Overview
This program explores the life cycle of animals and plants. It encompasses gamete formation, embryonic development, maturation, growth, reproduction, regeneration, aging, and death. It focuses on processes like cell proliferation, differentiation, and spatial organization, crucial especially in early developmental stages but relevant throughout life. Drawing from cellular and molecular biology, it delves into embryology, morphology, genetics, examining gene expression and its regulation. It formulates an overall picture of cell interactions within organisms.
Start of studies in the winter semester (October)
Opening of applications and publication of the dissertation topics: 15. 2. 2026
Application by: 30. 4. 2026
Detailed information about the study programme
Offer of dissertation topics:
- Ap4A-Capped RNA: A New Layer of Gene Expression Regulation
- Aptamer Based Therapy for Usher Syndrom: Phenotypic Characterization and Preclinical Validation in a Porcine Model
- Cancer-Restricted Protein Dimerization as a Mechanism for Therapeutic Toxicity
- Cell line stability in cultivated meat production
- Cellular and Molecular Characterization of Regeneration-Initiating Cells in Amphibian and Fish Models
- Computational analysis of cytoskeletal polarity and flow dynamics in metastasizing cells
- Control of chromosome segregation during early development in mammals
- Diterpene alkaloid biosynthesis in Aconitum
- Evolutionary adaptation of actomyosin-driven cell polarization
- Evolutionary adaptation of actomyosin-driven morphogenesis
- Exploring RNA Cap Diversity Using LC–MS-Based Sequencing
- Genetic Basis of Hematological Disorders
- Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell adaptations to stress
- How Stress Shapes Translation and Development in Oocytes
- Mapping of cell populations with a history of Shh expression in postnatal organ systems of diverse origins with the aim of revealing their role in adult tissues and pathogenesis
- Mechanisms at the nexus of membrane protein biogenesis and degradation at the endoplasmic reticulum
- Mechanobiology of lymphocytes.
- Microtubule arrangement in the primary cilium axoneme and its role in cilia biology
- Molecular and Structural Aspects of Cilia Dynamics
- Molecular architecture of transient interactions in transcription elongation
- Molecular mechanisms of oxidative stress-induced R-loop formation and genome instability
- Molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of mHTT expression in the neural cell
- Molecular Regulation of Lactation: Investigating DNA Replication, Transcription, and Damage Repair
- Precision Differentiation Control in Engineered Cell Lines for Scalable Cultivated Meat Production
- Redox mechanisms of insulin secretion
- Regulation of degradation of maternal proteins and their role in chromatin remodeling during bovine preimplantation development
- Regulation of metabolism and tool development
- Role of normal and mutant huntingtin in neural cells
- Single-molecule dissection of ciliary membrane protein entry in C. elegans sensory neurons
- Structural and functional characterization of plectin inhibition in liver cancer
- Studying R-loop formation in 2D and 3D tumor hypoxia models and its impact on cell survival and cancer therapy
- The impact of biological sex on mitochondrial metabolism in cardiomyocytes
- Transcriptional and metabolic control of chronic inflammation in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells
- Understanding the specificity of intramembrane proteases using biophysical principles and artificial intelligence
- Vertebrate Head Origin: an insight from Genetics, Single-Cell Transcriptomics, and Machine Learning.
Profile of the graduate
Ph.D. graduate has extensive knowledge of cell and developmental biology, ranging from basic principles of molecular and cell biology and practical methods, to applications in cellular and developmental pathology. After the completion of the doctoral thesis, the graduate is well versed in specialized experimental approaches, can work with scientific literature and knows basic principles of scientific work, adopting ethical guidelines and observing rules of conduct in scientific publishing. The graduate is capable of independently solving both theoretical and practical problems encountered during research work. The graduate is fluent in scientific English and is capable of formulating her/his opinions so that they can be presented to the international scientific community. The program entitles the graduates to find placement in universities or academic institutions to work on research projects, in medical institutions as members of research teams or in clinical laboratories, in applied research sector as well in biotech companies.
Application submission
The application is submitted electronically through the Charles University study information system. The completed application must be submitted electronically in the study information system no later than on 30. 4. 2026 for study programmes starting in the winter semester (October) and no later than on 15. 12. 2025 for study programmes starting in the summer semester (April).
The admission fee is 100 EUR and it is paid for each submitted application.
Required application appendice is the agreement of a supervisor in the format of the following form available here. We recommend reaching out to the supervisor as soon as possible (ideally before 31. 3. 2026 for study programmes starting in the winter semester and before 30. 11. 2025 for study programmes starting in the summer semester), so the application could be send out in time in case the agreement is granted.
Entrance exam
The regular date of entrance exam for all doctoral programmes starting in the winter semester (October) is in June 2026 (to be specified), an alternative date is in June 2026 (to be specified).
The regular date of entrance exam for all doctoral programmes starting in the summer semester (April) is 4. – 5. 2. 2026, an alternative date is 11. – 12. 2. 2026.
The request for an alternative day is submitted and approved via the electronic information system.
The form of the entrance exam is an oral interview, which mainly concerns the issues of the planned dissertation and the candidate’s knowledge within the field of expertise of the given study programme.
Find more information in:
- Conditions of the admission procedure for doctoral study programmes at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, for study programmes starting in the winter semester (October)
or - Conditions of the admission procedure for doctoral study programmes at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, for study programmes starting in the summer semester (April).
Important links
Detailed description of the study program on the website of the Department of Cell Biology
Applicants with specific needs
If you have a physical handicap, you can apply for a modification of the entrance exam. For more information read the Conditions of the admission procedure for doctoral study programmes.
Departments involved in this programme
Guarantor of the study programme
prof. RNDr. Jan Černý, Ph.D.
jan.cerny@natur.cuni.cz
Do you have a question?
Complete information about the admission procedure can be found on the website for applicants. For questions, please contact the admissions contact persons.
