Přehled
Philosophy of Natural Sciences explores the intellectual foundations of the understanding of animate and inanimate nature and the foundations of of natural science research that forms the paradigm of a particular historical epoch natural science. The history of each science gives a concrete picture of the forms of the paradigm in the course of cultural history. The field is intended for graduates of the Master’s degree Faculty of Natural Sciences or Philosophy.
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:
- Analysis of selected holistic concepts of philosophy and natural sciences in the period of the late Enlightenment and the era of Naturphilosophie
- De cerevisia of Thaddaeus Hagecius in Scientific and Intellectual Context
- Early Greek Philosophy and Cosmology
- Echoes of the Science Wars: social constructivism nowadays
- Floristic Exploration of the Czech Lands in European Context
- French Epistemology and Vitalism
- Interdisciplinary approaches to environmental ethics in the past and present
- Leading philosophical and scientific theories associated with the life reform movement at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries
- Renaissance Philosophy and Cosmology
- Science, non-science and pseudo-science: the diversity of pseudoscience and the demarcation problem
- Scientism and its metaphysical implications
- The forms of interaction between magic and science in the Renaissance and Early Modern Period
Profile of the graduate
Graduates will acquire good general knowledge of the contemporary discussion in the philosophy of science and the history of – primarily European – thought and science. Aside from philosophy, they will also gain insight into the methodology of science and should be able to apply this knowledge to specific cases. Depending on the subject of their thesis, they should become experts in a specific domain in science and a specific period in history. However, they will also be aware of the wider philosophical and cultural context. The study program is complex and interdisciplinary, promoting the ability to examine, through analogy, similar cases in different circumstances. Graduates should thus be able to independently investigate a given topic.
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).
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), so the application could be send out in time in case the agreement is granted.
Entrance exams
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 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:
Important links
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
Depatrment of Philosophy and History of Science
Do you have any questions?
doc. Mgr. Vojtěch Hladký, Ph.D.
Complete information about the admission procedure can be found on the website for applicants. For questions, please contact the admissions contact persons.
