Geology

Requirements for successfull defence of PhD thesis

PhD disseration accompanied by a paper accepted for publication (or published) in a scientific journal with impact factor (ISI ranking)
or
PhD dissertaion as a series of 3 or more scientific papers (original articles, at least one of them published in a journal with impact factor) accompanied by a short introduction and conclusions.
Once a year (generally in May or June), a control day is organised by a council to check the quality of research and achieved results of each PhD student of all geological specialisations. Short, 10 minutes long oral presentation on recent results and publications (conferences, articles), is required for each student.

Subjects of PhD thesis

Geological sciences with the emphasis on stratigraphical and historical geology, structural geology, paleobotany, zoopaleontology, mineralogy and crystallography, geochemistry, economic geology and geology of mineral deposits, and petrology.

STRATIGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL GEOLOGY
Follows the studies of geological processes in the history of the Earth with the emphasis on organic and inorganic features. It is employed in broad range of geological sciences (including the reconstruction of geological environment in the past with the implications for the recent). The discipline deals with lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy especially in the regional studies and correlation. It uses methods of the facies analysis as well as basin analysis in the paleogeographic reconstruction. It applies paleontological methods for the paleoecology, ecostratigraphy and quantitative stratigraphy, climatic stratigraphy and eventstratigraphy. The discipline uses geochronological methods radiometric dating and deals with the stratigraphical position of metamorphic and magmatic rocks. It employs the methods of detail studies of geological sections and deals with the research of Quaternary sediments.

STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY
In order to study the geological features (structures) of different scales it follows the scale sequences from the structures of mineral grains and rocks, outcrop structures ad structures expressed in the geological maps, global lithospheric structures and planetary structures. The emphasis of the structural geological studies is on the relationships among the structures and methods of their studies (deformation or strain analysis, methods of physical and mathematical models . The discipline provides a complex overview and applications of structural research in geological sciences using contemporaneous and up to date state of art of problems and methods.

PALEOBOTANY
The discipline deals with the studies of plants of the past geological times, plant evolution from the oldest forms of life in early Precambrian up to Cenozoic. It studies morphology and anatomy of the plant organs, carries out the reconstruction of fossil plants and whole plant assemblages. It studies the relationships of plant evolution and the environment. It formulates paleoclimatic and paleogeographic conclusions that are used in the geological studies (predominantly in the coal and oil geology).

ZOOPALEONTOLOGY
The study of evolution animals on the Earth from the earliest stages to the contemporaneous times, using the methods of morphology, anatomy and paleoecology. It attempts to reconstruct individual species and whole fossil assemblages. The results are used for biostratigraphy and evaluation of the evolution of an environment in geological past.
Specialization: 1, paleontology of invertebrates: systematic and evolution, comparative anatomy of the individual groups, 2. Paleogeographical distribution and migration in the geological past, 3. Paleontology of vertebrates: comparative anatomy of individual groups, systematic and evolution 4. Evolution of humans and primates, paleogeographical distribution and migration in the geologic past.

MINERALOGY AND CRYSTALOGRAPHY
It studies mineral phases, their crystalochemistry, features and position within the mineral parageneses with the emphasis on quantitative methods of the study of mineral phases through the methods of quantitative reflectance microscopy, quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis, methods of powder and monocrystalline diffraction, and studies of chemical composition of individual phases "in situ". It studies polymorphy and polytypy and OD structures and their relationships to genetic conditions. Crystallography is directed to the region of structural crystallography and refinement of crystal structures. It applies mineralogical research in technologies and uses the mineralogical and geochemical methods in the environmental studies.
Specialization: 1. Genetic mineralogy 2. Methods of laboratory studies of minerals and their industrial applications, 3. Mineralogical studies of solid contaminants in the environment, 4. Crystal structures.

GEOCHEMISTRY
It integrates the knowledge of the basic geological disciplines in the terms of chemical composition. It deals preferably with the physico-chemical features of geological and/or cosmochemical processes, anthropogenic processes and consequent modeling of those processes. It uses modern methods of "in situ" chemical analyses including the determination of stable and radioactive isotopes, physical methods and methods of statistical evaluation of data for the purpose of genetic geochemistry and geochronology. It studies the reaction kinetics of migration and distribution of chemical elements in geological materials (minerals, rocks, water and atmosphere) their equilibria (thermometry and geobarometry) and their mutual interactions. The geology uses these results in the exploration for mineral resources, for the studies of environments and partial problems of ecology, archaeology and in the medical science.

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND GEOLOGY OF MINERAL DEPOSITS
The discipline deals with the geological processes leading to the formation of concentration of potentially useful components in he Earth's crust. For the formulation of models of the individual types of mineral deposits it uses the knowledge and methods of other geological disciplines especially methods of geochemistry, mineralogy and methods of structural and basin analysis. It deals with the motion of solutions through the Earth crust and their interaction with the rocks, the isotope fractionation (e.g., of oxygen) and their significance for the interpretation of mineral deposit formations as well as the interaction of lower crust and the upper mantle with regard to processes forming the mineral concentrations.

PETROLOGY
Petrology studies metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks. The emphasis is given to relationships of rock formation and geotectonic processes. Study includes the material and structural relations and microstructural features of the rocks. Metamorphic petrology studies thermal, pressure and mechanical evolution of crust in the collisional and extensional deformation regimes and the relationships of metamorphism and deformation. Magmatic petrology studies the formation of magma in the mantle and crust source areas, it rise, differentiation and crystallization including the geological properties and mechanisms of the emplacement. The sedimentary petrology studies modern features of sedimentology including the processes of diagenesis and petrology of organic materials.

Useful weblinks

Faculty of Science, Charles University
Department of Education and Student Affairs, Faculty of Science, Charles University
Geological Institute of Academy of Science
Czech Geological Survey

Subject-area Board

The subject-area board is available in Czech (Oborová rada). The Chairman is highlighted.