Doctoral Study Programme Computer Science (P1801) - information about the study [ENG]

Doctoral Study Programme: Computer Science (P1801)

Branch of study: Autonomous Systems (validity till 31. 12. 2024)

Detailed study information:

The goal of the doctoral study of computer science in the study field Autonomous Systems is the training of experts for design, research and applications of widely understood autonomous and multiagent systems. Students choose their specialization among topics like artificial intelligence, knowledge systems and knowledge engineering, theoretical and applied robotics, drone control and processing of data streams from drones (UAV – unmanned autonomous vehicles), bio-inspired multiagent computing, supercomputing technologies and more. They have also wide opportunities of participation in research projects, grant support, short-term and long-term foreign research stays.

Graduate profile:

PhD graduates will find jobs as top IT experts in both private companies and public sector organizations. They are able to participate at the development of open-source software platforms, to lead teams developing large software projects, to design and build knowledge bases, to become consultants of the latest information technologies. Last but not least, they can continue their academic career as investigators at universities and research centers both in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Study organization:

The study program is available in full-time and part-time form. Standard study duration is 3 years in the full-time form and 5 years in the part-time form. Students of the full-time form will be provided a scholarship according to the actual university regulation. In return, they will participate in teaching duties of the Institute of Computer Science, up to 4 hours weekly.

 

The study follows an individual study plan under control of the student’s supervisor. The individual study plan is designed in cooperation of the supervisor and the student, and must be approved by the scientific council of the study program. The individual study plan contains:

a) the PhD thesis theme

b) the list of courses the student has to pass

c) a list of other duties and suggestions for subsequent years of study (scientific publications, conference and workshop participation etc.)

d) a description of continuous control of the state of preparation of the PhD thesis

 

The individual study plan includes at least 5 study courses concluded by exams conducted by an exam tribunal. The students of full-time form must pass the exams in the first two years of study, and the students of part-time form must pass them in the first three years of study. The courses Autonomous Systems and English for Computer Science are mandatory, the student also visits the Seminarium every semester of the study.1 At least four courses are chosen from the list of optional courses according to the topic of the PhD thesis.

Mandatory Courses

Autonomous Systems                                                                                 Ex2

Seminarium[1] CC2

English for Computer Science                                                                      Ex

Optional Courses

Formal languages, generative systems and automata                               Ex

Theory and Applications of Artificial Neural Networks                                  Ex

Machine Learning and Knowledge Acquisition Methods                              Ex

Computer Vision and Image Analysis in Autonomous Systems                    Ex

Knowledge Management                                                                             Ex

Fuzzy Approximation Theory                                                                        Ex

New Computation Media for Autonomous Systems                                      Ex

Logic and Logic Programming                                                                       Ex

Theory of Computability and Complexity                                                      Ex

Graphs and Graph Algorithms                                                                      Ex

Parallel Implementations of Autonomous Systems                                       Ex

 

Since the candidates of the doctoral study of Autonomous systems can be graduates of various universities with different types of computer science study programs, they are allowed also to include into their individual study plans some courses of the master’s degree of Computer Science at the Silesian University in Opava.

The scientific part of the individual study plan includes the proposal of the PhD thesis preparation, the research progress plan of the student, and eventually also a plan of research stays of the student at collaborating institutions in the Czech Republic and abroad. During the study, the doctoral student presents the results of his/her research work at scientific conferences and in journal and proceedings publications.

Contents, scope and form of the state doctoral examination:

The state doctoral examination is organized as a scientific dispute with the candidate and it includes topics of three courses of the individual study plan, selected so as to be linked with the PhD thesis topic and the exams the student has passed. The scope of these three courses is defined in the actual published list of topics for the final exams, and in more details also in content descriptions of these courses. The student is expected to prove an orientation in theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence and the field of autonomous agents and multiagent systems.

 


[1] The seminarium continues during the whole period of study and the course credit must be obtained every semester.

2 Ex = Exam, CC = Course Credit