Certificate of Security Studies
The Certificate of Security Studies can be earned by any student enrolled in the International Relations and European Studies Master’s Program (IRES) at Metropolitan University Prague (MUP), provided that s/he meets all of the regular criteria for awarding the Mgr. academic title. Further, the student must meet the criteria specified below in order to be eligible for the Certificate award. Students do not need to apply in advance for the award of the Certificate. Interested students just need to fulfill all the criteria listed below during their studies at MUP. Students shall apply for the Certificate of Security Studies by completing a relevant form, which must be submitted to the Student Services office for verification at the latest on the day of the student’s Final State Exam. The form may be submitted only in case the student met all the criteria to be awarded the Certificate as mentioned below. The review of the student’s successful compliance with the requirements for earning the Certificate is solely the authority of the Head of the Center for Security Studies. It is possible to appeal against the decision of the Head of the Center for Security Studies to award or not to award the Certificate by submitting a written appeal to the Vice-Rector for Student Affairs. The decision of the Vice-Rector is final and further appeals are not possible.
Criteria for awarding the Certificate of Security Studies
1. Student must pass at least three compulsory courses explicitly dealing with security topics in the IRES Masters Program with grade A/1; other compulsory IRES courses dealing with security topics have to be passed with grade B/2 or better. Current compulsory IRES courses dealing with security topics:
- International Security (all versions of the accreditation)
- External Security of the EU (according to the accreditation valid until the 2019-2020 academic year)/EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (according to the accreditation valid from the 2019-2020 academic year)
- European Union: Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice (according to the accreditation valid until the 2019-2020 academic year)/ Internal Security of the EU (according to the accreditation valid from the 2019-2020 academic year)
- Conflict Resolution in International Relations (according to the accreditation valid until the 2019-2020 academic year)/Conflict Resolution (according to the accreditation valid from the 2019-2020 academic year)
- Terrorism and Counterterrorism (only according to the accreditation valid from the 2019-2020 academic year)
2. Student must write his/her Master’s Dissertation on a topic explicitly dealing with security studies and defend this dissertation with a grade B/2 or better. Assessment of the relevance of the dissertation topic is solely the authority of the Head of the Center for Security Studies.
3. In addition, student must meet at least one of the following criteria by the date of the Final State Exam:
a) Be actively involved in one of the centers and/or journals associated with IRES and MVES departments (currently, i.e. Center for Security Studies, Center for Middle-Eastern Studies and the Central European Journal of International and Security Studies) for the period of at least two semesters. The Head of the Center and/or journal has to confirm in writing the student’s active participation.
b) Hold a membership for at least six months in a grant research team whose grant was approved within the MUP Internal Grant System before the date of the student’s Final State Exam. The official decision on approving the grant of the research team where the student is listed as a member shall serve as a proof.
c) Present the findings of his/her research on a security-related topic at a student or expert conference before the Final State Exams. Students must present the official conference program with their name listed as a proof of their presentation.
d) Publish a research article on a security-related topic in a refereed journal. The article must be - at minimum - accepted for publication at the date of the Final State Exam. A letter from the journal editor confirming the acceptance of the article or a copy of the published article must be presented as a proof.
e) Other worthy activity demonstrating a sustained interest in the field of security studies (e.g. summer schools, security related courses taken during Erasmus exchange programmes etc.). The activity has to be consulted and recognized as relevant by the Head of the Center of Security Studies, who has the sole discretion to accept or reject it.
The Certificate shall be awarded upon successful completion of the Master’s Study Programme together with the Master’s Diploma. Students who wish to receive the certificate must apply by filling the appropriate application form immediately upon the successful completion their studies:
