Individual study plan – ISP
- The ISP is the main document specifying the content of a PhD student’s entire studies. PhD students create the ISP in collaboration with their supervisors so that the document meets the requirements of the Code of Study and Examination of Charles University, the Rules for the Organization of Studies at the Faculty of Arts, and the curriculum of the specific programme or area of study.
- The Individual Study Plan is entered in the student information system (SIS) during the first year of PhD studies according to the academic calendar. The ISP must be based on the core structure of the study obligations set out in the accreditation of the respective programme/area of study. You can find this structure in the study plan for the specific programme/area of study. The specific content, form, and schedule for assessing achievements and results are planned in consultation with the PhD student’s supervisor. Students and academics are informed sufficiently in advance by e-mail of the details for creating the ISP.
Specific characteristics of the ISP for full-time and part-time (combined) studies
- The study obligations for full-time PhD studies are distributed over the standard period of study in the ISP (three or four years, depending on the area of study),
- The study obligations for part-time (combined) PhD studies are distributed in the ISP over a period equal to the standard period of study plus two years. The basic study obligations must be distributed over the first three years of study in the ISP (regardless of the form of study and the standard period of study).
Content of the ISP
- A list of all study obligations in accordance with the curriculum of the programme/area of study,
- The academic years for fulfilling the individual study obligations,
- The academic year for taking the state PhD examination (SDZK),
- The topic/title of the dissertation and the language of the text (provided this is different than the language in which the studies are accredited), including the academic year for submitting the dissertation.
Creating the ISP
- The basic version of the ISP is created in SIS by the Information Systems Office, and every PhD student is automatically assigned all obligations that are required for all students of the programme/area of study (i.e. a unique code is provided in the framework curriculum above). Once the basic ISP is created, students are notified and informed about the next step – see manual. The supervisor then approves the proposal for the ISP and submits it for final approval to the subject-area board and the programme guarantor (usually during October-November). The student is informed of the approval automatically by e-mail.
Changes to the ISP
- In principle, a student requests a change to the ISP in the report on their studies for the past period submitted via SIS as part of the assessment for fulfilling the ISP or during extraordinary update of the ISP. Outside this report, a student may only request a change to the ISP in exceptional and justified cases. The respective subject-area board decides on any change to the ISP. The request must be accompanied by documents demonstrating the student’s assertions, on the basis of which the ISP is requested to be changed, and must be recommended by the supervisor.
- If the student does not fulfil an obligation set out in the ISP for the specific academic year, they request a postponement of the study obligation as part of the annual assessment. The subject-area board approves the new date for fulfilling the study obligation.
Annual assessment – assessment of fulfilling the Individual Study Plan
- Fulfilment of the Individual Study Plan is subject to regular, usually annual assessments – AA. As a part of the AA, students evaluate their study results for the past academic year.
- The annual assessment of students is created and completed in SIS according to the respective academic calendar (usually 1 to 30 September). During this period, students have the opportunity to add their comments to the assessment (we recommend specifying the individual professional activities in the written commentary under the subject Professional Activities).
Extraordinary assessment (EA)
- If for any reason, especially due to interrupted studies, the assessment does not take place in September, it will take place at the earliest possible date after the obstacles preventing the assessment have been removed, so that the respective student is always assessed at least once in each year of their studies, with the exception of a situation where the next assessment is to take place earlier than three months according to the Academic Calendar.
- A PhD student may also undergo an extraordinary assessment if it was proposed during the annual assessment in September.
- The EA takes place in SIS in accordance with the respective academic calendar (usually 1 to 31 March) in the same manner as the annual assessment.
Additional steps relating to the annual assessment
- After the student submits their AA, the supervisor submits their commentary and the subject-area board discusses and approves the assessment.
- At the end of the assessment, it is stated that the student:
- has fulfilled the Individual Study Plan,
- without serious reasons, does not fulfil certain parts of the Individual Study Plan,
- does not fulfil the obligations of the Individual Study Plan; in such a case, the student did not fulfil the requirements set out in the Code of Study and Examination of Charles University and their studies will be terminated.
The results of the ISP assessment are made available to students in SIS in the module Individual Study Plan of PhD Students.
Proposal for reducing/increasing a scholarship
- As a part of the assessment, the subject-area board has the possibility of reducing the PhD scholarship (by up to 50%) in the case of a B assessment. The dean decides on reducing the scholarship.
- In addition, the subject-area board may increase the scholarship during an additional assessment. The dean decides on increasing the scholarship.
- In the event of an A assessment, the subject-area board may propose an extraordinary scholarship. The dean decides on payment of an extraordinary scholarship.
Extraordinary update (EU)
- It serves situations where it’s necessary for a student’s ISP to be updated without any student evaluation (e.g., shifting years of fulfillment, exchanging one obligation for another).
- According to Article 26 of the Rules for the Organization of Studies at FA CU, a doctoral student must request an ISP change exclusively during AA/EA/EU directly in SIS.
- It is technically conducted similarly to annual and extraordinary assessment, with only the supervisor and OR do not assess.
- EU follows the same schedule as EA (usually during the period of March-April).
