The Department of Political Science is staffed by a highly qualified academic team. All members hold doctoral degrees earned either at foreign universities or at leading domestic research institutes. The department currently has six faculty members. The team includes two full professors, three associate professors, and one assistant professor.
Because the department intentionally maintains a lower number of students, teaching takes place in an environment that supports direct and personal contact between teachers and students. This allows for closer mentoring, more individual feedback, and a study experience that encourages discussion and critical engagement.
Marcel Martinkovič, PhD
Head of the Department, Associate Professor (Theory of Democracy, Electoral System, Comparative Politics, History of Political Thought)
Professor Milan Katuninec, PhD
(History of Slovakia, Modern European History, Political Ethics)
Professor Vasyl Marchuk, PhD, DSc
(Comparative Politics, Political Development of Post-Soviet States, Political Analysis, Security Policy)
Yevheniy Haydanka, PhD
Associate Professor (Transitology, Regional Development, International Cooperation)
Pavol Krištof, PhD
Associate Professor (Theories of International Relations, Political Ideologies, 20th Century Political Philosophy)
Tomáš Jahelka, PhD
Assistant Professor (Slovak Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Politics and Religion)
Marcel Martinkovič, PhD
E-mail: marcel.martinkovic [at] truni.sk
Marcel Martinkovič was born on 8 July 1977 in Piešťany. He studied political science at the Faculty of Humanities of Trnava University, now the Faculty of Philosophy and Art, from 1997 to 2002. He completed his doctoral studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava from 2003 to 2007.
His dissertation focused on nationalism in the context of Slovak political thought in the second half of the nineteenth century. He was awarded the PhD degree in 2007 after defending his dissertation titled Political Thought of the New School. He has taught at the Department of Political Science since 2005 and has served as Head of the Department since 2013.
Selection of publications:
Monographies and collective monographies
Martinkovič, Marcel: Moral Aspects of Politics and their Relation to the Legitimacy of Liberal Democracies. In Milan Katuninec, Marcel Martinkovič (Eds.). Ethical and Social Aspects of Policy: Chapters on Selected Issues of Transformation. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH, 2016. - ISBN 978-3-631-67158-0. - ISSN 2195-1845. - s. 39-62.
Martinkovič, Marcel: Politické myslenie Novej školy: občiansko-národný program Slovenských novín. Bratislava: Filozofický ústav SAV, 2013. - 222 s. - ISBN 978-80-970494-7-8.
Martinkovič, Marcel (ed.): Idey a vývoj slovenského národotvorného myslenia v 19. storočí. Kraków: Towarzystwo Słowaków w Polsce, 2011. - 342 s. - ISBN 978-83-7490-430-8.
Zálešák, Tomáš – Krištof, Pavol – Martinkovič, Marcel: Politická filozofia a politická veda: výber aktuálnych problémov. Trnava: Filozofická fakulta Trnavskej univerzity v Trnave, 2007. - 152 s. - ISBN 978-80-8082-165-4.
Pavol Krištof, PhD
E-mail: pavol.kristof [at] truni.sk
Pavol Krištof (born 1975) studied political science at the Faculty of Humanities of Trnava University, now the Faculty of Philosophy and Art. He completed his doctoral studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in 2010. His research focused on Slovak nationalism in the second half of the nineteenth century and on the work of Jonáš Záborský.
Dr Krištof has worked at the Department of Political Science since 2002.
Professor Milan Katuninec, PhD
E-mail: milan.katuninec [at] truni.sk
Milan Katuninec (born 1960) is a professor specialising in Slovak history. He graduated in journalism from the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava in 1995. He completed postgraduate studies from 1995 to 1999 at the Department of Slovak History and Archiving at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University and at the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, focusing on Slovak history.
Professor Katuninec has worked at the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Philosophy and Art of Trnava University since 1998. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Art from 2016 to 2018.
Selection of publications:
Monographies and collective monographies:
Katuninec, Milan: A few Thoughts on the Relation between Ethics as a Doctrine of Morality and Politics as a Human Activity. In Milan Katuninec, Marcel Martinkovič (Eds.). Ethical and Social Aspects of Policy: Chapters on Selected Issues of Transformation. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH, 2016. ISBN 978-3-631-67158-0, ISSN 2195-1845, s. 9-37.
Katuninec, Milan: Zlyhania a nádeje demokracie v Európe. Kraków; Trnava: Towarzystwo Słowaków w Polsce, Filozofická fakulta Trnavskej univerzity, 2011. - 230 s. - ISBN 978-83-7490-435-3.
Katuninec, Milan: Fašizmus, národný socializmus a komunizmus: k ideovým zdrojom, praxi a možným rizikám návratu totalitarizmu - 2. uprav. vyd. - Bratislava: Veda, vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, 2010. - 449 s. - ISBN 978-80-224-1125-7.
Katuninec, Milan: Hodnotová demokracia a občianska zodpovednosť. Trnava: Dobrá kniha, 2007. - 107 s. - ISBN 978-80-7141-582-4.
Katuninec, Milan: Kresťanské robotnícke a odborové hnutie na Slovensku. Trnava: Filozofická fakulta Trnavskej univerzity, 2006. - 239 s. - ISBN 80-8082-055-4.
Kázmerová, Ľubica – Katuninec, Milan: Dilemy Karola Sidora. Bratislava: Kalligram, 2006. - 199 s. - ISBN 80-7149-873-4.
Katuninec, Milan: Dejiny Spolku sv. Vojtecha. Trnava: Filozofická fakulta Trnavskej univerzity v Trnave, 2004. - 190 s. - ISBN 80-89074-99-5.
Katuninec. Milan: Dejiny slovenského kresťanského odborového hnutia. Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Dobrá kniha pre Teologickú fakultu Trnavskej univerzity, 2001. - 164 s. - ISBN 80-7141-346-1.
Katuninec, Milan: Politické dejiny Nemecka (1871-2000). Trnava: Fakulta humanistiky Trnavskej univerzity, 2001. - 153 s. - ISBN 80-89074-04-9.
Professor Vasyl Marchuk, PhD, DSc
E-mail: vasyl.marchuk [at] truni.sk
Vasyl Marchuk (born 1961) has been a professor at the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Philosophy and Art at Trnava University since 2020. From 2005 to 2010, he served as Head of the Department of Political Science, and from 2010 to 2014 he worked as Vice Rector for External Relations at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
He studied at Ivan Ohienko Kamianets-Podilskyi National University and completed his doctoral studies at the M. P. Drahomanov National Pedagogical University in Kyiv. In 1996, he defended his doctoral dissertation (DSc) at the Institute for Political and Ethno-National Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv. In 2002, he completed his habilitation and was appointed Associate Professor at the Faculty of History and Political Science of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, where he obtained the academic title of Professor of Political Science in 2006.
Yevheniy Haydanka, PhD
E-mail: yevheniy.haydanka [at] truni.sk
Yevheniy Haydanka (born 1983) studied political science at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Uzhhorod National University from 2000 to 2005. During his doctoral studies, his dissertation project focused on democratic transitions in Central European countries. He completed his studies in 2012 by defending his dissertation at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, where he was awarded the PhD degree.
In 2009, he began working at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of Uzhhorod National University. In 2015, he obtained the academic title of Associate Professor in Political Science. He has been affiliated with the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Philosophy and Art of Trnava University since 2019. His current research focuses on decentralisation processes in public administration in the V4 countries.
Tomáš Jahelka, PhD
E-mail: tomas.jahelka [at] truni.sk
Tomáš Jahelka (born 1980) has worked as a secondary school teacher, in public administration, as an editor at Slovak Radio, and in social services with people experiencing homelessness. He graduated in Lutheran theology from the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava in 2003. He also graduated in political science from the Faculty of Philosophy and Art of Trnava University in 2008.
During his doctoral studies at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, supervised by Professor Jan Zouhar, his research focused on the figure of T. G. Masaryk. He has taught at the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Philosophy and Art of Trnava University since 2011.
Selection of publications:
Monographies a collective monographies
Jahelka, Tomáš - Katuninec, Milan - Krištof, Pavol - Kropaj, Marián: Niekoľko pohľadov na kresťanskú sociálnu etiku a jej vplyv na Slovensku. Trnava: Typy Universitatis Tyrnaviensis, 2016. - 261 s. - ISBN 978-80-8082-984-1
Jahelka, Tomáš: Masarykova filozofia na Slovensku: reflexia v prácach vybraných autorov v období 1918-1948. Trnava: Filozofická fakulta Trnavskej univerzity v Trnave, 2015. - 106 s. - ISBN 978-80-8082-856-1.