Mineralogy and Petrology

The institution defines the learning objectives of the study programme such as student's abilities at the time of completion of the programme and the main learning outcomes.

The submitted study programme Mineralogy and Petrology is a new study programme which combines two existing and successful doctoral degree study programmes with long tradition – Mineralogy and Petrology. The reason for the combination of the two programmes is the considerable content affinity of the two existing programmes of the third level of education, since petrology is based on the study of minerals, of which each rock is composed. As part of the submitted, combined mineralogy and petrology programme, there remains space for the future graduate to focus himself/herself in the dissertation to a more mineralogically or petrologically oriented topic. Graduate of the doctoral study programme Mineralogy and Petrology can analyze and classify rocks, determine their mineral and chemical composition on the basis of field and laboratory results and interpret the conditions of their formation in the lithosphere, which includes the crust and the upper, rigid part of the mantle. The graduate can apply the latest mineralogical-petrological and geochemical methods of research, creatively applying the results of experimental and thermodynamic modelling to the genetic interpretation of rocks in various geotectonic environments and geodynamic settings. The basis of this study programme is profiled by compulsory and compulsory elective courses: Magmatic Petrology, Metamorphic Petrology, Sedimentary Petrology, Mineralogy of rocks, Geochemistry of rocks, Crystal chemistry of silicate and non-silicate minerals and Professional English 1. For the interpretation of the genesis of rocks, a detailed analysis of their mineral composition is necessary. Therefore, a graduate of doctoral studies Mineralogy and Petrology can identify minerals, determine their chemical composition, set their compositions in classification schemes, characterize isomorphic minerals, or reveal the substitution mechanisms of elements. Based on the detailed mineralogical characteristics, he/she can infer the genesis of rocks and minerals. Other elective courses serve to acquire this knowledge: Genetic mineralogy and petrology and Isotope geology and geochemistry. The graduate is able to design basic research projects aimed to identification of chemical composition, structure, age and origin of minerals and rocks of terrestrial and extra-terrestrial origin. An integral part of a graduate's profile is his/her ability to put the results of basic research into practice, including environmental quality sustainability, technological processes in the production of geomaterials and reconstruction of building objects. The graduate has experience in metamorphic and metasomatic transformations of rocks as important indicators of accumulations of natural resources. He/she can make a significant contribution to the search for and verification of mineral resources. He/she is able to solve complex tasks of minerogenesis and petrogenesis in both basic and applied research. The graduate is able to carry out research with a high degree of creativity and autonomy, formulate and validate hypotheses based on an analysis of the data obtained. The graduate is led to manage working teams, lead projects independently and take responsibility for complex solutions also in interdisciplinary fields (geochemistry, economic geology, petrophysics, geotechnics, etc.) in the state institutions and private enterprises.

The institution indicates the professions for which the graduate is prepared at the time of completion and the potential of the study programme from the point of view of graduate's employability.

Graduate of the doctoral study programme Mineralogy and Petrology can be employed in basic and applied research institutions, in estate as well as private sector, organisations focused on geological exploration and research, as well as companies and institutions dealing with the construction, technical, environmental activities and territorial design. Skills in mineralogy and petrology will also allow graduates to work in state and private organisations dealing with the exploration, exploitation and processing of mineral resources. Graduates can also find their fulfilment in the following sectors:
•    state and private geological and technical research organisations concerned with testing the quality of raw materials and technical geomaterials
•    higher education institutions and universities, Slovak Academy of Sciences and other research organisations
•    geological and geotechnical enterprises at national and transnational levels dealing with the search and exploration of natural raw materials
•    mining companies
•    private business activities in national and transnational geological and related technical organisations (geotechnology, water management)
•    environmental organisations and firms
•    institutions and private firms active in identifying, processing and determining the quality and authenticity of gemstones and semi-precious stones
•    nature conservation organisations
•    ministries and regional and local governmental organisations
•    natural museums
•    geotourism, geoparks
•    organizations aimed at protecting and preserving historical objects, monuments and artworks

The submitted study programme is a new programme which combines two existing doctoral programmes with a long tradition – Mineralogy and Petrology. Both of these programmes, the content of which is logically linked in the new doctoral programme Mineralogy and Petrology, raised a number of distinguished graduates who operate in a wide range of state and private organisations. The last generation of graduates is engaged in the State Geological Survey in basic and applied geological research of the territory of Slovakia: Patrik Konečný – head of the Department of electron microanalysis, Dušan Laurinc, and Mário Olšavský. Several graduates are employed in the Institute of Earth Sciences of Slovak Academy of Sciences, where, among other things, they co-founded and currently manage or are part of the Centre of Excellence for Integrated Geosphere Research (Stanislava Milovská, Jarmila Luptáková, Martin Števko, Mikuš Tomáš Marek Grateful, Kotulová Júlia, Pavol Siman – member of the SAS Presidency, Ján Madarás – current institute director). Many graduates continue to work successfully in educational institutions across Slovakia (e.g. Faculty of Natural Sciences in Bratislava – Jana Brčeková rod. Michňová, Ondrej Nemec, Katarína Šarinová, Jana Fridrichová, Peter Ružička) and abroad (Associate Professor Jaroslav Pršek at the Mining-Metallurgical University of S. Staszic in Krakow, Poland). Some graduates make mineralogy and petrology publicly available in museums (Bronislava Voleková-Lalinská, Monika Orvošová), or are working in environmental organisations and mining companies in Slovakia (Libor Pukančík) and abroad (František Bakoš).

A list of all major graduates is available on the website:
Významní absolventi a pracovníci katedry (uniba.sk).
https://fns.uniba.sk/pracoviska/geologicka-sekcia/kmp/historia-pracoviska/vyznamni-absolventi-a-pracovnici-katedry/

Graduates of the PhD program Mineralogy and Petrology are applicable in basic research, which can be extended in practice in the exploration, extraction and processing of mineral resources, and remediation of environmental burdens, which will always be requested and urgent social topics.

For individual study plans, the institution states the requirements for completing the individual parts of the study programme and the student's progress within the study programme in the given structure:

- number of credits for compulsory courses required for proper completion of studies/completion of a part of studies, 35 credits – Dissertation Thesis 1-3, Dissertation exam and Professional English 1) for internal form and 45 credits (Dissertation Thesis 1-5, Dissertation exam and Professional English 1) for external form,
- number of credits for compulsory optional courses required for the proper completion of studies/completion of a part of studies, minimum 10 credits for both forms – mandatory selection of at least two compulsory optional subjects,
- number of credits for optional courses required for the proper completion of studies/completion of a part of studies, at least 9 credits for both forms, mandatory selection of at least three optional subjects,
- number of credits required for the completion of studies/completion of a part of the studies for the common foundations and for the relevant specialization, in the case of a teaching combination study programme or a translation combination study programme, 240,
- number of credits for the final thesis and the defense of the final thesis required for the proper completion of studies, 30.