Forest phytology

Forest phytology is a broadly conceived scientific discipline focusing on the study of plant organisms whose environment is the forest ecosystem or its surrogate community, in all biomes of the world where forests can occur. The subject of the study is the structure and mutual relationship of plants, and their relationship with abiotic factors in forest ecosystems.

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The PhD graduate will acquire general, professional and specialist knowledge and skills for independent scientific and creative professional work. A PhD graduate in Forest Phytology is a specialist who is able to resolve issues of plant properties, anatomical and morphological structures, and vital functions (physiology) on the basis of quantified physiological and structural parameters (using modern instrumentation) in woody and herbaceous plants studied in the laboratory, but especially in the field, in order to assess the state and trend of their development. The student is able to evaluate woody plants of the dominant plant component of forest ecosystems, or herbaceous plants, from an ecological, chorological and taxonomic point of view, and their partial role in the ecosystem. The student is also able to develop a concept of measures to improve the condition of woody species of forest ecosystems in particular. The student can prepare a proposal for measures to improve the functional (or mechanical) stability of woody plants and propose scenarios for their future development, including the possibility of influencing this stability through forestry interventions, both in Central Europe and in other areas (e.g. subtropical, tropical or boreal). The student is able to apply the afore-mentioned issues to forest or agricultural land, as well as to urban areas.

Admission requirements: 

• original validation (nostrification) document on recognition of university education in the Czech Republic according to binding Czech regulations;
• curriculum vitae (structured, EUROPASS format preferred);
• copy of a foreign diploma or a document in lieu of the foreign diploma;
• list of publications and other creative activities;
• outline of the topic of dissertation thesis (aim, hypothesis, general overview of the issue – essential publications list, all within one A4 page);
• average grades during master's (engineering) studies;
• any other reference documents (references from an employer, a specialist in the field, evidence of traineeships, etc.).