According to Article 12 of the Law "On Education" of September 23, 2020, doctoral studies (basic doctoral studies) are postgraduate education.

Appendix No. 2 to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated May 22, 2017 No. 304 "On Postgraduate Education" defines the procedure for organizing and studying at the Institute of Postgraduate Education.

According to Article 42 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, everyone has the right to decent work, free choice of profession and type of activity.

According to Article 5 of the Labor Code, freedom of labor means the right of everyone to dispose of their abilities to work, to exercise them in any form not prohibited by law, to freely choose the type of occupation, profession and specialty, place of work and working conditions.

As follows from the foregoing, everyone has the right to work, including a doctoral candidate, a person admitted in the prescribed manner to a scientific organization or educational institution for basic doctoral studies or doctoral studies.

According to Article 186 of the Labor Code , by agreement of the parties to the employment contract, the employee may be assigned part-time work (part-time work (shift) and (or) part-time work week, including in parts of the working day) upon hiring and subsequently. Part-time work can be established both without a time limit and for any period agreed upon by the parties to the employment contract.

Based on this, it can be concluded that a doctoral candidate can work part-time (0.5 hours) without any restrictions in their free time from studies. There is no requirement in any regulatory legal act or norm that "doctoral students should not work at 0.5 positions."