The doctoral studies of the Environmental Protection study program enable students to master the latest world knowledge in the field of environmental protection and ensure a high level of professional and scientific credibility - the success of a future professional, scientific, or pedagogical-university career and the basis for the student's independent research work.

Doctoral academic studies of the three-year Environmental Protection study program include a total of 14 subjects, namely: 10 compulsory subjects and 4 electives that are chosen from the 8 subjects offered. Out of 10 compulsory subjects, 5 are related to study research work and preparation and defense of a doctoral dissertation, in which all teachers participate. The curriculum and program of doctoral studies of the Environmental Protection study program consists of one-semester courses that carry the appropriate number of ECTS points, according to the scope of activities, the complexity of the course, the level of education and other relevant conditions. The structure of the program ensures that students acquire 60 ESPB points in each year of study (a total of 180 points during the entire study program with the preparation of a doctoral dissertation).

Elective subjects are represented by 55,561 TP3T ECTS out of a total of 180 ECTS.

The study program is completed in the course of six semesters according to the curriculum and with a defined description of each subject, number of ESPB points, teacher's name, course objective with expected outcomes, subject content, teaching method, recommended literature, number of hours of active teaching, method of checking knowledge and evaluations and other important data.

Within the study program of doctoral studies Environmental Protection, in the first year of study, students take two compulsory courses and four electives. In the second year, students master five compulsory subjects, two of which relate to the publication of works - SIR and the theoretical foundations of SIR. In the third year, students engage in study and research work and the final preparation of a doctoral dissertation. Study research work 1 and 2 is exclusively in the function of providing prerequisites and training for the preparation of a doctoral dissertation, as well as the preparation of the doctoral dissertation itself. Doctoral studies last 3 (three) study years (6 semesters).

Active teaching consists of lectures and study research work through which the student is trained to approach the preparation of a doctoral dissertation. A student can choose any subject from the attached list of optional subjects, provided that the chosen subject contributes to his education for obtaining an academic title and prerequisites for performing the tasks for which he is directed. In this sense, at the beginning of doctoral studies, the student is assigned as an advisor one of the teachers involved in the implementation of the given study program, who has the task of guiding the student and helping him in choosing a subject. The advisor does not necessarily have to be the student's mentor when preparing the doctoral dissertation.

If a student has not mastered the course Methods of scientific and research work during his previous schooling, he is obliged to pass that course as part of his doctoral studies, and those points are not counted in the total score of the ECSC, but it is a condition for starting the preparation of a doctoral dissertation .

A doctoral dissertation is an independent original scientific work of a doctoral student on a study program Environmental Protection. For the purpose of scientific verification of research results during the preparation of the doctoral dissertation, the candidate should publish or have accepted for publication at least one scientific paper in an international journal from the SCI list in the field of thesis, rank M21, M22, M23, in which he is the first author from a narrower scientific field - environmental protection sciences.

The purpose of the study program of doctoral studies - Environmental protection is the high-quality education of students for the successful performance of academic and professional work in the field of environmental protection, which will have a leading role in the scientific field - environmental science, with the application and development of modern scientific approaches, and with the aim of improving the quality of the environment and gaining improved methods and solutions in the domain of scientific and applied projects from these areas that contribute to the critical evaluation of existing systems and decision-making regarding the implementation of measures for their improvement and innovation and general development of society.

Students in this study program acquire all the necessary competencies for higher educational profiles in the field of environmental sciences. Students acquire a high level of knowledge and understanding, receive an incentive for independent scientific and research work, creativity and development and application of original ideas in practice, which qualifies them for scientific and research work in the field of environmental protection, publication of works in scientific journals, active participation in scientific conferences, involvement in scientific research projects, etc. Through the synthesis of the fundamental principles of environmental science and the implementation of modern methods and approaches in the development of environmental protection, students take an active part in meeting the needs of current and future generations in the protection and improvement of the environment.

The goals of the study program are to educate DOCTOR OF SCIENCE - ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES which one:

1. possess a high-quality education for the successful performance of academic and professional work in the field of environmental protection, with which they will assume a leading role in this field,
2. possess sufficient knowledge about advanced methods of analysis, modeling and simulations in environmental protection, principles of physical and chemical procedures of water treatment, modern methodologies in waste management and special waste streams, new ecoremediation techniques, the most modern principles in the field of renewable energy sources, current knowledge about the impact projects and technological systems on the environment, assessment of the impact of different types of traffic and multimodal traffic with an adequate response to those impacts in order to protect all aspects of the environment, risk assessment and planning, design and management of environmental protection systems and how to in the process of environmental protection include social, political, economic aspects
3. they are qualified for highly specialized and scientific research work, for original and independent research, published in scientific journals on the SCI list, relevant to the scientific field - environmental protection science.
4. they are trained to work in a team, in the context of larger projects,
5. are able to present information, ideas, problems and solutions both to experts in the subject area and to those who do not have specialties related to the area of presentation,
6. are aware of how their profession can influence in the context of ethical, aesthetic, social, economic and safety issues,
7. are qualified for further learning with the aim of training in an academic and/or professional sense,
8. understand the limited scope of acquired knowledge and have a need for further and permanent training,
9. able to communicate with local and foreign experts from their own and other fields, using professional terminology.

The main goal of the doctoral studies of the study program Environmental Protection at the University "Union - Nikola Tesla", Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Protection, is the education of personnel with high general scientific ability in the educational-scientific field of natural and mathematical sciences, and the scientific field - environmental protection science, who have mastered during their doctoral studies specific research methods, developed creativity in approaching and solving complex tasks in environmental protection and mastered various practical skills for the realization of scientific and research projects, with the aim of obtaining an academic title - DOCTOR OF SCIENCE - ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES.

DOCTOR OF SCIENCE - ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES is trained to possess the following competencies:

1. management of the research team, education in higher education institutions;
2. management of companies, state and local administrations and agencies in the field of environmental protection;
3. expert analysis of problems in the area of environmental protection and finding adequate solutions,
4. participation in the team for designing the environmental protection system, individual components and processes that achieve the goals of environmental protection and improvement;
5. leading or participating in scientific-research and applied eco-projects;
6. work in a multidisciplinary team, which deals with problems in the environment.

A student who has mastered all subjects from the study program and is qualified for independent or team scientific-research work that includes analysis, development and improvement of environmental protection.