Round Tables – Sharing Experiences from Doctoral Research and Seeking Solutions to Research Opportunities
The mission of the conference is to support and inspire students of doctoral study programs at the Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (ČZU), in their scientific and creative activities. The aim of the conference is to enable PhD students from all years to present the results of their research, receive high-quality feedback on their work, and strengthen professional cooperation between individual research teams.
The working languages of the conference are Czech and English. Contributions may be written in either Czech or English. Electronic materials for presentations (e.g., PowerPoint slides) must be prepared in English. The presentation itself may be delivered in either Czech or English.
Participation in the conference is mandatory for doctoral students of all years at FEM, both in full-time and combined study modes. Participation is specified as follows:
- 1st year: Mandatory in-person attendance at the conference on September 11, 2025; it is also required to submit a contribution (Type I – see Submission Guidelines) to the system.
- 2nd–4th year: Mandatory in-person attendance at the conference on September 11, 2025; it is also required to submit a contribution (Type II–IV) to the system and present it within the framework of the “round tables.”
The goal of the sessions in expert sections is to provide FEM doctoral students with a platform for collegial evaluation of already published work, work being prepared for publication, or for discussing the design of newly initiated research. Sessions take the form of “round tables,” which are primarily focused on open and constructive discussion of the doctoral students’ research plans. The emphasis is not on formal presentation but on sharing research questions and issues, and obtaining expert feedback from colleagues and department members.
The discussion may include topics such as research direction, suitability of chosen methods and tools, data handling, or publication potential. Sessions are structured according to the doctoral study fields. The academic quality and organization of the conference’s review process are ensured by selected section guarantors approved by the chairs of the relevant doctoral program boards.
Authors submit their contributions for the conference's peer review process via the editorial system after completing registration. The editorial system, which is used for both registration and the peer review process, will be launched on June 1, 2025.
In accordance with the authors’ intentions, one of the following types of contributions may be submitted for the conference’s peer review:
- I. Draft article, e.g., a literature review for planned research or a proposed methodology.
- II. Article prepared for publication but not yet submitted to a scientific journal.
- III. Article already submitted to a journal indexed in Web of Science or Scopus, but not yet published.
- IV. Article published in a journal indexed in Web of Science or Scopus.
- 1st-year students are advised to submit a Type I contribution.
- 2nd-3rd-year students are encouraged to submit any of the four types of contributions.
- 4th-year students are required to submit Type III and IV contributions.
For each submitted contribution, the doctoral student should be listed as the first author and must also ensure the presentation of the article in the expert section on the day of the conference. It is also possible to submit a joint contribution created by a team of up to three doctoral students (DSP). In such a case, the first author submits the contribution to the system, and the entire team of doctoral students participates in the presentation.
All submitted contributions proceed to the peer review process. The guarantor of the relevant section ensures that each submission is evaluated by one or two reviewers. In the case of two reviewers, one is a doctoral student (DSP), ideally someone who has already published an article in a scientific journal or presented at a high-quality conference, and the other is an academic staff member of FEM. If only one reviewer is assigned, they will always be an academic staff member of FEM.
The guidelines for reviewers and the review form are available in the conference’s editorial system. In the case of a submitted article that has already been published (Type IV), a standard review is not required; however, the academic staff member will provide the student with feedback in the form of follow-up questions and suggestions for further research.
Each reviewer is entitled to a reward of 500 CZK for completing a review. This is paid in the form of a special scholarship (for students) or a financial reward (for employees, increased by statutory contributions).
Each article included in the conference program will be discussed in the form of a professional discussion within a round table according to the following format:
- A brief presentation of the contribution/research by the author (recommended duration: max. 10 minutes, focusing on research questions, methodology, and open issues);
- A summary of key insights from the review reports by the section guarantor, including selected questions intended for discussion;
- An open discussion among all participants, focused on the further direction of the research, methodological improvements, data work, or publication strategy.
The review reports will be made available to the authors well in advance of the conference date. Articles will not be revised based on the review reports during the conference. The conference proceedings will not be published, in order to preserve the opportunity for the contributions to be published in scientific journals and to avoid violating research ethics rules in the case of already published works.
Absence from the conference is only permitted for serious reasons (e.g. illness, study stay abroad, etc.). Unexcused absence may affect the payment of the regular doctoral scholarship (or doctoral study income). A list of students who did not attend the conference without a valid excuse will be submitted to the relevant field council for consideration as part of the evaluation of the Individual Study Plan (ISP) and the annual assessment.
An excuse for absence from the conference must be submitted by the student in writing via email to the Department for Science, Research, and Quality at FEM (bartonovak@pef.czu.cz), no later than June 30, 2025.
- Award for Scholarly Contribution
- Upon the recommendation of the section guarantor, a one-time extraordinary scholarship of up to CZK 8,000 per contribution may be awarded. This recognition can be granted for a high-quality contribution regardless of its type (I–IV), as well as to a doctoral student who has made an exceptional contribution to the professional discussion and provided an inspiring suggestion to improve the research presented by another student.
- Sanctions for unexcused absence
- In the event of a student’s unexcused absence from the conference, their regular scholarship may be reduced by up to CZK 9,000. In addition, a record will be entered into the UIS system for the purposes of the doctoral student’s annual assessment.