Master’s program

Type
Two-year Master’s program, with the key classes being taught in English.

Admission Requirements

Bachelor degree in logic-related fields (mathematics, philosophy, computer science).

Contact
radek.honzik at ff.cuni.cz

Application deadline
March 31, 2024

Entrance Exam date
Early June 2024 (will be updated)

The department offers a two-year Master’s program in Logic. The program is administred in two language versions: Czech and English. In the Czech version, some of the key courses  are taught in English, while in the English version all courses are in English (the English version comes with a tuition fee and is for international students).  We believe that the English language is an added benefit for the Czech students, both in terms of learning and the ability to work in an international environment after graduation (students will be offered individual consultations in Czech if they do not find the English lectures sufficient). Valid accreditation documents with a list of courses can be downloaded here.

​​​​​​​Poznámka: Čeští studenti se hlásí do české verze (samostatný nebo sdružený program), ve které výuka některých klíčových předmětů probíhá v anglickém jazyce. Účelem anglické výuky (přednášek) je připravit studenty na mezinárodní kontakty a spolupráci a usnadnit jim přístup k literatuře, která je převážně v anglickém jazyce. Pro studium stačí ovládat jen základy anglického jazyka a být ochoten se v průběhu studia zdokonalit. Více informací a možnost podání přihlášky naleznete na stránkách FFUK, zde. Vizitka oboru na stránkách FFUK je zde. Přijímací zkoušky se skládají z ústního pohovoru, kde ověříme znalost základních pojmů (viz seznam doporučené literatury níže). Přijímací zkoušky probíhají spíše v přátelském duchu – předpokladem přijetí je dobrá motivace a ochota studovat (není potřeba mít formální matematické či filozofické vzdělání).

Platné akreditace se seznamem předmětů pro magisterské studium zde.

Admission

The entrance exam for the Czech program consists of a face-to-face discussion which takes place personally at the department. The entrance exam for the international (English) program has two stages: a written project proposal, followed by an oral examination, preferrably personally at the department.

Students applying for the program must hold a Bachelor (or equivalent) degree and should be familiar with formal logic (formal systems, propositional & predicate logic, completness and incompletness theorems) and set theory (axiom of choice, ordinals, cardinals, basic cardinal and ordinal arithmetics). Familiarity with analytic philosophy and philosophy of mathematics and exact sciences is useful. Here is a selection of books which contain information about these topics:

Recommended:

K. Kunen: The Foundations of Mathematics (Studies in Logic: Math. Logic and Foundations), College Publications, 2009
K. KunenSet Theory (An Introduction to Independence Proofs), North-Holland, 1980
Benacerraf, P., Putnam, H., eds., Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Readings. Cambridge Uni. Press, Cambridge 1984.
​​​​​​​Stephen P. Schwartz: A brief history of Analytic Philosophy: From Russell to Rawls, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

Additional reading:

B. Balcar, P. ŠtěpánekTeorie množin, Academia 2000
T. Jech: Set theory, Springer, 2000

Švejdar, V.: Logika: neúplnost, složitost a nutnost, Academia 2002
​​​​​​​Sochor, A.: Klasická matematická logika, Karolinum 2001.

Peregrin, J., Vlasáková, M.: Filosofie logiky, Filosofia, Praha 2017
Peregrin, J.: Kapitoly z analytické filosofie, Filosofia, Praha 2005

Please contact our department for more details about requirements.

Czech and Slovak students (and EU students who speak Czech)

Students should apply directly to the Czech version of the program which is free of charge. Apply HERE.

International students

International students should apply to the English version of the program which has a tuition fee. In exceptional cases, the department may help the applicant with the administration process. If you are a strong candidate with a Bachelor degree from a recognized university, you may contact us to get more information (please include details about your education and preferably a recommendation letter). For more details, see HERE.

We strongly encourage potential students to contact the department before they apply to check the details of the entrance exam and verify their qualification.  Also note that the exams must be taken in person in Prague so you should have a valid visa.

Program Overview

The program has been significantly updated in 2019 and provides greater choice for the student regarding the focus of the study: from set theory, classical and non-classical logics to philosophy of mathematics and exact sciences. The standard duration of the program is 2 years.

In the first year, students will attend several courses which lay the foundations for further work and introduce students to prominent areas of logic. Students will learn and deepen their knowledge of classical and non-classical logics (Gödel’s theorems, computability aspects, review of basic non-classical logics and their use), set theory and model theory, and the philosophical aspects of mathematical sciences. These introductory courses are helpful for students to identify their preferable field of logic and to choose optional courses which will lead them to their master thesis and the chosen field of study. There will be room for optional courses in the first year of the study.

In the final year (second), students focus on their master thesis while extending their knowledge, based on the selection of optional courses they find intriguing. The optional courses are organized into three blocks to help students to orient themselves and correspond to the specializations of the researchers at the department. Students may choose optional courses from multiple blocks simultaneously, i.e. they do not need to choose one block only.

The first block specializes in set theory and abstract mathematics. Set theory is the universal language of mathematics and studies problems across mathematical disciplines. Students will learn methods and results at the edge of current research, with focus on forcing, independence results, and connection between set theory and general mathematics. Researchers at the department of logic specialize in this field and are members of international teams and grants.

The second block provides focus on classical and non-classical logics and studies it from the point of expressive power, computability aspects and use for modelling computation-related problems. Department of logic builds on extensive cooperation with the prominent logical institutes in Prague and offers optional courses in non-classical and fuzzy logics and abstract algebraic logics.

The third block offers courses on philosophical and foundational aspects of logic in general, and more specifically on modern mathematics and set theory. Building on the philosophical, set-theoretical and mathematical foundations received during the introductory courses, students are able to identify and expand connections on the border of the mathematical and philosophical sciences. Department of Logic cooperates with mathematical and philosophical departments in Prague and also on an international scale.

After defending the thesis and graduating, all students receive a master degree from Logic. With the master degree students can embark on their professional career or start a doctoral program.

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