Doctoral Income: What’s New from September 2025?
Good news! 🎉 Starting in the academic year 2025/2026, the law guarantees PhD students a minimum monthly Doctoral Income of about CZK 24.960 (that’s 1.2× the minimum wage).
Here’s what’s important for you to know:
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Your Doctoral Income can come entirely from your scholarship, or from a combination of scholarship + salary if you have a job directly related to your dissertation.
- The formula is: 2/3 of your job income + your scholarship = at least 1.2× the minimum wage.
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⚡ A big change: scholarships are no longer granted automatically. You must actively apply in IS—so don’t forget to do this!
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Scholarships are now paid retroactively. For new students starting in September, the payment begins only from the start of the semester.
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Especially during this first “settling-in” period, payments may take a little longer. For example, the September scholarship might arrive only in November. Please be patient—it will get to you.
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To help speed up the process, you can waive your right to appeal once the decision is made.
Key details about how Doctoral Income is calculated:
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At MU: Only employment contracts (not short-term agreements) are counted, and only the part of your salary directly related to dissertation work. Included are stipulated wage components (salary tariff, personal evaluation, functional and statutory bonuses).
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Not included: holiday pay compensation or one-off bonuses.
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With a cooperating employer: According to Section 91a (1) of the Higher Education Act, a student may carry out creative work related to their dissertation as an employee of a legal entity with which MU has a cooperation agreement (e.g. Czech Academy of Sciences, hospitals, or other institutions employing doctoral students).
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General rule: Doctoral Income must equal at least 1.2× the minimum wage. The Rector may set a higher amount for MU; the Dean may set a higher amount for a given faculty.
Note: The Rector of MU sets the minimum amount of the doctoral scholarship (CZK 12,000) and the minimum amount of doctoral income. Faculties may, through their internal regulations, set both the scholarship and income levels higher than the minimum defined by the Rector.
👉 In short: You’ll have more stable and transparent financial support for your PhD journey, just keep in mind the new rules about applying and payment timing.
Related links:
MU Scholarship and Bursary Regulations
Methodological sheet doctoral study admission and doctoral scholarship