Scholarly Board

The meetings of the Scholarly Board of the Faculty of Science will take place on 15. May, 9. October and 4. December 2024.

Call for candidate nominations for the Government Prize for Talented Student

The prize is given to one student in each category:

• student of secondary and higher vocational school,
• student in a Bachelor's or Master's study programme,
• student in a doctoral study programme.

The prize is decided by the government on the proposal of the Council for Research, Development and Innovation. In each of the categories the laureate will receive a financial award of 50,000 CZK together with the prize. The Government Prize for Talented student can be awarded exclusively to recognise outstanding results in research, experimental development and innovation. It is therefore not, for example, an award for outstanding academic results. The government prize aims to motivate young people with an interest in science and can be an important stimulus for their future careers.

Proposals marked on the envelope No. 1069/2024-UVCR must be delivered no later than 31 March 2024 in paper form or electronically via data box to the following address: Council for Research, Development and Innovation, Department of Support to the Council for Research, Development and Innovation, Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, nábřeží Edvarda Beneše 4, 118 01 Prague 1, e-mail: rvv@vlada.cz.

Electronic submissions can be delivered via ISDS (data box) to the data box id of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic: trfaa33. The date of delivery of the proposal in paper form or electronically is decisive for the acceptance of the proposal.

TA ČR – Transport 2030 Programme: announcement of the 2nd public tender

The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport, has announced the 2nd public tender in the programme to support applied research and innovation in the field of transport – TRANSPORT 2030. The main objective of the programme is to develop the transport sector in a way that reflects societal needs, accelerates the technological and knowledge development of the Czech Republic and helps the growth of the Czech Republic's competitiveness. Faculty deadline: 17 April 2024. More information on the provider's website.

TA ČR – SIGMA Programme: Announcement of the 7th call for proposals – sub-objective 2, early researchers

The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic has announced the 7th public tender in the programme for support of applied research and innovation SIGMA – sub-objective 2, early researchers and balancing opportunities in applied research projects.

The SIGMA programme focuses on increasing the involvement of beginning researchers in applied research areas in specific projects directly with subjects from the application practice. Another objective is to promote equal opportunities for women and men in the applied research competition. Four research themes have been determined for this call, and each project proposal must be aligned with one of them.

Research topics:

• Telemedicine
• AI and sustainable mobility
• Production technology and materials
• Community energy and its management systems, small-scale energy storage

Faculty deadline: 20 March 2024. More on the provider's website. Queries can be addressed to silvie.savrnakova@upol.cz.

TA CR – Guidelines for submitting results to the RIV database for 2024

On the basis of the Act No. 130/2002 Coll. all recipients of support are required to enter data into the Research, Development and Innovation Information System. The TA CR sets the deadline for submission of the results for 2023 by 30 April 2024 at the latest. More on the provider's website.

TA CR – M-ERA.NET 3 Call 2024: International call in the field of materials research and innovation

ERA-NET Cofund M-ERA.NET 3 international call 2024 is open to support projects in the field of materials research and innovation. Short project proposals (pre-proposals) can be submitted until 14 May 2024. Faculty deadline: 7 May 2024.

The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic will support Czech applicants, which can be companies and research organisations. The national conditions for Czech applicants are based on the SIGMA programme. The total amount of TA CR support for the call is 1 450 000 EUR, of which a maximum of 350 000 EUR per project. The maximum allowable aid intensity for the Czech side of the project is 80% of the total eligible project costs.

Call topics:

• Sustainable advanced materials for energy
• Innovative surfaces, coatings and interfaces
• High performance composites
• Functional materials
• Materials addressing environmental challenges
• Next generation materials for advanced electronics

M-ERA.NET 3 is hosting an informational webinar for applicants on 7 March at 12:00. More information on the provider's website.

Open call: short-term mobilities for young scientists

Are you in your final year of a master's degree, a PhD, or are you already a postdoc? Either way, you could be the one to apply for funding for a trip abroad. Thanks to the Aurora Alliance's open call for young scientists, you can go on a research trip to one of Aurora's member universities. Find out more here.

Support for projects or summer schools

The new Aurora Open Call should contribute to closer cooperation between European universities. Up to 25,000 EUR is available for a joint international project. The call also supports the organisation of thematic summer schools with up to 20,000 EUR. The third supported activity is short-term mobilities aimed at young scientists.

COIL professional development online workshop

Between 7 and 21 May the The Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) in collaboration with the University of Minnesota will organize the first online training for lecturers on COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning). COIL opens a world of possibilities for active, applied, collaborative activities that interest and motivate students while invigorating your teaching practice. Preparing students to work with peers in another country online can enrich the experience and help ensure its success. Details can be found on this website.

In order to apply, fill out this form until 30 April. Queries can be addressed to Marina Vives at marina.vives@urv.cat.

Aurora Global COIL Fair on Sustainability

This Fair will take place on 23 April 2024 and is a “speed dating” opportunity for academics and coordinators to meet other instructors interested in finding work partners from Aurora member and associate partner institutions.

We invite teachers to fill in this form with general information about their field and interests by 31 March 2024. More information on this website.

Summer schools

Partner schools within the Aurora Alliance organize a large number of summer schools for students. You can choose from their offer on this website.

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).

Records of foreign guests

If you have international guests visiting your department, please enter their information in the Portal. This may affect the amount of funding the faculty receives to some extent.

Instructions:

• click on "All Applications" in your Portal
• click on the "Guest Admission" tile
• press the "+New" button and fill out the newly opened form.

Scholarship for summer schools and language courses in Bavaria

This scholarship can be used, among other things, to attend the following summer German language courses:

• Sommersprachkurs an der LMU München
• KU Summer School an der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
• Intensive German Courses an der TH Aschaffenburg
• Intensiv-Deutschkurse am IIK Bayreuth

and other professional summer schools in German or English: overview of summer schools 2024.

The scholarship is open to students, researchers and employees of Czech public universities until 26 March 2024 (thereafter until the scholarship funds are exhausted).

The Scholar Foundation

The Scholar Foundation offers financial support to those interested in studying a Master's or Ph.D. programme at foreign universities as well as to students traveling within the inter-university agreements, especially to non-European destinations or prestigious universities in Europe.

The selection process for the academic year 2024/2025 is currently open. Applications can be submitted until the end of April 2024. All information can be found on the Foundation's website.

The regular meeting of the Academic Senate FS UP will take place on Wednesday, 3 April 2024 at 13:00 in the meeting room of the Dean's Office. Detailed information and materials are available on the senate website (in Czech).

Window into Practice

Meeting of students with potential employers! The UP Faculty of Science together with the Career Center is organizing the Window into Practice job fair on 9 April 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Students have the opportunity to personally meet and talk with representatives of individual companies, compare their job offers, get valuable advice, information and, above all, contacts that increase their chances of employment on the labour market. Details can be found at www.oknodopraxe.upol.cz (in Czech).

Student Scientific Competition – Dean's Award

All students of the Faculty of Science are eligible to compete for the extraordinary scholarship and valuable prizes in the ‘Student Scientific Competition – Dean's Award’ in the sections of Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Ecology and Environment, and Earth Sciences. It is also possible to enrol in the poster section. The competition takes place on 2 May 2024 and you can register until 30 April on the website, where you can also find detailed information.

Enter the competition for the Rudolf Lukeš Prize for 2024

Until 31 March 2024, it is possible to apply for the Rudolf Lukeš Prize for 2024, which comes with a foundation contribution of CZK 100,000 CZK. The competition is announced annually by the Expert Group of Organic, Bioorganic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the Czech Chemical Society in cooperation with the Experientia Foundation. It is open to a scientist without age limitation who works at a Czech workplace and submits an outstanding body of work in the field of organic, bioorganic and medicinal chemistry produced at a Czech workplace in the last 5 years.

Admissions

Information for applicants for the faculty's English study programmes, including the application guide, tuition fees or scholarship offer are available on this website.

Ball of the UP Faculty of Science

The biggest faculty social event of the year, the Ball of the Faculty of Science, is coming up! We are looking forward to see you on 22 March 2024. The opening ceremony of the Ball is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in the faculty premises. (The building will be open from 7:00 p.m.). The evening will be hosted by Jan Hlaváč.

The bands Novios (3rd floor) and EXstres (5th floor) will take care of music. DJ Zbyněk Stružka will provide entertainment from midnight to 2 a.m. The Ball will be enriched by ballet performances by Ballet Art Studio, magician Karel Pomahač and a Mad Move workout show. You can look forward to a rich raffle full of great prizes and refershments, which are included in the ticket price.

Special measures in dormitories

At the dormitories 17. listopadu, B. Václavka and Generála Svobody the university management is introducing special measures, including the opening of a reception desk and the temporary presence of security guards, due to the repeated movement of strangers.

Since March 9, a security service has been operating continuously in the dormitory buildings on the Envelopa campus, and checks of student IDs at the entrance will be reinforced. Security will be permanently present in the dormitories for at least one month.

Foreigners in the Czech Republic – survey

Researchers from the Department of Development and Environmental Studies want to learn more about the problems foreigners face in the Czech Republic. They are looking for foreigners from all countries to fill out the survey, which should take about 10 minutes (even if you have taken a similar survey in the past, you can retake this one).

Fill out the survey in English or in Czech and share it with your friends outside of university. You can win one of three 1,000 CZK MALL.CZ vouchers.

Wikipedia and scientists? Register for the Science Communication Conference

There is no doubt that Wikipedia is one of the largest and most visited sources of information today. However, its strength and weakness is that its content can be edited by anyone. Therefore, authors and editors directly from the ranks of scientists play a unique role in the quality and credibility of the content. How to strengthen the collaboration between universities and Wikipedia in communicating science will be the focus of a conference on "Enhancing the voice of science on Wikipedia". The conference participants will discuss strategies for contributing to Wikimedia projects. The conference will take place from 9 to 11 April at the University of Innsbruck. Details of the conference, the programme and the free registration are available on the University of Innsbruck website. More information here.

Holy Mass

The student Mass for the Faculty of Science will be held on 20 March 2024 in the Church of the Virgin Mary of the Snow.

The next faculty Newsletter will be published on Tuesday, 2 April 2024.