Dear students,

Last autumn, we were honored by your proposal to run for the position of student rights defender of the Faculty of Science. The Academic Senate later elected us, and on December 15, we took the office of ombudsman. At the moment, it is very difficult to estimate what spectrum of initiatives we will address in the coming period. However, we would like to assure you that we will deal with every problem that you will not be able to solve in the standard way within your department or through the faculty management.

For these cases, you can contact us in person or via the contact details on the following website. There are also links to materials and resources related to our activities.

In resolving potential conflicts, we will act impartially, with maximum effort to objectively assess the matter on which we will receive input from students. We are also bound by the confidentiality of the findings. Especially in cases where this information could contribute to the identification of individuals who will testify in the cases discussed. The ombudsman addressed by the student (woman or man from our couple) will always proceed with the student's consent when resolving problems and will continuously consult the course of resolving the case. It is necessary to realize that our competence is primarily connected with the role of mediators who do not have decision-making power. However, we can contribute to a satisfactory resolution of cases before they escalate into a conflict situation.

Taťjana Nevěčná and Roman Kubínek

Student rights defenders

Entering results into OBD

Decisive data for the division of the contribution for the development of the research organization onto the faculty workplaces for 2022 in the OBD database can be entered only until February 15 by 24:00. The results entered later will not be taken into account when creating the budget for 2022. The results must be entered continuously and carefully (e.g. the surnames of the Czech co-authors should be stated with diacritics together with the first name, link to the full text of the article must be provided and not just an abstract etc.). The completeness and accuracy of the records in the RIV is reflected in the image of the entire university.

Project contracts and amendments – records in CES

We would like to inform all employees of the Faculty of Science UP who are the Submitters (main solvers or co-solvers) of the contract for projects implemented within the UP that all contracts and amendments with domestic or foreign organizations must be provided for administration at the faculty’s Department of Project Support. Keeping records of contracts at UP is binding and is regulated by the Rector's Directive B3-17/5-SR (in Czech). According to the directive, each submitter of the contract is obliged to forward the information about the contract to the ‘key user’ who enters the contract or amendment into the CES platform. Contracts and amendments on the provision of subsidies must be published through the Register of Contracts of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic. According to the Act on the Register of Contracts, the deadline for sending the contract to the Register is a maximum of 30 days from the conclusion of the contract, i.e. from the later date stated in the signature in the contract. Furthermore, if the contract or amendment is not published in the Register within three months from the date of the last signature, the contract or amendment loses its validity.

The key user responsible for registering project contracts and amendments at the Faculty of Science is Mgr. Silvie Šavrňáková (silvie.savrnakova@upol.cz), tel.: 585 634 011. See the project administration manual at https://www.prf.upol.cz/zamestnanci/projekty/ (in Czech).

MŽP – grant calls 2022

Ministry of the Environment (MŽP) addresses all its research needs through:
I. TAČR (e.g. the Environment for Life program), the announcement of a public tender is planned for April 2022.
II. EEA and Norway Grants.

At the end of the 1st quarter of 2022, 2 calls are expected to be announced:
1) Air quality monitoring with a focus on local heating with the possibility of using sensor measurement
2) Acquisition of infrastructure for water quality monitoring (focused on substances on the priority list of the European Commission - micropollutants only)

At the end of the 2nd quarter, another two calls will be announced, which will follow up on previous calls and will focus on the implementation of specific measures:
1) Implementation of adaptation measures resulting from adaptation strategies
2) Action plans and implementation of measures resulting from call No. 2A "Tromso"

The announced calls will be published on this website (in Czech). Queries may be addressed to Mgr. Silvie Šavrňáková (silvie.savrnakova@upol.cz).

Projects on the faculty website

The "Projects" section (available only in Czech) is newly located directly on the main faculty website https://www.prf.upol.cz, and not under "Employees" at https://www.prf.upol.cz/zamestnanci/projekty/. Queries may be addressed to the Department of Project Support.

Chance for unsuccessful applicants for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships and MSCA COFUND:

OP JAK will support their quality projects

At the beginning of January MEYS published a preliminary schedule of calls (in Czech) for the Jan Amos Komenský Operational Program on the OP JAK website. In Priority 1 "Research and Development", two calls for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions are relevant:

• International Mobility of Researchers - MSCA Fellowships: Support of the projects that have succeeded in the evaluation of Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020, but could not be funded due to limited financial allocation is expected.
• MSCA COFUND CZ: The support of MSCA COFUND projects, which were submitted to the call HORIZON-MSCA-2021-COFUND-01-01 and which succeeded in the evaluation of the Horizon Europe program and received the Seal of Excellence is expected.

The announcement of calls is subject to the approval of the Operational Program by the European Commission, which should take place in April 2022. Both calls will be presented at the National Information Day on MSCA in March 2022 organized by the Technology Centre CAS.

New calls of Horizon Europe - research infrastructures

On January 20, new calls for proposals in the field of Research Infrastructure opened. The deadline for submitting proposals is April 20, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. An overview of calls can be found on the Horizon Europe portal (https://www.horizontevropa.cz/en) in the "Calls" section, a link to the European portal for financial opportunities and public procurement can be found here.

SENDING JANUARY REPORTS TO PROVIDERS (GA CR, TA CR, MZE, MŠMT and AZV)

The Department of Project Support (DPS) asks the project solvers at the Faculty of Science to send January reports (interim or final) to the relevant DPS officer no later than January 26, 2022, so that all reports can be sent by data box to providers (GA CR, TA CR, MZE, MŠMT and AZV and others) by the end of January 2022. If the university is the main solver, the solver will send a report and other requisites to the relevant DPS officer, who will ensure the sending by the data box. If the university is a co-solver, the co-solver has to agree with the main solver (contractual partner) on the submission of the report to the provider, as the main solver is responsible for submitting the interim or final report. Queries may be addressed to the DPS. Assuming that the project is led by Project Service UP, contact their officer.

MŠMT - JOINT TRANSNATIONAL CALL 2022

In 2017, the Czech Republic joined the initiative in the field of rare diseases within the ERA-Net for Research Programs on Rare Diseases (2014-2019) and subsequently in the EUROPEAN JOINT PROGRAM ON RARE DISEASES program. In this context, another JTC 2022 call will be launched in the format of the European Joint Program on Rare Diseases (EJP RD) entitled "Development of new analytical tools and pathways to accelerate diagnosis and diagnostic diagnostic monitoring of rare diseases".

The deadline for the submission of "Pre-proposals" is set for February 16, 2022 (faculty deadline: February 10, 2022).

The deadline for the submission of „Full Project Proposals“ is set for the end of April 2022.

The full text of this call, including the list of participating countries, funding organizations, timetable, definition of key objectives, areas supported and expected impacts, can be found at https://www.ejprarediseases.org/joint-transnational-call-2022/. In case of interest, contact Ing. Tea Pokorná (tea.pokorna@upol.cz).

MŠMT - FIVE DIOSCURI CENTRES OF SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE in the Czech Republic

Following the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Dioscuri program, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT) plans to invite Czech research organizations in mid-December this year to apply as potential host institutions for the first call for Dioscuri centres in the Czech Republic. During this registration period (until March 10, 2022), webinars will be offered to inform interested research organizations about the program and the application process. Any public research organization willing to set up and host a Dioscuri Center (DC) can apply as a potential host institution according to the terms of the call. All eligible registrations will then be included in the "List of Potential Host Institutions" under the first call for Dioscuri Centres in the Czech Republic, which is scheduled for publication on March 31, 2022. More information can be found on the Projects website (in Czech).

INTERREG EUROPE – INFODAY

The INTERREG EUROPE program enables cooperation of partners from all 27 EU countries, Switzerland and Norway. The program aims to improve the implementation of regional development policies (from innovation, technology and SME support, environmental protection, transport, social issues to cultural heritage), through the exchange, sharing and transfer of experience and good practice between partners. The program supports soft projects that allow, in justified cases, the implementation of pilot activities (limited investment). It is therefore not a research or investment program.

An online seminar on the Interreg Europe interregional cooperation program, organized by the Ministry of Regional Development and the Interreg Europe Secretariat, will take place on February 10, 2022 from 10:00 to 12:30. The seminar will introduce you to the form of the Interreg Europe program for the period 2021 – 2027. The seminar will introduce the key features of this program, thematic focus, supported activities, eligible applicants, co-financing and the schedule for announcing the first call.

In case of interest, register by February 3, 2022 at: pavel.lukes@mmr.cz (questions sent to the email will be answered during the seminar).

Scholarship Program of the German Federal Environmental Foundation for Central and Eastern Europe (MOE-Austauschstipendienprogramm der DBU)

Every year, the German Federal Environmental Foundation - DBU (www.dbu.de) awards scholarships for qualified university graduates in Central and Eastern Europe that are focused on studying various areas of environmental design and protection. From 2020, the application can be submitted in two terms – always on September 5 and March 5. To ensure the required level of knowledge of the German language, the scholarship stay begins with a 4-week intensive language course provided by the DBU and takes place in small international groups in Osnabrück. Scholarship amount: 1250 € per month. Current dates, information and forms can be found here.

The meeting of the Academic Senate FS UP will take place on February 2, 2022 at 13:00 in the big meeting room at the Dean’s Office. Detailed information and materials are published on the senate website (in Czech).

Fischer scholarship holder's seminar

Vice-Dean for International Relations prof. Dušek, cordially invites you to the seminar for Fischer scholars. The event will be held on Tuesday, February 8, at 9:00 a.m. in the Big Conference Room, Dean's Office (room 6.014) on the 6^th floor of the Faculty of Science. The attendance of the Fischer scholarship holders and their supervisors is requested, however, all the other faculty employees and students are welcome too.

Evaluation of courses

Give us feedback for the winter semester! One of the main tools for evaluating the quality of the educational process is the evaluation of courses. Until February 14, 2022, it is possible to evaluate the quality of teaching at www.eval.upol.cz and thus give feedback to the teacher, the head of the department and the management of the faculty. They all can continuously improve the quality of teaching thanks to the information obtained during the evaluation. Feedback is important not only for improving pedagogical activities, but also contributes to open communication at the faculty and to improving education.

Registration of courses for summer semester 2021/2022

Registration of courses for the summer semester of the academic year 2021/2022 for Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral study programmes for students of the Faculty of Science takes place from January 18 to February 21, 2022. Go to Portal – STAG – My study – Pre-registration. Detailed schedule for the registration is available on this website.

Plans of study for academic year 2021/2022

The lists of courses (plans of study) for the academic year 2021/2022 can be found on the faculty websites.

Online confirmation of study

You can print your confirmation of study online directly from your Portal.

Via Chimica Prize

Sometimes, a world-changing discovery can be down to just one university student. This is one of the reasons why the Via Chimica Prize came into existence. The Prize is awarded to talented Czech chemistry students by the Experientia Foundation in cooperation with the Learned Society of the Czech Republic. Students enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree program in the Czech Republic and have created an original work in the field of chemistry can enter the competition. The deadline for submitting applications is on January 31, 2022. The winner of the Via Chimica Prize, who will be selected by a joint review committee of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic and the Experientia Foundation, will receive a personal award of CZK 50,000 from the Experientia Foundation. More on the Via Chimica Prize can be found here.

Bike to work

Together with the Sustainable University try getting to work without a car even in winter. Ride a bike, scooter, skates, wheelchair or longboard, walk or run as part of this week's January Challenge. It takes place from January 24 to 30, 2022. By participating, you will automatically participate in the competition in the 'regularity' category. In addition, the routes you take will be used as a basis for urban traffic analysis in order to improve cycling infrastructure.

Faculty contest in blood donation

Until February 21, 2022, you can take part in the second annual Roll up your sleeves! contest in free blood donation. Come and donate blood or blood plasma at any blood donation point in the country and support a good cause and inter-faculty competitive spirit. The contest is mainly about the total volume of blood donated by students and employees of individual faculties and the percentage of donors among students. It is easy to join. After donating blood, you fill in a form, have it validated at the selected blood collection point and then drop it into the collection box. The contest of the faculties will last the entire winter semester, culminating during the traditional Donate Blood with the Rector event, which is an integral part of the UP Academic Days in February. More information here and on the website https://daruj.upol.cz/en/. The contest is organized by the Student Association of the UP Faculty of Physical Education in cooperation with the UP Communications Office and the Transfusion Department of the University Hospital Olomouc.

The next faculty Newsletter will be published on Monday, February 7, 2022.