CHARLES UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE
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UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE
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Abbreviation
in Czech: UK |
Charles University, the first university
established in Central Europe, was founded by Charles IV, the Czech King and
Roman Emperor, on April 7th, 1348.
Charles
University consists of the following faculties:
The
First Faculty of Medicine
The
Second Faculty of Medicine
The
Third Faculty of Medicine
Faculty
of Medicine in Plzeň
Faculty
of Medicine in Hradec Kralove
Faculty
of Pharmacy
Faculty
of Law
Faculty
of Philosophy
Faculty
of Mathematics and Physics
Faculty
of Natural Sciences
Faculty
of Physical Education and Sport
Faculty
of Social Sciences
Faculty
of Education
Catholic
Faculty of Theology
Protestant
Faculty of Theology
Hussite
Faculty of Theology
Institute of Fundamental Learning
In addition to its faculties, which are the basic
units of the university, and the Rector’s Office, Charles University has
further elements. These are research, teaching, developmental, economic and
information centres (institutes) and special facilities. Here we shall mention
two of these.
The Centre for Economic Research and Graduate
Education - CERGE has been developing its activities at Charles University
since 1991 with the assistance of Pittsburgh University, the Mellon Foundation
and other American institutions, and it offers doctoral study programmes in
economics.
The Centre for Environmental Quest is a research
and teaching institution which co-ordinates activities in the environmental
field between relevant university departments and other institutions outside
the university. It also acts as an information centre for environmental issues,
makes contact with important specialists and brings them together so as to
promote collaborative work and joint orientation.
The study programmes at Charles University are
organised in the form of regular full‑time study, rather than in the form
of part-time study.
Master study
programmes are completed in five to six years. These programmes are the main
type of study at all faculties of the University.
Doctoral study programmes represent the highest form of studies at
Charles University. Doctoral students are supervised by the most highly
qualified academic staff and undertake independent work with the aim of
deepening their education, acquiring research skills and finally, in the thesis
which they write and present in examination, making an original contribution to
their particular academic discipline. Doctoral study programmes in more than
260 fields are organised by the University in collaboration with experts from
outside the universities, especially from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech
Republic.
A Centre for Doctoral Studies has been established
at the University for the purpose of improving the flow of information and
co-ordination of studies at this level and deepening intellectual communication
both within the academic community and with the outside world.
Charles University provides students with most of
the required course literature. The University has a total of nineteen
central libraries and approximately three hundred libraries in the departments
and at other work places. The Charles University Press publishes some of the
university-mimeographed texts (about 250 titles yearly).
Charles University has an insufficient amount of
halls of residence for its students. Students from Charles University occupy a
total of approximately 11 thousand beds in Prague, Plzeň, Brandýs nad Labem and
Hradec Králové. There are student canteens in each housing establishment.
The halls of residence are used in the summer for
accommodating participants in University organised programmes (congresses,
conferences, symposia, etc.). These special summer accommodations are under the
management of the Carolina Agency.
Nationals of other states may study either on the
basis of paying their own fees, or through government-funded scholarships, or
on the basis of reciprocal agreements established by inter-governmental
agreements. Foreign nationals who are interested in government-funded
scholarships should apply to study at Charles University via representative
offices of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Those who
wish to study on an individual fee-paying basis should apply directly to the
faculty in which they are interested. Foreign students must have secondary
school leaving certificate which is equivalent to the Czech ”maturita”
(individual faculties will advise on accepted equivalence) and are required to
pass an admissions examination procedure which at the Charles University
faculties is administered in the same way for foreign candidates as for Czech
candidates. At certain faculties individual fee-paying foreign students may
study in English. Fees differ depending on the faculties and forms of study.
The University can provide accommodation in student
halls of residence and the board in student canteens for all foreign students.
The accommodation cost in student halls of residence is CZK 4,770 (USD 140) per
month. The cost of board (3 meals daily) is CZK 3,750 (USD 112) per month.