Olomouc scientists have been involved in the discovery of substances that can significantly improve the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases

In the future, the results of an international study on a special receptor inside cells, in which experts from the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics of the Faculty of Science, significantly participated, could be used effectively to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

Scientists have synthesized and characterized substances that correctly activate the pregnan X receptor and have an anti-inflammatory effect. The results of scientific work were published by the prestigious scientific journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, which even dedicated the cover to this study. Other leading magazines have adopted this discovery in editorial texts.

The pregnane X receptor (PXR), discovered in the mid-1990s, has hitherto been considered as the steroid and xenobiotic-sensing nuclear receptor (XSR) and a key regulator of drug metabolism, whose activation is highly undesirable in terms of drug-drug interactions and interactions between food components and drugs.

However, experts have now demonstrated that correct endogenous activation of PXR by common metabolites is desirable for a variety of physiological processes within the organism. In contrast, insufficient endogenous PXR activation or its excessive activation by foreign compounds results in a number of pathological conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, fatty liver disease, diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease. “It therefore follows that PXR is a potential target in the therapy of these diseases. In our work, we dealt with the role and therapeutic targeting of PXR in inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. We found inspiration in the microbial world, specifically in substances produced by the human intestinal microbiome,” said Zdeněk Dvořák from the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics. More information here.

Information about new calls of GACR and TACR
Within the framework of international cooperation in basic research, the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GA CR) announced a call for submission of joint proposals of projects evaluated on the principle of Lead Agency (LA grants) thematically focused on the current pandemic COVID-19. Project proposals can be submitted to all fields of basic research. It is an international cooperation under the time-limited call "Urgent Funding SARS-CoV-2" of the Austrian FWF (Der Wissenschaftsfonds), announced on April 6, 2020. The text of the call is available here.

Funding of the first selected projects is expected in the autumn of this year, mainly due to the accelerated evaluation, which will be carried out already within the deadline for submission of proposals. Project proposals can be submitted at any time by September 30 at 2:00pm according to the rules of the Austrian FWF agency, which are available here.

The call is open to international scientific teams that can submit a joint bilateral to trilateral project proposal, always together with the Austrian scientific team and possibly the scientific team of one of the other countries that have joined the call (Germany, Luxembourg, Poland Republic, Republic of Slovenia, Switzerland and Czech Republic). More information on the conditions of international cooperation is specified on the FWF website in the document entitled "FWF urgent funding on SARS-CoV-2 - involvement of international partners".

Austrian FWF will be the only one in the role of Lead Agency in this special call. Unlike the “classic” projects evaluated on the Lead Agency principle with the beginning of the solution in 2021, where the evaluation period starts to run after the deadline for submitting project proposals, the evaluation process will run continuously from the announcement of the call. The FWF will ensure an accelerated evaluation process to remain in line with customary evaluation procedures, including international peer review. The FWF also pledges that, as part of the accelerated approach, its presidium will decide on funding projects on an ongoing basis using, for example, virtual sessions and other modern means.

Potential candidates from the Czech side will be guided by the Rules for International Grant Projects evaluated on the principle of the Lead Agency (LA Grants) - 2021 for the cases when the GA CR acts as a partner agency. Each participant of this call can submit only one project proposal and the proposal of such project does not count towards the limit of submitted proposals according to individual rules and tender documents for other calls and tenders announced by GACR in 2020. In case you are interested in submitting a project proposal, please contact Ivana Saitzová (ivana.saitzova@upol.cz).

2. The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA ČR) together with the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic has announced a second public tender for the support of applied research, experimental development and innovation in transport - TRANSPORT 2020+ (hereinafter referred to as the TRANSPORT 2020+ Program).

The main objective of the program is to develop the transport sector in a way that reflects social needs, accelerates the technological and knowledge development of the Czech Republic and thus helps to increase the competitiveness of the Czech Republic.

Project proposals focusing on crisis management topics such as the current COVID-19 pandemy are welcome in the public tender. The topicality of project proposals and the applicability of the intended outputs and results will be assessed positively in the evaluation process. The deadline for submitting proposals is June 10, 2020.

Detailed information necessary for the elaboration and submission of the project proposal, including information on the method and criteria of evaluation are contained in the Tender Documentation and other documents related to the announcement. Tips on how to fill in the project proposal is located directly in the ISTA information system. More information on the subsidy provider's website: https://www.tacr.cz/en/.

If you are interested in submitting a project proposal, please contact Ivana Saitzová (ivana.saitzova@upol.cz).

Czech-German projects
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has announced a call for applications for grants to support joint Czech-German projects within the mobility activity with a period of 2021-2022. The deadline for submitting project proposals to Miriam Delongova (miriam.delongova@upol.cz) is May 26, 2020. More information available here.

Online courses
DAAD would like to draw your attention to an online course for all PhD students in Germany entitled How to apply for a PhD in Germany. The course can be found at https://www.research-in-germany.org/en/jobs-and-careers/info-for-phd-students/how-to-obtain-a-phd/phd-course.html. Participants will learn more about the following aspects of studying to get a doctorate degree in Germany:

• where to find a doctoral position
• application conditions and tips on how to compile a quality application
• login process
• characteristics of the German research environment
• tips on convincing trainers about a research project upon completion of the course, applicants will receive a participation certificate.

The course is online and is a self-study module. It takes approximately six to nine hours to complete the course. The course will be available until April 30, 2020.

Contact with employees of Study department
The Study Department remains a non-contact workplace and we ask students, including graduates, to handle all matters with their Study Officer via e-mail. It is also possible to conclude studies before final state examinations this way. Visits are only possible in justified cases upon prior arrangement. We also ask the faculty staff to contact the officers by e-mail.

Graduation ceremony
The original date of graduation ceremony has been cancelled and given the current situation it is unclear when it will take place. If you have already registered for the graduation, paid a fee and are no longer interested in the graduation, we will refund the fee, just let your secretary know. The diplomas can only be issued after the faculty has been re-opened.

Academic year schedule
The schedule for the following academic year 2020/2021 can be found at: https://www.prf.upol.cz/en/students/important-dates/.

The second round of the admission procedure
The Dean of the Faculty of Science has announced the second round of admission procedure for the academic year 2020/2021 for equal filling of bachelor and follow-up master degree programs at the Faculty of Science. Applications can be submitted from April 15 to July 11, 2020.

UP Library
From Tuesday, April 14, it is possible to borrow books from the UP Library using a armory window on the ground floor of the library. Books to be read in the library can be borrowed for a period of 14 days, others according to system settings.

What do you have to do?

• Email us at vypujcka@upol.cz: book signatures and your name, surname and year of birth.
• Wait for a mail confirming that you have the books ready and for instructions on how to receive them.
• Arrive at the Library's courtyard at the agreed time.
• Follow the instructions written on the board in front of the window, observing the two-meter spacing demonstrated by the cones.
• We give you books through an open window on the table below (see photo).
• Return books ONLY to the BiblioBox

Contact phone and e-mail: Zbrojnice borrowing desk, tel .: 585 631 749, e-mail: vypujcka@upol.cz.

Electronic approval of invoices
At the end of April (TBA, probably from April 23) the Rector's Office will start a trial operation of electronic invoice approval. Each approver must be able to inspect the invoice file at the time of approval. For this reason, each invoice approver must activate an
ERMS account by the beginning of the electronic approval process, i.e. at least once launch the application at https://erms.upol.cz. They can choose any of the following ways to sign in:

• Attend an office or any UP building and log in to the ERMS
• Connect to your desktop computer via remote desktop and log on to the ERMS.
• Connect to the VPN to access the university's internal network and log in to the ERMS. How to connect via VPN is described here.

In case of problems, please inform CVT on the e-mail address: hana.matochova@upol.cz.

Cafeteria in Holice
Starting Monday, April 27, the cafeteria in Holice returns to normal operation. As usual, it will be possible to order food of your choice for immediate consumption in the dining room or to take with you in a cooled form. Packed meals can only be ordered the day before. The canteen also offers salads, quickly-made fresh meals are not be available yet.

Important notice for project solvers
Newly, it is required to set up a proxy in the Portal for the electrinic approval of invoices in case of the project solver´s absence. In order to do this, it is necessary to inform the Economic Department of the Faculty at dagmar.kopecka@upol.cz, for which the representatives require to generate a proxy for the project. Only after entering it into SAP the settings in the Portal will work.

Please refer to the Manual for Electronic Approval of the Invoice Enclosure for instructions.

Change at the Department of Science and Research

Ms. Silvie Šavrňáková (silvie.savrnakova@upol.cz) will be a new referent of the department. She will take over the agenda of Ms. Alena Jarošová, who as of April 30, terminated her employment at the Faculty of Science.

Milan Odehnal’s Award
The Czech Physics Society of JČMF has announced a new round of Milan Odehnal's Award for young scientists. The deadline for entries for this round is May 31, 2020.

• Authors of scientific works in the field of Physics from any Czech workplace or graduates of Czech universities who have not exceeded the age of thirty on the date of the deadline (date of birth May 31, 1990 and later) can participate in the competition only individually. Membership in JČMF is not a condition.
• A maximum of three related works from all physical fields that have been published or accepted for print in the last five years (since 1 January 2015) are admitted to the competition. For works that have not yet been published, a copy of the notice of admission to the press must be attached, and for works with several authors (who may be over thirty years old) a written statement from a prominent co-author is required on the contestant's share of the results.
• For 2020, the total price is at least 70 000 CZK. Their award is decided by the Committee of Czech Physical Society of JČMF on the basis of the recommendation of the evaluation committee that it appoints.
• The application must contain personal data of the competitor (date of birth, education, residence, workplace) and a one-page summary of the importance of the submitted works. Contest submissions should be sent by e-mail in pdf format to jaroslav.bielcik@fjfi.cvut.