The dissertation will analyse dynamic competition in network industries such as transport, energy, and telecommunications. It will examine how technological change, market liberalisation, and regulation affect market structure, entry barriers, and price formation. The research will compare markets across countries with different levels of concentration and regulatory intensity, focusing on how innovation—digitalisation, automation, and the shift to low-emission technologies—transforms competitive dynamics.

Attention will be given to the interaction between incumbents and new entrants, the impact of institutional frameworks on market efficiency, and the role of public policy in fostering competition. External factors such as geopolitical developments, EU climate goals, and public infrastructure investment will also be considered. The dissertation aims to identify key mechanisms shaping competition in network industries and to provide insights relevant for competition policy and regulatory practice.

The supervisor for this topic is professor Martin Kvizda. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here. 

With the ongoing liberalization of national railway markets across Europe, consumers face an increasingly diverse set of travel options. Competing operators differentiate themselves through pricing, frequency, timetable coordination, quality standards, and loyalty schemes. This thesis investigates how passengers respond to these competitive dynamics. Using revealed and stated preference data, it will analyse how travel choices are shaped by factors such as trip purpose, international versus domestic journeys, loyalty program membership, the need for transfers, and passenger demographics. It will provide insights into the determinants of mode and operator choice in liberalized rail markets and contribute to the understanding of demand behaviour under competition.

The supervisor for this topic is professor Zdeněk Tomeš. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

Encouraging a modal shift from private cars to public transport is essential for achieving environmental and social sustainability. However, persistent barriers prevent wider adoption, even in countries and cities with extensive public transport networks. This thesis aims to identify and classify the key barriers to public transport usage through a combination of surveys and semi-structured interviews with both users and non-users. It will explore economic, psychological, practical, and systemic obstacles — such as perceptions of reliability, comfort, safety, and accessibility — and analyse how these vary across socio-demographic groups. The findings will inform targeted policy recommendations for increasing the attractiveness and inclusivity of public transport systems.

The supervisor for this topic is professor Zdeněk Tomeš. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

In recent years, several European countries — including Czechia, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, and Spain — have introduced nationwide fare discount schemes to promote public transport use and social equity. This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of these policies. It will assess the schemes’ impacts on travel behaviour, modal shift, public budgets, and transport affordability, using comparative case studies and cost–benefit analysis. Special attention will be given to differences in target group design (students, seniors, low-income travellers) and implementation mechanisms. The study will provide evidence-based insights into whether and under what conditions such discounts contribute to sustainable and equitable mobility.

The supervisor for this topic is professor Zdeněk Tomeš. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

In current regional theories, developed cooperation between innovation actors is considered a key prerequisite for the emergence of innovations. Cooperation is perceived as an important form of knowledge diffusion, a source of radical innovations and an accelerator of innovation processes. The basic prerequisite for the development of cooperation is a sufficiently developed demand (especially enterprises) and supply (especially research organizations) subsystem of the regional innovation system. If some component is not sufficiently represented, this can be solved by cooperation with entities outside the region. Cooperation takes place both among enterprises themselves and between enterprises and research organizations. The way of cooperation varies across branches, with spatial proximity playing an important role in some fields. The dissertation should help to address the lack of knowledge about the intensity and forms of cooperation between innovation actors in regions and the benefits of cooperation for the creation of innovations.

Objective: The aim of the dissertation is to evaluate the intensity, importance, financing, forms and benefits of cooperation on innovation activities in selected regions. During the study, the student will define the geographical areas, forms of cooperation, and industrial fields that will be the subject of research.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Viktorie Klímová. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

Agglomerations and cities are perceived as a key territorial dimension for the emergence of innovations. At the same time, innovation brings a driving force for urban development. Cities and city regions (or agglomerations) represent important nodes of innovation networks. Cities have the resources needed for innovation, such as a diverse range of innovative enterprises, established universities and research institutions, and a sufficient supply of qualified workers with various specializations. The concentration of innovation actors allows for the sharing of tacit knowledge and the use of the advantages that spatial proximity brings. Cities and agglomerations likely have the best conditions for introducing innovations with a high degree of novelty and those in fields crucial for future development. It is possible to find significant differences between cities and regions, and each territory has its own unique conditions and atmosphere for the emergence and spread of innovations. The dissertation will focus on the research of innovation determinants in selected cities and agglomerations.

Objective: The aim of the dissertation is to identify and evaluate the conditions for the development of innovations in selected cities or agglomerations. The thesis will look for success factors of these regional innovation systems and may also address public policy interventions in these areas. The dissertation will discuss the possibilities of transferring experiences and best practices of selected city regions to other regions.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Vladimír Žítek. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.