form of study and supervising department is given in Annex 1.
(11) The number of applicants admitted to the study shall be the number of applicants ranked according to paragraph (7) which corresponds to the planned number of admissions to the given study programme, form of study and supervising department, starting from the applicants with the highest number of points achieved in the given ranking.
(12) If an applicant for doctoral studies chooses a dissertation topic assigned by an external educational institution, the external educational institution must also agree to his or her admission to doctoral studies. [11]
(13) If the dissertation topic allows, more than one applicant may be admitted for the topic. However, if the topic only permits one applicant and at least two applicants apply for it, only the first applicant in the order specified in paragraph 7 shall be admitted, provided their position allows admission according to paragraph 11. If the ranking permits, the next applicant in the order who applies for the same topic but is not admitted due to the previous restriction, the subsequent applicant in the order who applies for a different topic, and whose admission does not violate the provision in the preceding sentence, shall be admitted.
(14) If the same topic has been announced for both full-time and external forms of study, and the number of admitted applicants for the external form of study is less than the planned number, the dean may, based on the recommendation of the admission committee, admit an applicant to the external form of study if they fulfil the following conditions:
a) she/he applied for full-time study, submitting a dissertation project focusing on the specified topic,
b) she/he has fulfilled the basic requirements for admission to doctoral studies and additional requirements for admission to doctoral studies according to the following rules of the admission procedure,
c) she/he is ranked in the order referred to in paragraph 7 in a position which does not permit admission to the full-time form of study,
d) she/he consented to admission to the external form of study,
e) in the case of an applicant who has chosen a dissertation topic assigned by an external educational institution, the external educational institution has also agreed to the admission to the external form of study.
(15) If the same topic has been announced for both external and full-time forms of study, and the number of admitted applicants for the full-time form of study is less than the planned number, the dean may, based on the recommendation of the admission committee, admit an applicant to the full-time form of study if they fulfil the following conditions:
a) she/he applied for external study, submitting a dissertation project focusing on the specified topic,
b) she/he has fulfilled the basic requirements for admission to doctoral studies and additional requirements for admission to doctoral studies according to the following rules of the admission procedure,
c) ranked in the order referred to in paragraph 7 in a position which permits admission to the full-time form of study,
d) she/he consented to admission to the full-time form of study,
e) in the case of an applicant who has chosen a dissertation topic assigned by an external educational institution, the external educational institution has also agreed to the admission to the full-time form of study.
Art. 4
Final provisions
(1) An annex to these admissions rules includes information on the number of applicants planned to be admitted to study.
(2) These rules of the admission procedure were approved by the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University on February 26, 2024.
[1] CU Internal Regulation No. 4/2021, approved by the Academic Senate of Comenius University in Bratislava, Rules of the Admission Procedure at Comenius University in Bratislava, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the " CU Admissions Procedure Rules").
[2] Section 57 (5) of Act No. 131/2002 Coll. on Higher Education and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts (hereinafter referred to as the "Act on Higher Education").
[3] Section 54 (5) of the Higher Education Act.
[4] Art. 11 (4) of the CU Admissions Procedure Rules.
[5] Supervising department means a faculty department or an external educational institution.
[6] Annex No. 5 to UK Internal Regulation No. 17/2021 Directive of the Rector of Comenius University determining the amount of tuition fees and fees associated with studying at Comenius University.
[7] Act No. 422/2015 Coll. on the Recognition of Educational Qualifications and on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts.
[8] Art. 11 (7 )(c) of the CU Admissions Procedure Rules.
[9] Section 56 (4) of the Higher Education Act.
[10] Section 54 (7) of the Higher Education Act.
[11] Section 54 (7) of the Higher Education Act.