Longevity Studies

Form of study: full-time or combined

Standard study period: 4 years

Description of the Field of Study

The Postgraduate Longevity Studies Programme responds to demographic changes and related social challenges and prepares highly qualified experts for scientific, academic and expert activities and transfer of knowledge into practice. The programme is interdisciplinary. It is methodologically based on social sciences, sociology, social and cultural anthropology, and the complex of non-medical health sciences (public health), but also uses methods of other science branches and disciplines. It is based on the theory of productive aging, which was presented by Robert Butler as opposed to the reductionist accent on solely health, disability or care issues. On the practical and strategic level, this theory corresponds to the active aging strategy of the UN and WHO. From a methodological point of view, mixed methods will be preferred - i.e. research using qualitative methods exploring the essence of facts and quantitative methods to compare these and examine contexts. This is and will also be the focus of research projects in which the team participates or is preparing.

The Study Programme is based on the experience of the Centre of Longevity and Long-term Care (CELLO), its international cooperation within the Global Alliance of International Longevity Centres (as the only representative from CEE countries), project solutions, including major international projects (FRAM, INDUCT, PALLIARE). CELLO follows new trends overlapping modern gerontology as well as those solving issues related to the prolongation of human life, which are not yet addressed within the PhD studies at the university. Therefore, it will prepare experts similar to those who come from the universities of the older EU countries, where, however, these disciplines are still more diversified and branched (for example, only the issue of dementia, the quality of service relationships, etc.).