Doctoral study program
at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Palacky University Olomouc

  • Čeština
  • English

General Information

Why a Ph.D.?

  • Ph.D. is a prestigious and internationally acknowledged academic degree (achieved by less than 1 % of the population)
  • Greater job opportunities abroad and consequently a significantly higher salary
  • Opportunity to participate in attractive international scientific-research internships – we support foreign study stays and travels
  • Acquisition of new practical skills: e.g. procuring a grant, its financial management, elaboration of official texts, marketing, PR, etc.
  • Extension of the student status, more time for professional specialization
  • An opportunity for further activities in science
  • Development of high-expertise in the field
  • Establishment of professional contacts in the Czech Republic and abroad
  • Freedom in professional orientation
  • Option to actively contribute in defining the workload so that it is fulfilling and meaningful

When to consider a Ph.D.?

  • You cherish specializing in scientific-research and its application
  • You would like to deepen your expertise in a specific area of psychology
  • You consider the prospect of an academic career, work in a prominent institution or an innovative company
  • Would like to achieve a specialization within your present occupation (e.g. if you work in public administration, HR, education, healthcare, or the armed forces), In that case, you would like to achieve a better specialization (the part-time form is particularly suitable in such cases), and a Ph.D. degree would be valuable in your working position.

How does the Ph.D. study work?

  • Within the standard period of four years, students carry out a research project, work on their doctoral thesis and acquire credits on specialized courses.
  • In the beginning of the studies, students create individual study plans in cooperation with their supervisors. They do not attend lectures daily, but instead work on so-called modules, i.e. greater thematic units, according to the planned schedule and focus of their study. A major emphasis is placed on the doctoral research project: its preparation, continuous realization and the publication of its outputs.
  • International students are supposed to be present in Olomouc for a block of 3 weeks in one semester to attend selected classes and fulfil other study obligations which are not possible to handle on-line.

Fees and Scholarships for Ph.D. students

  • There are no fees for the Ph.D. studies.
  • Ph. D. students can also apply for internal grant projects (student grant competition of the UP Internal Grant Agency). The vast majority of the Ph.D. students participate in investigation of research projects supported with a grant.
  • All activities are appreciated. The department also grants other scholarships from the Ph.D. student scholarship fund for activities.
  • All Ph.D. students receive bonuses for teaching, supervision and serving as the opponent of theses, and for publication activities in accordance with the principles of remuneration policy applicable to all department staff.

Why study at UPOL?

  • The Department of Psychology has established and maintains friendly and collegial relationships.
  • Ph.D. students become an important part of the Department of Psychology. We appreciate your views concerning the operations of the department and your opinions are important when deciding about its future orientation.
  • We like engaging students in projects thus providing them with a chance to be remunerated and also acquire new knowledge and experience. Ph.D. students are provided with support and advice on an ongoing basis.
  • We support the further education of our students (with regard to both time and money).
  • We are forthcoming with respect to Ph.D. students’ engagement as practitioners while studying.
  • Our Faculty Team is supporting and cooperative.
olomouc - z praxe
HLI - laboratoř pro výzkum interakce člověka a světla
dopravní psychologie

Focus

The aim of the study is to give students the opportunity to acquire in-depth knowledge in educational psychology that may be passed on in the education sector or applied in scholarly research. The doctoral study program focused on educational psychology provides students with the competences of a research worker especially in the area of education. The students will acquire knowledge in general and specific concepts of education, learning and teaching, the position and role of the teacher: the range of ways to influence pupils, the area of psychological diagnostics of pupils with special educational needs and their support.

If the graduate is to continue with psychological practice in the educational environment, the aim is to equip him/her with skills needed to apply modern psychological aspects in current trends in education of children and adults. Graduates of this program are qualified specialists with a wide range of knowledge and skills in educational psychology. They are able to conduct systematic and creative scientific, research, publication, educational, project and conceptional activities. They can reflect on and create educational concepts and programs and elaborate their evaluative analyses. In addition, they are aware of currently used methods and topical issues in school psychology in the Czech as well as international context.

Graduates are able to design, conduct and evaluate an educational psychology-oriented research project. During their studies, he/she should display the ability to carry out independent scientific research and independent creative activities in research, as well as the ability to present the findings to members of the professional community and general public. Graduates of the doctoral study program focused on educational psychology are acquainted with advanced research procedures, are able to use them, and have highly developed declarative and procedural knowledge in educational psychology.

The doctoral study program (DSP) can be studied in Czech.

Pedagogická psychologie

Supervisors

Prof. PhDr. Panajotis Cakirpaloglu, DrSc.

Prof. Cakirpaloglu’s areas of expertise are social, personality and phenomenological psychology, psychological axiology, developmental neuropsychology and political psychology. In the field of social and political psychology, he conducted the project “Social Stratification and Social Behaviour in Macedonia” in 1989. In the field of developmental neuropsychology he carried out a long-term UNESCO research project “Early Diagnosis of ADDH” (supervisor Prof. T. Radil). Significant valorisation of this professional focus are printed outputs in foreign influential journals, specialisation in the field of clinical neuropsychology (ILF in Prague, supervised by Prof. J. Langmeier and Z. Matějček), as well as defence of the dissertation at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade (1991), scientific rank of DrSc. (mentor V. Išpanović). In the field of political psychology, he conducted research on psychological processes of public opinion, prediction of electoral preferences, political and media persuasion and manipulation of the public. He was the principal investigator of the GAČR project Mobbing as a Subtle Form of Mobbing at Work. The main output of the project is the research monograph Workplace Bullying in the Czech Republic: Theory, Research and Practice (Cakirpaloglu et al., 2017). In the field of psychological axiology, he has published the monographs Psychology of Values (2004 and 2009) in Czech and Psychology of Values and Evaluation (2019) in Macedonian. In the field of personality psychology, he has published the book Introduction to Personality Psychology (2012), while in 2022, he co-authored with Mgr. Eva Jendrulkova the book Phenomenology in Psychology and Psychopathology. He is currently a co-researcher of the TAČR project Application of Optimised Well-being Strategies in Health Professionals. In total, he has supervised 24 PhD students and one post-doctoral researcher.

Prof. Konstantinos Kafetsios, Ph.D.

The main research interest is the perception of contextualized facial emotion expressions: implications for quality of social interaction in non-clinical, clinical, or educational settings. This topic builds on recent research (Hess, Kafetsios et al., 2016; Kafetsios & Hess, 2019) that examines the personality and societal correlates of the accurate perception of facial emotion expressions. Extending this research, the aim is to improve the method and further test its social consequences in non-clinical, clinical or educational contexts.

Other research interests are adult attachment, culture, and understanding of the self. Based on a current surge of interest on the intersection between culture and adult attachment orientations (e.g., Gruda & Kafetsios, 2020; Strand, 2020), this research line aims to extend work on how key aspects of the self are influenced by combinations of independent/interdependent self-construal and insecure (avoidant-anxious) attachment. The research, can, initially exploit results from existing experimental and correlational studies in different countries and compare to data from the CR.

Doc. PhDr. Matúš Šucha, Ph.D.

Doc. Šucha is professionally oriented on the issues of traffic psychology, work psychology and economic psychology. He is an accredited coach (Ministry of Education and Science of the Czech Republic), traffic psychologist (Ministry of the Czech Republic), psychotherapist (graduate of five-year training in integrative group psychotherapy), Europsy mentor for traffic psychology and expert witness in the field of traffic psychology. He is primarily (but not exclusively) a trainer in the following thematic areas: road and rail safety, psychological fitness to drive assessment, driver rehabilitation, mobility (sustainable, urban), various economic psychology issues, management consultancy (e.g. coaching).

Doc. PhDr. Radko Obereignerů, Ph.D.

Doc. Obereignerů focuses on psychological diagnostics of adults and children. He specializes in methods of clinical psychological diagnostics. He is involved in the translation and standardization of diagnostic instruments (e.g. Piers-Harris Self-Concept Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents 2, PHCSCS-2, Benton Visual Retention Test, BVRT). He is involved in research in selected areas. He is a forensic expert in the field of education and culture, branch of psychology, specializing in psychology of children, youth, family, upbringing and education.

Doc. PhDr. Mgr. Roman Procházka, Ph.D.

Doc. Procházka deals to clinical psychodiagnosis, psychotherapy and clinical counseling at the clinic of clinical psychology and psychotherapy in Prostějov, where he works as a clinical psychologist, child clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. He was educated at the IPVZ, where he passed the specialization exam and certification in the field of clinical psychology (I. Attestation). Subsequently, he obtained a specialized qualification in systematic psychotherapy (II. attestation) and took a specialized exam in child clinical psychology (III. attestation). He obtained special professional competence in clinical neuropsychology and clinical hypnotherapy. As part of psychotherapy, he completed accredited training in cognitive behavioral psychotherapy at the CBT Institute in Hradec Králové under MUDr. Zbytovský, where he currently also works as a lecturer. He completed a number of certified courses and seminars focused on clinical-psychological diagnosis and work with the client, i.e. crisis intervention, body and crisis, counseling skills, etc. He is a guarantor and lecturer of courses in the Rorschach method, Thematic Aperception test, diferential diagnosis in adult clinical psychology and a guarantor of the course psychologist in healthcare implemented at UPOL. He also works as a supervisor in facilities providing health and social services. He worked as a consultant and psychotherapist with a counseling center for alcohol and other addictions, a retreatment center and a family center at the P-center in Olomouc. His research deals with the field of clinical psychology and neuropsychology, neuroscience and psychophysiology and the CBT and schema therapy

PhDr. Martin Dolejš, Ph.D.

Dr. Dolejš deals with psycho-diagnostic tools and their standardization, creating of questionnaires and psychodiagnostic tools. He is also dedicated to educational and school psychology, addictology and risk behavior in adolescents. Web: https://persona.upol.cz/

PhDr. Daniel Dostál, Ph.D.

His current research focuses on combining projective psychodiagnostic methods with advanced methods of machine processing of poorly structured data. In addition to psychometrics and quantitative data analysis, his professional interests include research on creativity, thinking, the psychology of science, and related topics. He is involved in a wide range of research projects focusing on diverse topics such as the HAXACO model of personality, spirituality and attitudes towards death, non-drug addictions, the question of free will, the development of musical creativity, circadian cycles, and others.

Mgr. Miroslav Charvát, Ph.D.

The core skills and qualifications of Dr. Miroslav Charvát are teaching methodology courses in undergraduate and doctoral study programs (quantitative and qualitative methodology); professional methodological consultations; preparation and implementation of research and development projects; evaluation; construction of tests, questionnaires and scales including advanced psychometric procedures; automatic software extraction of data from paper questionnaires; preparation, cleaning and imputation of data files; advanced statistical analysis (SPSS, AMOS, R-studio, etc.).

Major areas of research interest are the development and transfer of psychodiagnostic methods; adolescent risk behavior; universal, selective, and indicated school-based prevention; recreational and problem substance use; gambling and gaming; space research and isolation experiments; and development of admissions tests.

PhDr. Leona Jochmannová, Ph.D.

Clinical psychologist, has long specialized in the field of child psychology, specifically in the issue of domestic violence, attachment and online care. Since 2010, he has been dealing with the diagnosis, treatment and research of trauma and PTSD. She holds a certificate (EASE) of training in the Somatic Experiencing® method and a supervisor of the VTI method. Author of monographs: Trauma in children, Health psychology, Online care in psychosocial fields, Family psychology and others.

PhDr. Marek Kolařík, Ph.D.

PhDr. Marek Kolařík, Ph.D. focuses mainly on marriage and family counselling, therapy and work with training groups, also deals with pedagogical and school psychology and addiction. He is certified as an “Independent marriage and family counselor” by the Association of Marriage and Family Counselors of the Czech Republic and a psychotherapist (graduate of accredited training in family and systemic psychotherapy).

Ing. Mgr. Yvetta Grubl, Ph.D.

Ms. Grubl has over 20 years of experience working at the area of Human Resources Management for multinational leaders at global industries , as well as for a public administration. She received her Ph.D. from Technical University of Ostrava, field of Business Economics and Management, with focus on Human Resources Management. She graduated from Psychology at Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc. Her interests include talent management, performance management, psychology of work, labour law relations, adult education. She works as a school psychologist at Janacek Conservatory in Ostrava. Yvetta is a Lecturer of Human Resources Management at Department of Psychology at Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc.

Mgr. Barbora Kňažek Považanová, Ph.D.

She completed her doctoral studies at Palacký University in Olomouc. She is currently working as an assistant professor at the Department of Psychology at FF UP and as a Secretary of the DSP Subject-Area Board and the Department of Psychology Ph.D. Study Coordinator for Clinical and Educational Psychology. She teaches the courses Interactive psychological training and Seminar in Adult Psychodiagnostics. At the department she is active in the section of personality psychology. Her research interests are in the area of moral psychology, more closely related to human values and moral dilemmas. She is also interested in generations, generation gaps and the impact of the internet on people. She is the author and co-author of several scientific outputs and monographs.

Mgr. Martin Kupka, Ph.D.

Martin Kupka works as a research assistant at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University. He has completed training in logotherapy and existential analysis. His current research focuses primarily on darkness therapy (Chamber Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique) and its application in the context of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of netolism. Another area of his interest is the issue of online counseling for the bereaved.

MUDr. PhDr. Miroslav Orel, Ph.D.

At the Department of Psychology, he teaches subjects related to medicine (anatomy, physiology of the human body, neuroscience including psychopathology, somatopathology). In addition to his academic career, he is also involved in counseling psychology, psychotherapy, lecturing and supervision. Professionally, he is interested in, among other things, a complex (psychosomatic) approach and medical-psychological connections and neuroscientific disciplines. He participated in a number of shorter and longer training programs (e.g. hypnotherapy, crisis intervention, transactional analysis, person-centered approach, integrated psychotherapy, logotherapy and existential analysis, dream work, supervisory training, etc.). He is the author of several publications published by the publishing house Grada, Portal, UP in Olomouc. He is not currently a supervisor of Ph.D. students

PhDr. Olga Pechová, Ph.D.

PhDr. Olga Pechová, Ph.D. has long been focused on the topic of sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2009 she defended her dissertation on the topic of Discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2007-2011 she published a total of 12 articles on this issue. I am now only marginally involved in these issues.

She is also interested in the history of psychology. In 2008-2010 she participated in the GA ČR project The Life and Work of Vladimír Tardy under the supervision of prof. Alena Plháková.

Her other professional interests include psychology of religion, the field of religiosity and spirituality.

PhDr. Martin Seitl, Ph.D.

PhDr. Martin Seitl, Ph.D. works professionally in work and organizational psychology, focusing particularly on attachment theory in the workplace, employee selection, personal integrity, psychodiagnostic methods, organizational culture, and leadership. He is an accredited specialist in the organizational culture model developed by G. Hofsted and B. Waisfisz, the CTT organizational culture model, Hogen diagnosis, the Rorschach method, and other projective techniques.

He is a researcher or co-researcher of development and research projects in the field of work and organizational psychology (OPVVV, TAČR, GAČR). He publishes research results in Czech and foreign journals and presents them at professional conferences. Dr. Seitl is a member of renowned national and international professional organizations: the Czech Society for Rorschach and Projective Methods (ČSRaP), the International Society for Rorschach and Projective Methods (ISR), the Czech Association of Work and Organizational Psychologists, and the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP).

PhDr. Klára Seitlová, Ph.D.

PhDr. Klára Seitlová, Ph.D. has been specializing in the field of work and organizational psychology with a focus on teamwork (face-to-face and virtual environments), human resource management and project management.

She is accredited for the organizational culture model developed by G. Hofstede and B. Waisfisz, Hogen’s Diagnostic, the Barrett Values Centre’s Cultural Transformation Tools Diagnostic, M. Belbin’s Team Roles and Management with a focus on Lean Manufacturing. She is an accredited coach in Integrative Coaching. He has completed Gestalt training in the work environment. Accredited in PRINCE2® methodology.

Mgr. Lucie Viktorová, Ph.D.

Lucie Viktorová focuses on educational psychology and scientific research methodology. She is particularly interested in the quality of education at universities, academic success and the context of the admission procedure, especially standardized testing. She is also involved in projects with overlaps to traffic psychology and is open to interdisciplinary projects.

Mgr. Klára Machů, Ph.D.

Klára Machů is mainly interested in cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics and psychoanalytic theories. She has long been researching the issue of attitudes towards death and the grieving process in bereaved persons, but currently she is more focused on research in the field of psycholinguistics (e.g. inner speech, bilingualism, cultural and gender aspects of language, etc.). Currently, she is also a co-researcher of a GA Czech Republic grant within the framework of a research conducted at the Department of Japanese Studies of the Faculty of Arts of the University of UP, which deals with the perception of contemporary Japanese names among high school students in Japan.

PhDr. Denisa Manková, Ph.D.

PhDr. Denisa Mankova, Ph.D. is a graduate of the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts of the Palacký University in Olomouc, where she earned a Master’s degree in general psychology and a PhD degree in clinical psychology. She worked as a researcher at the Sleep and Chronobiology Research Centre at National Institue of Mental Health, Klecany as a head of the Czech team working on the international project COH-FIT. She works as an assistant professor at her alma mater. She also cooperates with private companies as a sleep specialist and as a manager for international congresses and conferences. She specializes in chronobiology, circadian preferences and sleep hygiene. She participated in several grant projects and operational programmes of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. In 2014, she was awarded a prize for the best manuscript of a professional monograph in the academic disciplines at the Faculty of Arts, Palacký University for her dissertation entitled “Circadian preferences – different lives of morning birds and night owls”.

PhDr. Romana Mazalová, Ph.D.

Romana Mazalová originally planned to become a clinical psychologist. However, after attending a demonstration for advertising purposes during her studies, her professional career began to take a completely different path. As a co-author of the documentary Šmejdi, she started and still searches for the thin line between the end of advertising and the beginning of manipulation.

Doc. PhDr. Michal Čerešník, Ph.D.

Associate professor Čerešník is a counseling psychologist who is specialized in developmental aspects of childhood and adolescence. Thematically, he is focused on various areas, such as the psychology of gender, self-regulation, but also the quality of education. In recent years, he has focused on the topics of parenting psychology, the functionality and dysfunctionality of the family system and their impact on the psycho-social health of children and adolescents. He is the co-author of Slovak versions of screening diagnostic methods focused on impulsivity, anxiety, risk behavior and playing of digital games.

Filip Sulejmanov, Ph.D.

His primary research interests currently revolve around two main fields: the psychology of humor and work and organizational psychology. More specific research topics include: individual differences in humor appreciation, gelotophobia, the role of humor in the workplace, and workplace affect.

PhDr. Ondřej Skopal, Ph.D.

Ondřej Skopal specializes in the fields of personality psychology, adictology, school and educational psychology. He has experience in primary prevention of risky behaviour, later also in addiction counselling and systemic family therapy. His dissertation project, completed in 2016, focused on screening adolescents for risky behaviors in comparison to selected personality traits that may increase their risk predisposition. He is continuously involved in grant calls (SGS IGA, ESF OPVK, TAČR) and regularly participates in professional conferences, lecturing in courses for teachers, school psychologists, social workers and other public health professionals.

Mgr. Gabriel Kňažek, Ph.D.

I work as an assistant professor and at the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Arts UP and I cooperate in the coordination of internships. At the Department of Psychology I teach Interactional Psychology Training and Adult Psychodiagnostics – Seminar. I also work in the Psychological Counselling Centre for students and employees of UP and I am a frequenter of the psychotherapeutic training of PCA in Brno. I am a member of the Developmental Psychology and Family Psychology section and my research focuses on developmental psychology, educational psychology and cyberspace. I have co-authored several professional publications, articles, monographs and test manuals.

Admission procedure

Applications for the doctoral study program may be submitted by applicants with a successfully recognized master’s degree (Mgr., Ing., or other equivalent degrees acknowledged in the Czech Republic) or those who are likely to meet this requirement at the latest on the day of enrolment in the doctoral study program (this applies especially to graduates of the final year of master’s degree programs who have not yet passed the final state examination in their present study at the time the admission is taking place).

We are pleased if our Ph.D. study offer has met with your interest and you are considering it. We will try to make your decision easier and provide you with the basic information related to the admission procedure.

The doctoral study program focused on educational psychology is not strictly limited to graduates of single-major psychology. There should be, however, a meaningful connection between the applicant’s primary academic education and psychology, particularly in the context of the planned focus of the doctoral research project. The legitimacy concerning this connection is evaluated by a commission as part of the admission procedure.

What to do prior to the admission procedure

1) First, choose a topic you would like to address during your study. You can choose from the topics proposed by members of our department (see Professional Specialization of Supervisors); alternatively, you can choose to address your own topic. In all cases, you should try to contact the respective supervisor and consult your research project with him/her well in advance of the admission procedure. Your supervisor may be a member of our department, or an external associate or full professor. In exceptional cases (if approved by the Scholarly Board of the Faculty of Arts), the supervisor may be a Ph.D. member of our department with advanced expertise in the particular area.

2) Having chosen a topic and a supervisor, you should submit an electronic application.

3) To apply for the DSP, you have to submit a portfolio of obligatory addenda including:

  • Structured professional curriculum vitae
  • Proof of completed education – Master’s degree Diploma (or a study confirmation in the case of applicants who have not yet completed their studies).
  • An overview of grades and exams from previous study – either in the form of a so-called diploma supplement (in the case of completed study) or in any other form providing an overview of the exams and grades for the entire study (bachelor as well as master’s) as of the last completed academic year.
  • Previous publication activities – the applicant should already have some experience with professional publication activities, e.g. a contribution to a series or a professional journal, a chapter in a book, etc. You should submit a list and full texts of these publications (in case there is a great amount of publications, only those most significant with regard to the DSP need to be submitted in full text).
  • Proof of participation in scholarly conferences – a list with the name, place and date of the conference, and its organizer; in case of active participation, the name and form of the contribution (a poster, a lecture, etc.) should be listed as well.
  • Proof of extracurricular seminars, courses and trainings, certificates – a list with the name, place and date, organizer of the activity, and the time allowance, supplemented with confirmation of participation.
  • A recommendation from a potential supervisor or another relevant prominent individual (e.g. the master’s thesis supervisor or another person who cooperated with the participant). This addendum is not obligatory.
  • A written doctoral research plan of a length of approximately three to five pages A4, structured according to the following outline:
  • Definition of the research question – delimitation of the research topic of the doctoral thesis;
  • Basic theoretical background – an overview of existing research in the field;
  • A proposal of the methodological procedure – the type and design of research, methods of data collection, target population and sample, methods of analysis, etc.
  • Expected benefits of the research, and ethical or other important aspects of the research.

The above portfolio materials must be written in either Czech or Slovak. Please send all the mandatory attachments to the application in electronic form no later than 30 April.

Important contacts and links

Mgr. Barbora Kňažek Považanová, Ph.D.
Secretary of the DSP Subject-Area Board and the Department of Psychology Ph.D. Study Coordinator for Clinical and Educational Psychology

Tel.: +420 585 633 506
E-mail: barbora.knazekpovazanova@upol.cz
Office: Vodární 6, 779 00 Olomouc, office no. 3.07

Agenda:
– defences of doctoral theses and final examinations including reviews, etc.
– communication with supervisors
– communication with DSP students
– archiving of DSP student documentation
– supervision of STAG and placement of DSP courses into it
– timetables for DSP lecturing and communication with course guarantors
– preparation of documents (informative texts for the website, texts for the Dean’s office, etc.)

Mgr. Lucie Kovaříková, Ph.D.
UP Faculty of Arts
DSP Science and Research Officer

Tel.: +420 585 633 013
E-mail: lucie.kovarikova@upol.cz
Office: Křížkovského 10, 779 00 Olomouc, office no. 1.11

Agenda:
– admission procedure
– enrolment in studies
– archiving of original study documents
– other matters related to studies governed by the Dean’s office of the UP Faculty of Arts