FINANCING

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:

• 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.

• ⚡ A big change: scholarships are no longer granted automatically. You must actively apply in IS—so don’t forget to do this!​

• Scholarships are now paid retroactively. For new students starting in September, the payment begins only from the start of the semester.

• 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.

• 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:

• 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).

  • Not included: holiday pay compensation or one-off bonuses.

• 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).

• 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

Masaryk University Measure No. 5/2025 MINIMUM AMOUNT OF DOCTORAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2025/2026

Methodological sheet doctoral study admission and doctoral scholarship

Overview of scholarships for PhD students of the Institute of Experimental Biology

Doctoral students of the Department of Experimental Biology can use several types of scholarships during their studies. Individual scholarships have different purposes and conditions for their award.

Doctoral scholarship within the doctoral study income

Doctoral students in the full-time form of study who are in the standard period of study (SDS) and duly fulfill their individual study plan (ISP) can draw a doctoral scholarship.

The income of a doctoral student is usually made up of a salary (typically from the project of the supervisor or training institute) and the doctoral scholarship described here. The amount of the doctoral scholarship is calculated automatically every month by the information system according to the salary declared by the supervisor. For more details, see

1st, 2nd and 3rd year students | Faculty of Science MU | MUNI SCI

If the amount of the doctoral scholarship does not reach CZK 14,000/month under these conditions, the Institute of Experimental Biology shall meet the following conditions:

• full-time study,
• studium v SDS,
• proper fulfilment of the individual study plan,
• successful progress to the next semester.

will pay the scholarship supplement for the relevant period up to this amount retrospectively (in October and March). The additional payment is not entitled.

If the supervisor or the training institution expects significantly uneven opportunities in financing the student's salary during the 1st-4th year (e.g. a 2- or 3-year project), it is possible to arrange an individual scholarship regime when the student enters the DSP. In this case, contact Lenka Jurasová.

Mobility Scholarship

Students who complete an internship abroad can apply for a one-off mobility support scholarship of up to CZK 25,000.

The condition for awarding the scholarship is to prove that the student has used the available funding opportunities for foreign mobility in a timely manner (e.g. Erasmus, A6 scholarships, CEEPUS and other scholarships available for the final destination) and was not successful with his/her application or the resources obtained are not sufficient to cover all the costs of the stay.

The scholarship serves as additional support in the implementation of an internship abroad.

Scholarship for the completion of doctoral studies within five years (4+1)

Students who successfully complete their doctoral studies within five years can receive a scholarship of CZK 25,000.

This scholarship is determined by the regulation of the Director of the IEB.

Conditions for granting:

• the student must have successfully completed doctoral studies within five years,
• The scholarship application must be submitted no later than 14 days before the defence.

The scholarship is paid after successful defence in the form of a graduate scholarship.