Requirements for admission to the doctoral programme of study in the academic year 2027/2028

• The requirement for admission to the doctoral programme of study is the attainment of a degree of education (university education of the third degree) which would be acceptable for admission to the doctoral programme at a university in the country of origin of an applicant. If such information cannot be identified the applicant will be requested to submit the certificate of “General Recognition”, which may be issued by the Rectorate of Charles University, some other universities, the Metropolitan Authority of the Capital City of Prague (“Magistrát hlavního města Prahy”), or by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. In such case the content of the respective course of completed study is to be assessed and the fee is CZK 3 000 payable to the institution carrying out the recognition procedure.
• The full-time form of study includes the involvement of a doctoral student in projects and activities of a department whose scope of scholarship covers the topic of a respective dissertation thesis (civil law, international law, etc.). Applicants are strongly advised to contact in advance not only a potential supervisor of their doctoral study, but also the head of a respective department. Should there be no preliminary agreement between an applicant and a respective department it is advised to apply for a part-time (combined) form of study, which is less demanding as to the presence of a student at the faculty.

Electronic application

List of Supervisors 2027/2028

Admissions office: (ground floor/room nr. 2, counter nr. 4)

Contact person:             Ludmila Páralová           

Tel.:                                   (+420) 221 005 205                                                           

E-mail:                              ludmila.paralova@prf.cuni.cz

Dates and deadlines:

Deadline for submission of application:          30 April 2027 (inclusive)              

Date of entrance examination:                         8 June 2027       

Alternative date of entrance examination:      22 June 2027

Fees:

Fee for an electronic application:                     CZK 900

The fee will be paid electronically via bank transfer or payment card. Details regarding the payment of the fee will be provided to the applicant via email upon the dispatch of their application.

Fee for recognition of foreign education:         CZK 1 500

The application for admission is to be submitted not later than on 30 April 2027.

I. Information about the admissions procedure

In the academic year 2027-2028, the Faculty of Law of Charles University (“Faculty”) offers study in one doctoral programme conducted in the English language, entitled “Theoretical Legal Sciences – Law and Legal Theory in European Context”.

The doctoral programme of study focuses on scholarly research and independent creative activities in the respective research field. The admissions procedure to the doctoral programme of study at the Faculty in the academic year 2027-2028 will be carried out under section 47 and following of Act No. 111/1998 Sb., to regulate higher education institutions, as amended (“Higher Education Act”), and in compliance with the Code of Admissions Procedure of Charles University.

The application for admission is to be submitted no later than on 30 April 2027 via the Student Information System of Charles University (SIS).

An applicant may apply for each form (full-time; part-time) of the doctoral study in a separate application; however, it is possible to submit both applications at the same time.

The conception of doctoral studies at the Faculty that specifies the content of

1. full-time study;
2. part-time study without scholarship; and
3. part-time study with scholarship 

is available here: https://www.prf.cuni.cz/en/phd-programme/concept-doctoral-studies

If the applicant is applying for a part-time form of study, they must indicate in their application whether they have chosen the form with or without a scholarship having duly considered the amount of tasks to be included in either form of their individual curriculum as provided in the link above.

Based on the recommendation of the admissions committee, the Dean determines the maximum number of candidates who can be admitted to the full-time study in the specified doctoral programme. The maximum number of applicants admitted to the full-time form of study will be determined with particular regard to:

• an even distribution of full-time students in the individual academic departments;
• the recent number of full-time students at a particular academic department;
• the internationalisation of studies.

If a greater number of applicants than the maximum number of admissions achieves a score of at least 50 points in the entrance examination for full-time form of study, the order of the best applicants is decisive. The applicants who achieved the greatest number of points are therefore admitted to the full-time form of study. 

The Dean of the Faculty will appoint an examination board that will assess the extent of an applicant’s knowledge in the chosen programme of study, particularly in broader contexts.

Under Article 4 (5) of the Code of Admissions Procedure of Charles University, the Faculty will send an invitation to the entrance examination to an applicant through the electronic Student Information System no later than thirty days before the date of the examination. If the Faculty sends an invitation to an alternative entrance examination date, said time period may be shortened as necessary. An applicant will receive a password to sign into the electronic Student Information System after filing an application for admission to study.

II. Organisation of, and requirements for the entrance examination

The entrance examination is held publicly in one round and taken orally in English. An excellent English language competence is one of the basic requirements. The purpose of the entrance examination is to assess primarily the relevant academic knowledge of an applicant including the knowledge of relevant terminology, and his or her capability of carrying out autonomous scientific activities and research within the selected programme of study.

The maximum total score to reach at the entrance examination is 70 points. The overall number of points achieved by an applicant is composed of the number of points reached within individual parts of the entrance examination. The range of points in individual parts of the entrance examination is as follows:

The range of points in individual parts of the entrance examination is as follows:

• Debate over the presented project of a dissertation – at least 7 pages along with a list of references (0 - 30 points);
• Bonus points awarded for an applicant´s understanding of the content of study regarding (a) their  plan to be involved in scientific projects and research of the expected training unit (e.g. academic department), and in international research cooperation;  (b) linking his or her dissertation topic and outline with the research profile of his or her doctoral student training unit; (c) consent of a selected  supervisor to supervise the applicant´s project of the intended dissertation (0-10 points).
• Bonus points awarded for an applicant´s participation in the international Czech-Slovak round of SVOČ (Student Research and Professional Activities) (5 points)
• Assessment of the recent academic and research activities of an applicant (0-10 points).
• Proving the knowledge resulting from studying relevant scientific literature within a wider context of the intended dissertation project (0-15 points).

The minimum overall number of points for an applicant to attain at the entrance examination in order to be admitted to study is 50 points.

The Dean will decide, as based on the recommendation of the Admission Commission, the maximum number of students admitted to the full-time form into the doctoral programme. The number of those admitted will be established with respect to:

• equal distribution of full-time doctoral students to different academic units,
• actual number of students in full-time form of study in the respective academic unit,
• the pursue for internationalisation in doctoral programme.

No later than within 30 days from the entrance examination, the Dean will issue a decision regarding admission or non-admission of the applicant to the doctoral programme of study. The Faculty will deliver the decision electronically via the Student Information System.

III. Dates of examination

Regular date:                      8 June 2027

Alternative date:                22 June 2027

Taking the entrance examination on an alternate date

a) will be permitted for an applicant if the date of their high school graduation exam or state final exam falls within the three-day period preceding the scheduled regular entrance exam date or within the three-day period following it;

b) will be permitted for an applicant due to study abroad that serves as preparation for university studies;

c) may be permitted for an applicant due to a conflict between the regular entrance exam date and the date of another entrance exam;

d) may be permitted for an applicant for other serious reasons, particularly health-related ones.

The applicant must submit a request to take the entrance exam on an alternate date and provide supporting documentation no later than 7 days before the scheduled date of the entrance exam. A request to take the exam on an alternate date due to health or other serious reasons that arose through no fault of the applicant and were unknown to the applicant in advance may be submitted within 3 days of the regular entrance exam date. No further alternate dates will be permitted.

The request is submitted and processed through the university’s electronic information system.

IV. Application

Deadline for submission of application

Pursuant to Article 4 (3) c) of Rector's Directive No.15/2026, the deadline for the submission of applications for doctoral study programmes runs from the date of publication of the conditions of the admission procedure until 30 April 2027.

1. Elements of application:

An electronic application form will be available as of 1 December 2026 at the following address: is.cuni.cz/studium/prijimacky. An applicant must indicate in the application the form of study (full-time or part-time) and the programme of study. The application including all required documents to be attached to it must be sent through the electronic Student Information System no later than at 23:59:59 o’clock on 30 April 2027.

After the application has been electronically filled out, it is necessary to send it out by clicking the “send” (“odeslat”) button, otherwise the application is not submitted and as such becomes invalid.

The requisite documents which constitute a component part of an electronic application as appendices are as follows:

• an outline of the dissertation project in the extent of about 7 standard pages; bonus points can be attained for (a) the applicant´s concrete plan to be involved in scientific projects and research of the expected training unit (e.g. academic department), and in international research cooperation;  (b) linking the proposed dissertation topic and outline with the research profile of the doctoral student training unit; (c) consent of a selected supervisor to supervise the applicant´s project of the intended dissertation.
• structured CV;
• an overview of past professional and/or academic activities (e.g. works published, practical trainings and internships, etc.).

The header on each page must contain the name of an applicant, the name of a selected programme of study and the title of the applicant´s project.

The applicant is obliged to choose a potential supervisor from a list of supervisors for a given field and programme and indicate the choice in the application. The list of supervisors for individual programmes and fields of study is available in the publicly accessible part of the website of the Faculty.

Each appendix to the application must be uploaded in the pdf format separately along with the application for admission. Neither the application nor the attachments are to be printed out and sent by mail, with the exception of an authenticated copy of the higher education diploma and supplement to the diploma (or the Certificate of State Examination, in the case of former graduates of CU).

This duty does not apply to students who have graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University since 1 January 2008 (the Faculty will verify this fact against the database of graduates of the Faculty). The applicant must send the authenticated copy of the master’s diploma and the supplement via regular mail to the address of the Faculty no later than on 30 September 2027.

If an applicant graduated from a university or similar higher education institution abroad one of the following documents must be delivered to the Faculty by surface postal services:

• a document certifying the general recognition in the Czech Republic of the foreign university education; such document should have been obtained under ss. 89 and 90 of the Higher Education Act (so-called "recognition");
• a document proving the study at, and graduation from a foreign university where such study and graduation is regarded in the Czech Republic as equal without any further administrative procedure in compliance with international obligations of the Czech Republic (a university diploma and supplement issued in the Slovak Republic, Poland, Hungary, or Slovenia); or
• a foreign document proving the study at, and graduation from a foreign university, which will be considered and recognized by the Faculty itself (for the recognition fee of CZK 1050).

Detail information regarding the proving of the regular completion of study in the master´s programme for graduates of foreign universities are available at the webpage of the Faculty, section “Prospective Applicants”, subsection “Recognition of Foreign Education”.

2. Application Fee

• The fee for submission and acts related to the admissions procedure is CZK 900 as stated in „Druhy a výše poplatků spojených se studiem na Právnické fakultě Univerzity Karlovy pro akademický rok 2026/2027“on the official notice board of the Faculty of Law.
• The fee is paid electronically either by bank transfer or by payment card to the account of the Faculty at KB Praha 2, account number 0000868986130237/0100. The variable symbol (i.e. payment ID number) and the specific symbol for the bank transfer payment will be sent to the applicant by e-mail to his/her email address provided in the application form. The fee is payable no later than by the deadline for submitting an application so that the fee is credited to the Faculty´s account no later than on the third day after that deadline. If the applicant´s fee fails to be credited to the Faculty´s account by the 3^rd date after the deadline for submitting applications, the applicant will be considered to have withdrawn the application.

V. Period for verifying the fulfilment of the requirements for admission

1. The period for verifying compliance with the conditions for admission to study, including verification of the condition of attainment of the required education pursuant to Section 48 of the Higher Education Act, terminates on 30 September 2027.

2. The period for verifying the fulfilment of the condition of attainment of the required education terminates on 22 October 2027 for applicants to doctoral study programmes if:

1. they have completed their studies in a master's degree programme during the autumn term, in the case of proof of the required education pursuant to Section 48(1), third clause, or (3) of the Higher Education Act; or
2. they prove that they have fulfilled the requirement for graduation from a master's degree programme in accordance with Section 48(5) of the Higher Education Act.

VI. Fee for study in the study programme

As of academic year 2027-28, a fee for study in the English language will be CZK 0.