The Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Regional Development of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, has been granted accreditation by the Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education for a doctoral study programme entitled Geography, third level of higher education, in both full-time and external forms of study. The accreditation authorises graduates of the programme to be awarded the academic degree “PhD.” (philosophiae doctor) in the field of study 42. Earth Sciences.

The accreditation file was prepared under the leadership of the principal guarantor of the study programme, Prof. M. Boltižiar, with additional guarantors Assoc. Prof. M. Vojtek, Assoc. Prof. J. Vojteková, Assoc. Prof. L. Petrikovičová, and Assoc. Prof. A. Krogmann, as well as other lecturers, Assoc. Prof. J. Némethová, Assoc. Prof. J. Štubňa, and Dr. H. Kramáreková.

Following the geography departments in Bratislava, Prešov, and Košice, our department thus becomes another institution in Slovakia that has been granted the right to implement a third-level (PhD) study programme in geography. Historically, this is the very first study programme entitled Geography of this kind, which has not previously existed at any higher education institution in Slovakia. Nitra has therefore joined the map of Slovakia as one of four regional cities where it is possible to pursue university studies in geography at all three levels of higher education.

The study programme also represents a significant milestone in the nearly 67-year history of our department itself. The doctoral study programme has long been among the department’s strategic visions, reflecting its ambition to build a modern and competitive university-based geographical institution with a strong position in both the national and international Central European research and educational space.

Applications for the doctoral study programme Geography, in both full-time and external forms, may be already submitted this year, with the first semester starting in September 2026.

Text: Prof. PaedDr. PhDr. RNDr. Martin Boltižiar, PhD., MBE
Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Regional Development
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra