MEYS – Announcement of the 10th European Interest Group Joint Call on SOLUTIONS FOR CARBON-NEUTRAL CITIES with Japan

The 10th Joint Call focuses on finding solutions for carbon neutral cities and is divided into three key sub-topics:

• Sustainable Smart Urban Mobility
• Improving Water, Soil and Air Quality in Carbon-Neutral Cities
• Efficient Waste Management

To participate in the call, you must be working on a research topic related to at least one of the three sub-topics listed. Proposals that combine multiple themes in an innovative way are welcome. The 10th joint call was announced on Tuesday 23 May 2023 on this website with a deadline of Monday 1 August 2023 at 10:00 and the announcement of the results in December 2023. Faculty deadline: 25 July 2023 (green request form "košilka" + Brief project information, if the final proposal is not ready). Further information can be found on the DPS website or on the webiste of MEYS. Please, report any project submissions in advance to tea.pokorna@upol.cz.

MEYS – Joint Programming Initiative “Cultural Heritage and Global Change” (JPI CH) – Call 2023 – “Climate & Cultural Heritage (CCH) 2023 Collaborative Research Action (CRA)”

The aim of this call is to promote transdisciplinary and convergent approaches to research on cultural heritage and climate change, to foster collaboration between the research community in several regions, and to contribute to knowledge development and policy change at the global level. Applicants are invited to submit research proposals that address at least one of the three themes of the call:

• The impact of climate change on cultural heritage;
• Cultural heritage as a resource for climate change mitigation and adaptation;
• Sustainable solutions for cultural heritage.

The full text of this call, including the list of participating countries, funding organisations, timeline, definition of key objectives, supported areas and expected impacts can be found here. Faculty deadline: 4 September 2023. More information can be found on the DPS website.

HORIZON EUROPE – MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (European/Global)

Under the Marie Curie-Skłodowska Actions of the Horizon Europe programme, the European Commission funds research and innovation projects to support the careers of top researchers through mobility and innovative postdoctoral training. The aim is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of PhD researchers who want to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral mobility.

The call for MSCA PF 2023 applications will be open: April 12, 2023 – September 13, 2023.

• 2 types of MSCA: European Fellowship (EU countries + associated countries, 12-24 months) and Global Fellowship (12-24 months + 12 months return part in EU + associated countries)
• PF conditions: min. Ph.D., you can apply max. 8 years after Ph.D. defense (extended by maternity leave)
• Funding: from HE (project evaluation above 93%), from ERA Fellowships (above 91% of project evaluation), from OP JAK – MSCA (70-90% of project evaluation; 5% co-financing from the department)

In case of interest, please, contact Ing. Tea Pokorná (tea.pokorna@upol.cz).

Czech Head

Czech Head (Česká hlava) PROJECT together with the Czech Head Foundation and the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic traditionally announces the 22nd annual Czech Head competition for Czech scientists, engineers and talented university students. The winners are decided on the basis of nominations by an independent jury composed of representatives of universities, the Academy of Sciences and experts from practice. The awards are presented to the winners at a gala evening broadcast by Czech Television in prime time. Details can be found on the website. The deadline for nominations is 14 July 2023. For nomination conditions, please see the APPENDIX.

„Sandwich“ Doctoral Scholarship

Bar-Ilan University invites high-achieving doctoral students from universities around the world to apply to the Sandwich Program, which offers up to six months of research in Israel. Details on eligibility and supporting documents can be found here. Application form is available on this website. Applications must be received by 31 July 2023.

Preparation and reporting of mobilities

All students going on study stays and internships abroad must inform the international section of the Student Affairs Office of the Faculty of Science UP about their intention to go and the beginning and end of their trip. We also ask all lecturers, who intend to go abroad within the Erasmus+ programme, to contact the international section of the Student Affairs Office of the Faculty of Science first

Information about foreign students who will come for an internship and about foreign experts who will come as part of Erasmus+ must be sent to the international office in advance by the department to which they are to come.

Contact: Dana Gronychová (dana.gronychova@upol.cz).

The regular meeting of the Academic Senate FS UP will take place on 28 June 2023 at 13:00 in the meeting room of the Dean's Office. Detailed information and materials are be available on the senate website (in Czech).

Summer office hours of the Student Affairs Office

Student Affairs Office of the Faculty of Science will be closed during the following dates: 3 to 7 July, 31 July to 4 August.

During other days in July and August:

From 28 August to 1 September the office will be open only to students who will be enrolled in the 1st year.

Doctoral student evaluations
Students of doctoral study programmes should submit their evaluation for academic year 2022/2023 by 30 June 2023. The evaluation has to be signed by the student as well as the supervisor and the chairman of the Subject-Area Board of the student’s study programme. It has to include a written assessment of the supervisor as to whether or not he/she recommends the student's advancement to the next year. Even after submitting the evaluation, the student can complete the courses he/she has enrolled at in STAG until 6 September 2023. After 6 September a check will be made on the fulfilment of the conditions for advancement to the next year.
Students of the fourth and higher years, together with the evaluation, submit a request for the extension of studies. Similarly to the evaluation, the request must also include the supervisor’s statement and three signatures (student, supervisor, chairman of the Subject-Area Board).

Dean's Award to the Academic Staff of the Faculty of Science

The Dean of the Faculty of Science, Martin Kubala, announced the next year of the Dean's Award to the Academic Staff of the Faculty of Science for the year 2022/2023.

This award is given by the dean to employees for outstanding teaching activities, and it is standardly given to five employees – one from each of the five fields of study at the Faculty of Science UP (Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Ecology and Earth Sciences).

• The Dean's Award can only be received by an employee of the Faculty of Science UP who taught an average of at least two contact teaching hours per week in the previous academic year.
• Students of third and higher years of Bachelor study and students of the Master study can vote for their favourite teacher. Each student can nominate up to three teachers, who will be assigned votes with a weight of 1,0, 0,7 and 0,5, respectively.
• The prize will be awarded to the teacher who receives the highest number of votes. In the event of a tie, two prizes may be awarded in each of the above mentioned fields.

Students can vote electronically on this website until 30 September 2023. Logging in is the same as in the Portal, but further voting is anonymous.

Evaluation of courses

With the end of the semester, we would like to ask you to share your views on teaching anonymously.

Take part in traditional student evaluations! Completing of the online questionnaire will take you only a few minutes and you can use it to influence the form of study programmes and courses in the future. The evaluation is carried out in an electronic form and you can evaluate until 7 September 2023.

Extraordinary scholarships for doctoral students for publishing activities

In 2023, the UP Faculty of Science will award one-time extraordinary scholarships to authors of prestigious publications from among the doctoral students studying in the regular period of study (i.e. students of 1st to 4th year). An extraordinary scholarship for publishing activity will be awarded to doctoral students who, in 2023, report a publication as the first or corresponding author with an affiliation to the Faculty of Science, UP, in a journal registered in the first or second quartile of a given subject category (Q1 or Q2 in Subject Category, SC) according to Journal Citation Reports ©. If a journal falls into more than one SC, the SC with the highest percentile will be counted. The publication must have a publication year of 2023 or be accepted for printing before submitting the application. An author can be awarded a scholarship only once for a specific publication. One author may apply for a scholarship for more than one publication.

The printed applications for scholarships (use the general request form) should be submitted to your student affairs officer no later than 15 November 2023. Scholarships will be paid out in one lump sum on the following payment date. The amount of the scholarship will depend on the number of applications received and the percentile of the journal's ranking in SC.

The scholarship application should contain:

• the student's name and surname
• e-mail address
• study programme and year of study
• the name, surname and e-mail address of the supervisor, the consent and signature of the supervisor if necessary
• a full citation, including the DOI, the publication that is subject of the request
• confirmation of acceptance for printing in the case of publications in print
• printed full text (Pre-proof) of the publication.

SHE STEM Award

The SHE STEM Awards highlight the achievements of female students in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) where women are still severly underrepresented. The winner will receive expert advice, establish valuable contacts and have the opportunity to present her work at a prestigious European conference. The applications for the next year of the SHE STEM AWARD competition are already open. Female students of technical fields can submit their undergraduate theses until 30 September 2023.

State doctoral examination and dissertation defense

When submitting your dissertation or application for the state doctoral examination, adhere to the requirements and deadlines listed on the website in the section for Doctoral Study. Keep in mind that it needs to be done at least 3 months in advance.

Foreign prospective students

The second round of admissions is currently in progress, from 1 June to 15 August. The general information for applicants can be found at this website.

Foreign PhD students

The foreign doctoral students agenda is now completely in charge of Mrs. Waleria Słowiková (waleria.slowikova@upol.cz) from the international section of the Student Affairs Office. Other English study programmes (Bachelor and Master) as well as foreign internships and mobilities (i.a. within the Erasmus+) fall within the competence of Mrs. Dana Gronychová (dana.gronychova@upol.cz).

Online confirmation of study

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

Traffic restrictions in the Holice area

Due to the further progress of the construction of the hot water pipeline, there will be significant traffic and parking restrictions in the Holice area from 6 July 2023. As of this date, there will be a prohibition of access to the part of the campus adjacent to buildings 47, 53 and the VTP UP buildings. Parking will also not be allowed in this area and on the main campus road between the gatehouse and the canteen, in order to maintain the passage for the integrated rescue system and supplies. The construction areas will be bordered by barriers and pedestrian passage between the buildings will be ensured in the created corridors.

We ask all staff, students and visitors to the campus to strictly observe the traffic signs on the campus, observe the no trespassing signs and exercise extra caution. Please note that the construction contractor will be using the entrance to the site from Technologická Street from VTP UP, so for safety and traffic flow reasons, please use the entrances to the site from Šlechtitelů Street.

In cooperation with the investor and the contractor of the hot water pipeline construction, in the last week of June an extended parking lot behind the gatehouse will be prepared with sufficient capacity for all vehicles of the campus employees. Please give priority use of this parking lot. Construction is expected to be completed in late August or early September. Situation picture here.

Traffic restrictions on Šlechtitelů Street

The existing traffic restriction on Šlechtitelů Street will be extended in August due to the reconstruction of the asphalt road surface in the section between the intersection with Holická Street to the bus turntable in front of the Holice area. This is a section of 760 metres and the work will be carried out under full closure from 5 to 18 August 2023, split into three sections. Detailed information will be sent out by mass email after the conclusion of the negotiations on this matter at Olomouc City Hall. We assume that during the implementation of the section in front of our premises, only the entrance from the VÚRV towards the F2 building will be used.

Change of opening hours from 1 July to 31 August 2023:

Dean's Office

Working days from 7:30 to 15:00.

File service

Holiday office hours from 3 July to 3 September 2023.

Holiday operation on the SLO building

From 3 July to 3 September 2023 the building is open from 7:00 to 15:30.

Holiday operation on the VLD building

From 3 July to 3 September 2023 the building is open from 7:00 to 15:00.
On Friday 7 July 2023 the VLD building will be closed, entry by card only.

Summer opening hours of faculty libraries

The Library of the Faculty of Science Envelopa:
CLOSED 30 June – 7 July 2023
CLOSED 14 August – 18 August 2023

The Library of the Faculty of Science Holice:
CLOSED 30 June – 14 July 2023
CLOSED 14 August – 18 August 2023

Detailed schedule can be found here.

University beach chairs

Relaxation and peace not only by the sea, but also on the terraces of the Faculty of Science! University beach chairs are available not only at the Armoury, but also at the UP Library at the Faculty of Science in Envelopa campus. You can borrow them on the 6th floor free of charge during the library's opening hours upon presentation of a student identification card, ISIC card or UP employee card. The nearby terraces provide wonderful views of the city.

Palacký University – 450 years

On the website of the 450th anniversary of Palacký University can be found an overview of the nearest events related to the celebrations.

The next faculty Newsletter will be published on Monday, 11 September 2023.