ČAD statement regarding the implementation of the Strategic plan of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports 2021+ (15th of March 2021)

The Czech Association of PhD Researchers (ČAD) welcomes the activities of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports aimed at the gradual implementation of the Strategic plan of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports 2021+.

As part of the reform of doctoral study funding, ČAD considers it necessary to provide students in doctoral study programs with conditions enabling them to devote themselves fully to the dissertation research, prevent the creation of abysmal income differences between these doctoral students and at the same time guarantee sufficient social security protection for doctoral students. In order to achieve these priorities, Chad proposes the following steps:

1. Not to stipulate by a decree of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports the minimum amount of the scholarship, but the minimum amount of the doctoral student's income, which the school must provide in order to be able to accept them into a full-time form of study.

2. Abolish the current ban on paying doctoral students for dissertation work in the form of remuneration for work / contracts, that is present in the current Strategic Plan, so that schools have more flexibility in ensuring a minimum income for doctoral students.

3. Set the minimum income of a full-time doctoral student to at least 1.5 times that of the minimum wage.

4. Negotiate with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs that full-time doctoral students are entitled to maternity allowance, which is calculated from the minimum amount of the determined income of doctoral students.