Soil Ecophysiology

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.

Graduates of the study program Soil Ecophysiology will receive a doctoral degree education with a focus on modern process-oriented soil science, which is a traditional part of geological and geographical sciences in Slovakia within the field of Earth Sciences. The graduate of the doctoral study masters the latest theoretical and methodological knowledge in the field of soil research, has extensive knowledge in various areas of soil science, including soil chemistry, soil physics, soil microbiology, and is also able to evaluate relationships and interactions in the soil-plant system. The acquired knowledge serves as a basis for conducting research and creating new knowledge in the field of soil science and soil ecophysiology. The graduate masters the principles of scientific work, scientific formulation of the problem, ethical and social aspects of scientific work. The graduate is able to work independently, develop theory and methodology in the field of process-oriented soil science and contribute to the creation of new insights.

The graduate is able to formulate a scientific problem and hypotheses, determine the theoretical framework, a specific methodological solution, critically evaluate the results and formulate conclusions and strategies for further research on soil processes and interactions. The graduate has extensive knowledge of modern methods and tools for the study of physical, chemical and biological properties and processes in soils, is able to evaluate and verify the suitability of using methods in solving specific scientific and practical problems, and understands the limits of their use. The graduate is able to use these methods and tools and further improve them in evaluating and optimizing the solution of academic problems and investigating new insights and technologies. Based on the outputs and findings, the graduate is able to design, verify and implement new research procedures in a broader context of proposed solutions. The graduate can present these practices in the form of research outputs, such as publications or research reports, and transform the results into recommendations for social practice, such as decisions, planning documents or public policies. Part of education at the third level will also offer personal development, management skills and competences courses.

The graduate is characterized by independent, critical and analytical thinking, which can be applied in changing and unpredictable conditions. The graduate takes into account social, scientific and ethical aspects in formulating research intentions and interpreting the results of soil research, can critically evaluate research results in the field of soil research and complex interactions between soil and other components of the environment, and is able to present his results to the international professional community. The graduate is able to socially engage in favour of adopting appropriate solutions and can comprehensively assess the ethical, social, environmental, economic, political and cultural context of the problems. Thanks to the experience with the interdisciplinary nature of soil research, the graduate is able to determine the focus of research and coordinate interdisciplinary research teams.

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.

Because in Slovakia, this is the only specialized education focused on soils and their interactions with vegetation and other components of the environment, graduates will find employment in a wide range of research and scientific institutions, or in research-oriented universities. As scientists or researchers, they will find employment within departmental research institutes in solving tasks in the field of environmental protection, land-use planning and land consolidation. As researchers in institutions that deal with waste management problems and that propose optimal ways of remediation for areas with contaminated or otherwise degraded soils. In the field of water management, they will be used to solve problems related to soil hydrology. These include the solution of land reclamation and irrigation systems, the design of flood protection measures and modern approaches to integrated river basin management. Graduates of the proposed study program will also find employment at several institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences or at universities, wherever problems related to soils are solved at a high level.

This is a new study program that does not yet have graduates, but graduates of the Department of Soil Science FNS CU with a similar scientific focus currently work in various positions, where they apply their extensive knowledge of soil processes and their interactions with other components of the environment. Graduates who have completed their studies at the Department of Soil Science FNS CU therefore work in departmental research institutes (e.g. Research Institute of Soil Science and Soil Protection in Bratislava, Research Institute of Plant Production in Prague), institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (e.g. Institute of Landscape Ecology, Institute of Hydrology, Institute of Botany) and also at research universities.

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: 40
- Number of credits for compulsory optional courses: 10
- Number of credits for optional courses: 145
- Number of credits for the dissertation exam: 15
- Number of credits for the dissertation defence: 30