Dear colleagues, dear students,

we stand at the beginning of another semester, and I hope that you have enjoyed your time off during the summer holidays and that you are ready to start the new semester full of strength and enthusiasm. I especially welcome first-time students who are still exploring the Faculty. I wish them not only great learning results, but also lots of great experiences that they will remember for life.
I am glad to be able to share some good news with you at the very beginning of the semester. The number of students interested in attending our faculty has not decreased despite the lower number of high-school graduates. There are 1425 students enrolled in the first year, which is only a few dozen less than a year ago. There are 1046 first-year students in Bachelor programs in both forms, compared to last year´s 1105. We have experienced a slight decline in the number of enrolled Ph.D. students, on the other hand, the number of students in the first year of follow-up Master study has increased. The stable interest of applicants and the number of enrolled students is all the more gratifying given the fact that we have made the rules for admission in some disciplines even stricter. I believe this is another step in the right direction in order to raise the quality of our students.
Several investment events took place during the holidays, some of which will continue. They have brought about some technical complications both in the main building and on campus in Holice. I would like to ask you for your patience and assure you that we are doing everything we can to minimize the impact on day-to-day operation. On the other hand, we may enjoy the fact that we have been successful in acquiring project support, and we can therefore continue to develop the Faculty. We will be rewarded with more modern infrastructure, training facilities, and better work conditions. We will inform you about the latest developments connected to these projects on the Faculty website and Facebook page.

Once again I wish a successful academic year and I look forward to our working together!

Ivo Frébort
Dean

Honorable mention of the Rector of UP to authors of scientific books 2017
In order to increase the prestige of research work, the Rector grants an honorable mention to authors of scientific books to the University employees again this year. All employees of UP including the author himself may submit a proposal by sending the book and covering letter to the faculty Science and Research Department. Publications aimed at wider public, textbooks and study materials are explicitly excluded from the list of proposed publications. The deadline for submitting proposals is September 29. Detailed information including the covering letter template may be found here.

Dean´s Award 2017
In order to enter the competition, please deliver a written proposal together with a copy of the scientific publication through the Head of your department to Michaela Kratochvílová at Department of Science and Research by October 31. If more authors qualify for the award, please specify the proposed candidate. The competition is open to authors of prestigious scientific publications published in the journals with impact factor, whose value is in the top ten percent of magazines from the same sector category (subject class on the Web of Science) as the magazine, in which the publication was published. Publications published in the year 2016 may also be submitted to the competition apart from those, which were submitted last year already. Award can be granted only to faculty employees, who are the first or primary (corresponding) authors of the publication and have stated our faculty as their main workplace in affiliations.

Dean´s Award for excellent teachers
Based on nominations of VPRO members, written proposals for the award along with reasoning shall be submitted by the chairmen of VPRO to Vice-Dean for external cooperation by October 31. A committee consisting of Vice-Deans shall assess the compliance with the requirements and submit suggestions of the award candidates to the Dean. The substantiated decision of the Dean shall be published.
An eligible candidate for the award is an employee of the Faculty of Science with at least 0,5 working time teaching  at least 6 hours per week including one lecture per week in summer and winter semester, or this condition has been fulfilled in the preceding calendar year.

Information about upcoming deadlines of Fulbright Scholarship Programs
The Fulbright Specialist Program will enable Czech universities and research centers to invite experts from the US to their workplaces for 2-6 week stay. The deadline for submitting applications is October 1.

Applications to the Fulbright Core Program shall be submitted by November 1. This scholarship supports visits of Czech scientists and academics in the United States to lecture or carry out research in any field except for clinical medicine. The same deadline applies for submission of applications for the Fulbright-Masaryk Program for postdoctoral and senior category. This scholarship supports outstanding experts in their scientific field who are also active in public life of their institutions or communities.

Based on the Inter-Country Travel Grant you may also invite Fulbright scholarship participants operating in Europe and the Czech Republic to your conferences, lectures and workshops.

Martina Roesel Memorial Grant will support young scientists - parents
Students of doctoral study programs and postdocs who take care of a preschool child or children and are actively engaged in scientific work in the field of natural science may apply for financial support of their research activities in 2018. Marie Roesel Foundation will provide successful candidates with a yearly contribution amounting CZK 120000. Applications shall be submitted by September 30. More information is available here. 

• Curriculum for the academic year 2017/2018 is available on the website of the faculty.
  

• Course registration for winter semester
  We would like to inform students that the pre-registration of courses is possible until September 24.

• We kindly request students who want to apply for credit recognition for courses from previous studies to fill in the relevant application and submit the document including the list of accomplished courses, the approval of the teacher and the guarantor of the course to the Department of Studies by October 27.

• First year students´ matriculations will be held at the Stronghold of Knowledge on October 4 and 5. Further information is available here.

• Graduation Ceremony
  We kindly ask students who completed their studies by taking a state final exam in August or September and wish to participate in graduation ceremony on November 10 and 11 to confirm their presence by sending an email to the relevant person at Department of Study. Payment instructions are available on the website of the Faculty where also graduation schedule will be posted at the end of October. 

• The first year students of Doctoral study programs are obliged to deliver their learning plans and specification of their dissertation theses signed by the student, their tutor and the chairman of the relevant scientific board. The specification of dissertation theses shall be recorded to Stag.

• Would you like to learn or improve Icelandic?
  The Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has updated an offer of scholarships suitable for eight-month study of modern Icelandic at the University of Iceland.
  Eligible candidates are students who have completed at least one year of study and have some knowledge of Icelandic or another Nordic language. Deadline for submission of applications is December 1. For further information please contact Karla Benešová, email: aia@dzs.cz.

• In connection with recent cases of theft and property damage in the buildings of our faculty, we kindly request our employees to lock their offices and common areas of their department and to close all windows as well before leaving the workplace.
  We would also like to ask our staff to pay close attention to the movement of strangers at the faculty premises. Builders who carry out construction work in Holice campus are not authorized to use toilets at faculty departments.

• Upgraded version of IS HAP
  Authors of the IS HAP information system for evaluation of academic employees´ job performance invite Heads of departments as well as scientific and academic staff to a practical training of use of highly upgraded version of the system. The training will take place at the Stronghold of Knowledge on September 25 from 2:00 p.m. to 3 p.m. It will be focused on this year´s development of the system, use of the system for internal evaluation and quality assurance at UP and there will be a practical demonstration of the system from both the position of the evaluated academic employee and the evaluator.

• English language courses for employees and Ph.D. students
  Department of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Science offers English courses for employees and Ph.D. students of the Faculty of Science in the winter semester 2017/18. The complete list of courses is available here.

• Advertising abroad at THE Unijobs
  The University has paid one year fee at THE Unijobs. Effective by the beginning of September it is possible to publish your advertisements there. If you are interested, please contact Zuzana Polanská, email: zuzana.polanska@upol.cz.

• Our faculty library has a new employee, Mrs. Katarzyna Anna Kvapilíková.

• The training for drivers of company vehicles will take place in the auditorium of the Faculty of Science, 17. listopadu street 12 on October 5 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The valid training is necessary for driving company vehicles and using private vehicles for business purposes. Employees who drive referential vehicles are required to attend this training one time every two years according to an internal regulation of UP. The next training will be held on in January or February 2018.
  We kindly request participants to leave their legibly written names, a respective department and their signature on the attendance list. Training will not be valid without the required information.

• The Accommodation and Dining management has opened a new bistro on the ground floor of the main faculty building. Students may use cash or their ISIC card to pay for refreshments; faculty staff may set up a bill using employee card as well. Unlike ISIC, it does not have to be topped up with credit in advance. However, it is not possible to pay by credit card.

• As of September 1, all faculties of UP, the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry excluding, has replaced traditional student credit books by their electronic version.

• The First Student Organization of the Faculty of Science POSPOL  welcomes all students in the new academic year hoping to be of any assistance in the beginning of the semester.
  We offer a unique opportunity to participate fully in life of the faculty. Would you like to help students, organize events or help with managing our organization? We are looking for reinforcements! Don´t hesitate and send us an e-mail at pospol@upol.cz or complete our online application! 

• Nature environmental revitalization of mining areas
  Department of Development and Environmental Studies cordially invites students to a seminar focused on Ecology of revitalization of degraded areas in practice in the context of applicable legislation (Amendment to the Agricultural Land Protection Act).  The seminar will take place in Konvikt theatre hall, Univerzitní street no.3 on October 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Come and experience lectures held by Czech leading experts in the field. The seminar is free of charge. For more information, please contact Ivo Machar, email: ivo.machar@upol.cz.

• Run with Kangaroo
  The Faculty of Science along with its partners cordially invites students and staff to participate in the 12^th Annual family Run with Kangaroo which will take part in U Travise pub, Olomouc-Hejčín on Saturday, September 23. Come, cheer, have fun, play sports and tease your brain. Further information and registration form is available here. 

As of July 17, 2017 the following provision of UP came into effect:
B3-17/5-SR - Central Register of UP Contracts and their publishing in the Central Register

As of July 26, 2017 the following provision of UP came into effect:
B3-17/4-SR - Supplement no. 2 to Regulations of creation and use of the UP Social Fund

As of August 8, 2017 the following provision of UP came into effect:
B3-17/6-SR - Distance education at UP    

As of August 18, 2017 the following provision of UP came into effect:
A-9/2017 - Constitution of the UP Board         

As of August 10, 2017 Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports registered the following provision:
A-17/6 - Order of normative procedures at UP which came into force on August 17, 2017

As of September 11, 2017 the following provision of UP came into effect:
B3-16/2-PK-N01 - Amendment no.1 of the Mandatory procedures for project leadership of the Operational program Research, Development and Education 

As of September 14, 2017 the following provisions of UP came into effect:
R-B-17/01 - Accommodation Scholarships at Palacký University Olomouc from October to December 2017
R-B-17/02 - Specific Social Scholarships at UP from September to December 2017