Digital Social Science

Digital Social Science

Fakulta sociálních věd / Faculty of Social Sciences
Filosofická fakulta / Faculty of Arts
Právnická fakulta / Faculty of Law

Contact information:
Address: Nám. Curieových 7, 116 40, Praha 1 
website: www.prf.cuni.cz 

Fees associated with the admission procedure
Paper application fee: 860 CZK
Online application fee: 810 CZK

Fee for recognition of foreign education: 930 CZK
Contact information 
contact person: Ludmila Páralová
email: ludmila.paralova@prf.cuni.cz

Tuition fee is 2000 EUR/year 


I. General Information on Studies


The Faculty of Law of Charles University (the PF UK) offers doctoral studies in accredited study disciplines, full-time or combined. Doctoral studies comply with the Rules for the organization of studies at the PF UK, an individual study plan, and the Dean's provisions. Doctoral studies are completed with a state doctoral examination and the defense of the dissertation. The graduate is awarded a “Ph.D.” degree. 

For any further details regarding doctoral studies at the PF UK, study regulations, and study plans of accredited study disciplines, visit https://www.prf.cuni.cz/en/phd-in-english and the websites of the corresponding departments and institutes of the faculty.

II. General Information on Admission Proceedings


1. Admission proceedings are governed by section 48-50 Act No. 111/1998 Sb., to regulate higher education institutions and to change and amend other laws (“the Higher Education Act”) in its valid form as amended, Code of Admissions Procedure of Charles University, Rector's Measure No. 13/2023 and these Conditions of admission procedures for the academic year of 2025/2026.


2. Following the session by the main admission committee, the outcomes of admission proceedings are posted in the electronic information system on http://is.cuni.cz/studium (the icon My applications/Progress). A resolution regarding the admission may only be sent to an applicant upon the submission of an officially certified copy of a master's diploma or documentation of the completion of master’s studies (see hereafter).

III. Entrance Examination


1. An entrance examination primarily verifies an applicant’s expertise and preparedness to engage in individual research work within a selected study discipline. An entrance examination includes a scholarly discussion on the submitted project of a dissertation. Unless for special reasons stipulated otherwise, an entrance examination is performed in accordance with the accreditation of the study discipline in English.


2. An applicant may be exceptionally granted permission by the dean to perform his/her examination on an alternative day, provided s/he files an electronic request in the information system no later than three days after the due performance of an examination and in such cases when an applicant is unable to undertake the assessment on the due date for serious and documentable reasons (health reasons, the performance of the state final examination, studies at a university abroad, etc.). 


3. An applicant may be exceptionally granted permission by the dean to perform his/her examination in the form of video conference, provided s/he files an electronic request in the information system no later than ten working days preceding the due date of the performance of an examination and in such cases when an applicant is unable to assess due date or alternate date for serious and documentable reasons (studies abroad, scholarship abroad, serious health reasons). An applicant’s performance on another entrance examination does not constitute the reason for allowing an applicant to perform his/her entrance examination in the form of a video conference. Approval by the chair of a corresponding subject-area board forms a precondition for the dean’s permission.


4. A pre-requisite to successful admission is the submission of an application form with all its supplements, properly completed master’s studies, and successful completion of the entrance examination. Only such an applicant who has reached the point level in the entrance examination stipulated by the dean is admitted to studies. The total number of points an applicant has incorporates point assessments gained in individual component parts of an entrance examination.

IV. Invitation


1. Under Art. 4(5) of the Admissions Procedure Code of Charles University, the faculty is to send an applicant the invitation to an entrance examination through the University Electronic Information System no later than 30 days before the date of the examination. If the faculty sends an invitation for an alternative date for the entrance examination, this period may be reduced accordingly. An applicant obtains a password to log into the electronic information system after the applicant has submitted the application to study. 

Application requirements


Application Forms for Studies


An application is to be submitted online. An applicant shall indicate his/her intended study discipline and form of studies (full-time, combined) within the application. An electronic application should be completed and submitted online, including all the obligatory supplements, by July 31, 2024; an applicant may track the course of his/her application form, its storing, dates of entrance examinations as well as outcomes of admission proceedings on https://is.cuni.cz/studium/eng/index.php in the section of the Course of admission proceedings.


It is always necessary to pay the admission fee (see below).

When is the deadline for the applications?


Application deadline: 04/30/2025, by 23:59:59 


How to fill in the application form?


The application form is to be submitted electronically https://is.cuni.cz/studium/eng/prijimacky/index.php, by 04/30/2025, the application is valid when it is filled in and sent.
The application must include fully completed data, in particular, the exact name of the chosen study program.
The column "previous university studies" shall be filled in, even if the studies have not yet been completed. 

The following are requested supplements of an application form:


a) project for a prepared dissertation in the range of three to five standard pages (unless otherwise specified in the academic requirements for individual study programs); the topic of the dissertation project is selected by the applicant from the areas or topics specified in the academic requirements for individual study programs, if they are not specified, the applicant chooses the topic individually; the chosen topic is consulted in advance by the applicant with the chair of the relevant subject-area board or the contact person specified in the academic requirements for individual study programs; the name of the consultant is then stated in the project,
b) structured curriculum vitae (unless otherwise specified in the academic requirements for individual study programs),
c) list of academic literature corresponding to the study program (unless otherwise specified in the academic requirements for individual study programs),
d) overview of existing academic activities (e.g. publication activities, internships, etc.; unless otherwise specified in the educational requirements for individual study programs),
e) statement of the results of a previous study (this statement of results can be submitted in Czech, Slovak, English, or the language in which the program is accredited). 
f) proof of language competence, i.e. a certified copy of any of the following documents of language competence in the foreign language in which the study program is accredited: secondary school-leaving examination with a curriculum realized in the relevant foreign language; proof of completion of any university degree program accredited in the relevant foreign language; proof of successful completion of any certified examination in the relevant foreign language at B2 level or higher according to the list in the appendix to these Conditions, whereby no certified examinations other than those listed above will be taken into account; proof of completion of a language examination in the relevant foreign language at B2 level or higher, completed as part of any university course; for graduates of the Faculty of Arts or other faculties of Charles University, a relevant document generated from the information system may be submitted instead of a certified copy. The list of language certificates recognized by the University is attached to these Conditions and is published on the website of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University.

Mandatory attachments a) – d) must be written in the language in which the study program is accredited. Suppose they are written in a different language. In that case, their acceptance is conditional on the written consent of the chair of the subject-area board, which must be attached to each of the mandatory attachments. The name and surname of the applicant, the study program, and the name of the project must be stated in the header of the first sheet of each of the mandatory attachments a) – d).

All mandatory attachments are entered separately into the information system; attachments are not printed and sent by post.

All documents which are not originally in Czech, Slovak or English must be accurately translated into English. 

If an application form is not properly completed, the faculty will contact the applicant and request that all shortcomings be removed within a stipulated period of time. If the shortcomings are not removed within such a period of time, admission to study proceedings will be suspended. 

You have to fill out a separate application for each chosen study field.

Please write your contact phone or e-mail address so we can reach you if necessary.

The payment of an application for transfer abroad must be accompanied by an electronic statement such as a scan or a photocopy in the e-mail attachment sent to the e-mail address prijimacky-phd@prf.cuni.cz (some payments from abroad do not cover the original payment data, in such case, the payment received cannot be matched with the application form).

When paying from abroad, we prefer online payment.

The fee related to the admission procedure for the selected field of study is 860 CZK (paper application), 810 CZK (online application). The fee is payable on the last day of the deadline for submitting applications for study.

The invitation to the admission exam will announce specific dates for admission examinations in individual fields. The faculty will send the applicant further information on the entrance examination together with the invitation.

How high are the fees?

Admission fee:


Paper application fee: 860 CZK
Online application fee: 810 CZK

The admission fee can be paid only by card or bank transfer.

Bank: Komerční banka, Prague 1
Account: 0000868986130237/0100
Variable symbol (when submitting an electronic application): Applicants will be generated an individual variable symbol - the electronic application number in the information system.
Variable symbol (when filing a paper application): Month and year of birth in the form (MMYYYY) for example 121995.
Specific symbol: (number of the application)
Constant symbol: 0308
IBAN code - CZ5601000000868986130237
SWIFT code - KOMBCZPP
Please note that when paying from abroad the bank charge is payable by the payer.

Digital Social Science:


Admission requirements:
Admission procedure follows the Study and Examination Rules of the Charles University and the admission requirements published in the SIS.
The admission procedure is based on a PhD dissertation proposal. Applicants are required to send the proposal 05/12/2025 to vit.stritecky@fsv.cuni.cz.

 
 The application must include a PhD dissertation proposal that defines the following:


●    state of knowledge about the investigated problem
●    data sources for its analysis
●    proposal of a theoretical-methodological framework
●    list of literature reflecting disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge of the investigated phenomenon
●    preliminary plan of works in individual years of study

For more details see the program dedicated webpage.

Applicants for the doctoral program in the field of Digital Social Science may choose a dissertation topic from the following five areas – Security Science, Financial Technologies and Services, Digital Anthropology, Law and Data: Research and Policy, and Language Technologies.

For more details see the program dedicated webpage.

Furthermore, the application must include an internationally recognized certificate proving knowledge of the English language, which can be replaced by a completed bachelor's or master's degree in English.

The applicants are strongly advised to consult a potential supervisor regarding the research proposal prior to its submission. The main point of contact is vit.stritecky@fsv.cuni.cz.

The admission procedure is two-round. In the first round, the admissions committee evaluates the research proposal based on its academic value and its compatibility with the program. The evaluation of the project by the admission committee in the first round is based on the individual assessment of its members and is determined as an arithmetic average (max. 30 points). The threshold for the invitation to the second round is 15 points. Applicants who cross this threshold are invited to the second round, which takes the form of an interview. 


The aim of the interview is to assess the applicant's ability to explain:
●    objectives of the research project
●    theoretical and methodological framework of the proposed project
●    feasibility of the research project, including its limits

Evaluation criteria:
●    clearly formulated and disciplinarily sound, it shows only minor flaws: 23-30 points;
●    clearly formulated and disciplinarily sound, with major shortcomings, but acceptable: 15-22 points;
●    weak and unconvincing, the successful project implementation is only hypothetical: 7-14 points;
●    totally inadequate, without any understanding of the problem: 0-6 points.

The interview is also scored, and the applicant can get up to 30 points. The admissions committee collectively decides to evaluate the applicant's responses to a fixed set of questions focusing on the project’s aims and theoretical and methodological grounding. 

In the second round, the candidate can get up to 30 points. The applicant may receive up to 60 points in total.

Criteria for the final evaluation:
The applicant must be a master's degree graduate.
The point threshold for accepting applicants is set by the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the UK, taking into account the number of applicants and the faculty's capacity. A successful candidate must obtain at least 30 points.
See also the General and faculty requirements

Study branch characteristics:


The graduates of the Digital Social Science Program are equipped to handle data analytical tasks involving shifting and complex digital phenomena that evolve in online environments. Their training is interdisciplinary, including security, digital technologies, law and human values, which allows them to rapidly understand new digital issues and suggest highly effective solutions to challenges arising from large social and political changes. The structure of competencies makes the graduates ideal candidates for basic research as well as for policy making roles involving online environments and digital technologies. 
The graduates will be able to analyse digital issues involving security and safety, digital technologies and law, and evolving human values in online environments. The graduates will possess a wide range of analytical skills based on training in quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including advanced machine learning techniques. The program will produce interdisciplinary experts capable of analysing multifaceted digital issues based on rich and large datasets. It, thus, responds to recent shifts in the labour market that emphasize the need for data-oriented experts trained in multiple disciplines.

Information about the employment of graduates:


The graduates of the Digital Social Science Program are equipped to handle data analytical tasks involving shifting and complex digital phenomena that evolve in online environments. Their training is interdisciplinary, including security, digital technologies, law and human values, which allows them to rapidly understand new digital issues and suggest highly effective solutions to challenges arising from large social and political changes. The structure of competencies makes the graduates ideal candidates for basic research as well as for policy making roles involving online environments and digital technologies.

Tuition fee is 2000 EUR/year