To progress from the first to the second year, students must complete the compulsory courses and the requirements of the first year to a minimum of 54 ECTS. To progress from the second to the third year, students must complete all the requirements of the first year and the requirements of the second year to a minimum of 54 ECTS. To progress from the 3rd to the 4th year, students must complete all the requirements of the 2nd year as well as the requirements of the 3rd year to a minimum of 54 ECTS.

The study programme does not contain individual parts.

The third-cycle degree programme iEnglish Studies will train highly specialised professionals in the fields of literary studies, linguistics and the didactics of English language and literature. Their skills and abilities in independent research, analysis, planning and interpretation are important for the development of institutions working in these fields and in the field of English studies in general. Graduates with a PhD in English Studies can work in colleges or universities, public and private research institutes, libraries, publishing houses and other institutions; they can become independent researchers and consultants in the fields of English literature, language or didactics. They can work as heads of language departments in tourism, advertising, public relations or private companies. We will offer 5 places on the English Studies programme. The needs for PhDs in English Studies in the private sector are not very high, except in in specialized publishing houses or research and other institutes; however, the PhD students individuals with a PhD in English Studies will add value in these positionsowing to the quality of the education provided by the proposed study programme.

The English Studies programme is worth 240 ECTS, of which 180 ECTS are intended for individual research work and 60 ECTS for organised forms of study. Within the latter, the student will take the compulsory courses Scientific Research Methods and Transferable Knowledge (2 x 3 ECTS), 4 elective courses of 24 ECTS (4 x 6 ECTS), chosen from three areas (English language, literature, or didactics), and 30 ECTS of work with a supervisor in the preparation and defence of the doctoral dissertation. In IRD 1-7 (180 ECTS), the student does research work. Before the start of the studies, the student, in cooperation and agreement with the intended supervisor and the programme director, defines the primary field of his/her doctoral studies (language, literature or didactics), and then selects elective courses in accordance with their dissertation topic. In accordance with the curriculum, in the first semester the student takes the Scientific Research Methods course and the first two elective courses, in the second semester the third elective course and in the third semester the fourth elective course. The fourth elective course may be chosen by the student, in agreement with the supervisor, from other doctoral study programmes of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Maribor, or from outside the University of Maribor. The transferable skills are completed in the third year, and the doctoral dissertation is reasonably expected in the last semester of the programme. The individual research work is spread over all semesters and has a specific theme in each part of the study, which guides the student as meaningfully as possible towards the gradual steps that ultimately lead to the doctoral dissertation. Organised forms of study are placed more at the beginning of the study, which makes sense, as this is where the student acquires knowledge, deepens his/her understanding and strengthens his/her critical thinking in the context of compulsory and elective courses. Based on guidelines and relevant literature, as well as on on-going and final examinations, organised forms of study provide a slightly higher level of guidance to the student, which decreases over time, and the student progresses through the study programme with increasing independence, already able to use the specific competences acquired in the initial stages of the study, and thus progresses towards a successful completion of the study.

The criteria and methods for checking and assessing student outcomes are publicly available and are implemented in accordance with the approved study programme, course syllabui and course information. The assessment system is regulated in accordance with the Statute of the University of Maribor and the Regulations on Examination and Assessment at UM, which are publicly available at https://www.um.si/o-univerzi/dokumentno-sredisce/. Learning outcomes are defined by the syllabi, which are available to the public in the Bologna Course Catalogue and on the Faculty of Arts website. Each syllabus defines how students’workis assessed and evaluated. This allows students to check the content and proficiency levels of specific skills in the syllabi. Teachers and staff encourage students to do their regularly and checking their knowledge regularly throughout the study process, which enables them to monitor their own progress in their studies. At UM, we use a uniform grading scale, which is available on the UM website: https://moja.um.si/student/Strani/Pravilniki-in-predpisi.aspxAt the beginning of the course, students are also informed about the criteria and methods of assessment in each course unit. The syllabi are updated in accordance with the analyses of the pedagogical work and the evaluation of the study programme. The performance of students in fulfilling the obligations of the study programme is determined by means of examinations and assessments, which are the basis for obtaining grades and credits in the individual study units of the study programme and for the advancement of students and their orientation towards further study, and at the same time they provide feedback to students on the level of their acquired knowledge. The results of examinations are entered into the official electronic record of the Academic Information Subsystem (AIPS). The results are entered by the exam provider, who has access to the data on the registered students. After the entry of the results of an examination within a certain unit , the examiner submits a signed record of the examination to the Student Affairs Office, which is kept permanently and constitutes the official record of the institution. Students are notified of their exam grade immediately after it has been entered and validated by the examiner within their personal AIPS account, which they access with a username and password. The student has the right to see the written examination paper within 30 days from the date on which the grade was entered in AIPS. The student's performance in examinations, mid-term tests and other forms of assessment and evaluation of knowledge is assessed by positive and negative grades. Passing grades are excellent (10), very good (9 and 8), good (7), fair (6). Failing grades range from 1 to 5. Examination periods are published in the publicly available academic calendar for each academic year. The lists of regular examination dates for each unit of study throughout the academic year are prepared by the Departments and published in the AIPS information system by the Student Affairs Office no later than 15 November for the current academic year.

The proposed PhD programme represents a central choice for further study and research in the fields of English language, English literature and English didactics. With a diverse range of elective courses, it offers candidates opportunities for both professional advancement and high-quality supervision in their studies or scientific research. One of the main objectives of the proposed doctoral degree programme is therefore to establish a complete three-cycle educational and research system in the field of English studies at the University of Maribor. This leads to the second objective of the programme, which is to strengthen the scientific research activity in the field of English studies in the region, which will be achieved by systematically encouraging the most successful Master's students from our programmes as well as by attracting successful candidates from other universities to continue their studies at the doctoral level. In this way, the Department of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Arts would contribute to the expansion of the network of highly qualified experts in the field of English studies and thus also to the scientific research activities in this and related fields. Given the rich international activity of the Department of English and American Studies, the study programme also aims to extend international cooperation to the field of doctoral studies through mentoring and co-mentoring, as well as student exchanges. The study programme is being reintroduced following the response of the Department and the Faculty to the demand by the candidates for the possibility of continuing their studies in English Studies at the third cycle. The student-centred objectives of the study programme are primarily to train top-quality scholars and researchers in the fields of literary studies in the Anglo-Saxon area, English linguistics, and the didactics of English. Doctoral students completing the English Studies programme will be equipped to develop new knowledge independently and to solve the most challenging theoretical and practical problems, both by improving existing knowledge and by creating new knowledge. They will build on the existing knowledge acquired at the previous levels of education and acquire new in-depth knowledge in specific areas of linguistics, literature and didactics; they will be able to competently master the methodology of scientific research; and with an appropriate scientific basis for researching new linguistic, literary and didactic phenomena, they will be able to achieve cutting-edge results in the above-mentioned areas. The key upgrading of the previous levels of education is precisely in the qualification of doctoral students to independently solve the most complex research problems in the field of linguistics, literature and didactics, which require not only an analytical methodological approach, but also the ability to synthesize and formulate new knowledge, to independently identify research challenges, to be able to clearly present them and to accurately define and argue for appropriate solutions. The aim of the English Studies programme is also to train socially and ethically responsible professionals who will be able to transfer knowledge from the foreign language area to the Slovenian one and thus contribute to the enrichment of the Slovenian aspect of English Studies, co-create it in their independent research and thus contribute to the terminological development of English Studies in Slovenian.

During their studies or upon finishing them, the student will be able to: - effectively apply in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge in various fields of the social sciences and humanities; - work autonomously in their scientific field, both in the national and international arena; - demonstrate mastery of communicative and intercultural competences for performing in a wide range of intellectual fields that require highly educated and qualified personnel; - demonstrate the ability to integrate new research findings with existing ones in the humanities, social sciences and beyond; - use the synergy of previously acquired knowledge and the knowledge acquired during the doctoral studies to generate new knowledge and insights in an interdisciplinary field; - to plan and carry out independent research work in the humanities in relation to fields that go beyond the boundaries of the fields of the proposed doctoral programme; - to select appropriate methodological approaches to the issues at hand in an interdisciplinary context and to judge their appropriateness; - to predict the results of complex research problems, make informed predictions and evaluate the results objectively after the research has been carried out; - to apply theoretical findings of existing research and own findings to concrete research material in an appropriate way; - to make interdisciplinary connections between the specific fields covered by the proposed study programme and other fields with which the narrow fields of the proposed programme are related; - to solve problems in an original way with innovative research approaches or use the known approaches in an original way; - to use interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to research and adapt them to the field of current research; - to collaborate with other researchers and work as a team in different research configurations and groups; - to present their scientific knowledge and findings in an appropriate manner, including in the form of scientific monographs and papers; - to participate constructively in the preparation of project documentation, while also carrying out various project tasks, including project management. In addition, the student will contribute significantly to the development of the field and the reputation of the Department of English and American Studies, the Faculty of Arts and the University of Maribor through their scientific research work.

The subject-specific competences to be acquired in the proposed third cycle study programme are summarised from the attached syllabi. Courses from the field of English literature provide students with in-depth knowledge of particular areas of literary studies, train them in the selection and application of appropriate scientific methodology, and prepare then for independent and original research work in the field of literature. The subject-specific competences acquired through the programme include: - exposure to interpretations for reading and analysing literature and other forms of art; - broadening of the mastery of theoretical literary concepts and terminology; - application of critical approaches in the evaluation of literature, visual arts and music; - competences in the application of historical and theoretical literary methods; - in-depth understanding of genres and subgenres as well as stylistic and aesthetics aspects of literature; - conceptualisation and critical reception of gendered literatures; - ability to seek new research opportunities in the field of literary studies; - capacity for competent scholarly reflection on contemporary literary phenomena. The field of the English language is designed to deepen linguistic knowledge using modern research approaches; it will equip students with subject-specific competences such as: - independent research work in specific areas of English linguistics, - analysis and interpretation of the causes of variability and changes in the English language, and the use of English in social and global contexts, - independent linguistic analysis of different texts, - the ability to understand cause and effect relationships between text types and linguistic phenomena, - the ability to critically assess the impact of globalisation on language, - the functional use of language manuals, - the ability to express oneself in a self-confident manner and to present key insights and state arguments. The field of didactics of English language and literature within the proposed programme of study will equip students with subject-specific competences such as - knowledge of current methods for measuring language proficiency and academic achievement, - knowledge and understanding of the basic concepts of language assessment, particularly of good practice with regard to barriers that can hinder fairness in assessment, - the design of effective assessment and evaluation approaches, - familiarity with the structure and use of extended language proficiency tests, - understanding of major problems in the development of receptive skills, - competence in the selection and use of scientific methods for problem solving, - planning and evaluation of the introduction of new didactic methods, - problem-solving skills in the development of communicative skills, - competence in the selection of scientific methods for the development of linguistic didactics, - awareness of contemporary globalisation influences on didactic practice, - knowledge of contemporary linguistic changes and their impact on school practice.

The third cycle programme English Studies is open to candidates who have completed: - a second cycle programme, - a university degree programme adopted before 11 June 2004, - a higher professional degree programme adopted before 11 June 2004, and a specialisation degree programme. Before enrolment in the study programme, such candidates shall be required to complete 48 ECTS credits of the first cycle of the Bachelor's double-subject study programme English Language and Literature (units: English Language - Vocabulary 3 ECTS, Introduction to the Study of English Literature 3 ECTS, Guided Writing in English 3 ECTS, English Language - Morphology 3 ECTS, English Language - Syntax 3 ECTS, - English Literature to the Age of Enlightenment 6 ECTS, - English Literature from Romanticism to the Fin de siecle 6 ECTS, - English Language - Introduction to Discourse Analysis 3 ECTS, - Modern Developments in English Literature 3 ECTS, - Rhetoric and Public Speaking in English 3 ECTS, - English Language - Word Formation 3, - English Language - Selected Chapters in Linguistics 6 ECTS, - Functional Writing in English 3 ECTS), - a programme of study leading to a qualification for an occupation regulated by EU Directives or another single Master's degree programme which is validated at 300 ECTS points.

In the event of limited enrolment, the selection of candidates will be based on: - the average grade of their previous studies (10%) - the grade of their bachelor's or master's thesis (10%) and - an elective exam (80%). The the elective exam may be replaced by professional and scientific work to the extent of 50% of the examination requirements. The main criteria for scientific work are publications, such as: scientific monographs, scientific papers in monographs that are not co-authored, original or peer-reviewed scientific articles in journals with impact factor (JCR) and journals listed in the criteria of the Faculty of Arts for the election to titles. The main criteria for a professional work are a professional monograph, a professional paper that is not co-authored as is published in a monograph, published professional papers at conferences, professional articles and/or peer-review of these articles, editorship of a monograph or journal, and other forms of documented professional activity.

Transfers between study programmes are possible in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of the Criteria for Transfers between Study Programmes (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 95/10, 17/11 and 14/19). Candidates who fulfil the conditions for enrolment in the proposed programme of study and the conditions for transfer between programmes of study will be assigned the study year and the missing study obligations they must complete in order to complete their studies under the new programme. Transfers are possible between study programmes: - which provide comparable competences at the end of the studies and - among which at least half of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) requirements from the first study programme that relate to the compulsory subjects of the second study programme may be recognised according to the criteria for the recognition of knowledge and skills acquired prior to enrolment in the programme.

On the basis of the Regulations on the Recognition of Knowledge and Skills in UM Study Programmes (https://www.um.si/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Pravilnik-o-priznavanju-znanj-in-spretnosti-v-studijskih-programih-UM-st.-012-2019-2.pdf) , students’ knowledge, skills or competences acquired through formal and non-formal learning prior to enrolment in the programme will be recognized in the course of their education.for. The main criterion for recognition is the comparability of knowledge acquired elsewhere with the study programme units and the skills and competences acquired in the study programme. Applications for recognition of knowledge and skills acquired in various forms of formal and non-formal education prior to enrolment in the programme shall be processed by the Faculty of Arts in accordance with the regulations. The candidate shall submit the application for recognition of knowledge and skills to the Commission for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Arts. Knowledge/skills can be fully recognised, partially recognised or not recognised. In the case of partial recognition, the student must pass a specific examination in the content specified by the course holder.

The student completes the third-level study programme English Studies when he/she has completed all study requirements within the 240 ECTS (He/she passes all examinations and all fulfils all requirements of the doctoral study programme English Studies as well as successfully defends his/her doctoral dissertation) and fulfils all requirements in accordance with the Regulations on Doctoral Studies at UM.