Dear colleagues,

This week marks the end of the period when I had the opportunity to lead the UP Faculty of Science as Dean. I do not wish to evaluate now what was more or less successful; many issues can only be assessed with the benefit of hindsight. However, having had the honor of getting to know the faculty, I can say that I will proudly remember the period when I was entrusted with representing such a wonderful academic community.

The administration of the faculty is not a matter for one individual, so I would first like to thank everyone who contributed to ensuring the functioning of the faculty and took care of all those invisible but essential processes in the background. This includes not only all the vice-deans, but also the administrative staff and the maintenance and cleaning staff. Thanks also go to all the heads and employees of the departments who have ensured the main mission of our university, i.e., the education of students and research activities, or activities that fall under the so-called third role of the university.

I believe that the faculty has succeeded in creating an environment that is fair, as transparent as possible, and where people do not have to be afraid to express their opinions. This creates a space where most employees and students like to go and where they can express themselves creatively. Naturally, there will always be room for improvement; work on the culture of the institution never ends, and I wish the incoming leadership every success in continuing to develop the faculty.

The environment of the faculty is shaped by every single member of the academic community, i.e. all employees and students. So do not be indifferent, do not let the faculty be taken away, destroyed or poisoned. Please, try every day to ensure that the faculty remains a niche of freedom and creativity for future generations.

With best wishes

Martin Kubala

Jan Říha is set to become the head of the Faculty of Science of Palacký University Olomouc on 1 February 2026. The faculty's Academic Senate elected him as a candidate for dean in a secret ballot, in which he received 13 votes. His appointment must still be confirmed by the Rector of Palacký University Michael Kohajda.

Jan Říha will replace Martin Kubala, who has headed the faculty for two terms since February 2018. Martin Kubala's second term will end on 31 January 2026.

The vice-dean team will be appointed immediately after the incoming dean informs the Academic Senate of the UP Faculty of Science of its composition at a meeting on 11 February 2026.

Entering results into the OBD

The deadline for entering results for 2025 into the OBD database is 15 February by 24:00. Results entered later will not be taken into account in the faculty's 2026 budget allocation. Please, upload the results on an ongoing basis so that they can be continuously checked and, if necessary, returned for correction. We also ask for careful and complete reporting of individual results (e.g. include the ORCID of domestic aurhors, surnames of Czech co-authors should be given with diacritics together with first names, reference to the full text of the article and not just the abstract, etc.), as the records subsequently transferred to RIV are the calling card of our faculty.

GA ČR: Tenders

In the first half of February, GA ČR will announce tenders for Standard Projects, POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP, Return Grants, and international calls. A few weeks later, around the beginning of March, it will also announce tenders for excellent scientists, EXPRO and JUNIOR STAR.

For all tenders and calls announced by the GA ČR (or the GA ČR and foreign agencies), it will now be possible to submit a maximum of three project proposals (as a proposer or co-proposer), with a maximum of one project proposal in each of the following categories:

• a) Standard projects, International projects and LA grants;
• b) JUNIOR STAR and EXPRO;
• c) POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP (INCOMING and OUTGOING) and Return grants.

You can check which combinations of concurrently submitted project proposals with an expected start date in 2027 are permitted at this webiste: Concurrent project proposals in 2027.

In the event of success in multiple tenders and calls, only one project may be implemented, with implementation beginning in 2027. The possibility of concurrent projects and project proposals is not affected by currently implemented projects, unless expressly stated otherwise in their terms and conditions (this applies to POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP and Return Grants projects). The possibility of concurrent projects and project proposals is described in more detail in a separate text. Detailed information can be found on the Czech Science Foundation webiste.

AZV: first transnational call of the BE READY partnership

The Ministry of Health published on 20 January 2026 a joint transnational call of the BE READY partnership (European Partnership on Pandemic Preparedness): "Advancing knowledge of host and pathogens dynamics to better combat emerging diseases".

The aim of the call is to deepen scientific knowledge and evidence-based understanding of newly emerging or re-emerging pathogens with pandemic potential and of host responses to infection, with a view to improving the ability to predict, prevent, and respond to infectious health threats through a transnational, collaborative and interdisciplinary approach linking research and development. This call will support innovative, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and transnational research projects aimed at better understanding the pandemic potential of newly emerging pathogens, elucidating their pathophysiology, and developing innovative medical countermeasures.

Details on the call can be found on the AZV website. In case of interest, contact Mgr. Ľubica Korcanová at lubica.korcanova@upol.cz, tel. ext. 4051.

AZV: Webinar on the BE READY partnership call

In connection with the announcement of a transnational call Advancing knowledge of host and pathogens dynamics to better combat emerging diseases AZV BE READY partnership will organize a webinar, which will take place on 3 February 2026, starting at 10:00.

Please confirm your participation in the webinar by email to partnerstvi@azvcr.cz by 1 February 2026, at the latest. Please include your first name, last name, institution, and email address in the email, to which a link for registration (via MS Teams) will be sent the day before the webinar. Invitation to the webinar.

GA ČR: Call for Luxembourg-Czech projects

The Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR), in cooperation with the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), is announcing a call for project proposals based on the Lead Agency evaluation principle, with an expected start date in 2027. GA ČR is acting as a partner organization in this call – projects will be evaluated by FNR and GA ČR will adopt the evaluation results. The call is announced as part of the Weave initiative.

The Czech part of the project proposal can be submitted no later than 28 April 2026, i.e. 7 days after the official deadline set by the FNR for Luxembourg applicants on 21 April 2026.

Deadlines for administration and submission of project applications at the Faculty of Science:

22 April 2026 – Brief project information (or project proposal draft) and the original green request form ("košilka") – signed by the proposer and the head of the department – delivered by internal mail or in person to DPS, Mgr. Ľubica Korcanová

24 April 2026 – Send the final version of the project proposal to lubica.korcanova@upol.cz. Comprehensive information about the call for proposals can also be found on the GA CR website.

Mandatory reporting of mobilities

Every mobility, regardless of the source of funding and regardless of whether the student will receive credits for that, must be reported at least one month before its start to Mgr. Marie Raková at marie.rakova@upol.cz from the International section of the Student Affairs Office. Outgoing mobilities are primarily reported by students, incoming mobilities by the department. Details can be found on the faculty website.

Records of foreign guests

It is the responsibility of the department to register foreign guests. If you have international guests visiting your department, enter their information in the Portal as follows:

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

This procedure does not apply to student internships - these are reported as incoming mobility.

Mobility scholarship

A student who goes on any mobility abroad for 30 days or more (study stay, research internship, work placement, summer school, etc.), can apply for a scholarship of CZK 5,000 for each mobility. The request must be submitted before departure. Details here.

Barrande Fellowship Programme 2026

The exchange programme for students between the Czech Republic and France, jointly organized by the French Institute in Prague and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, is primarily intended for doctoral students. It offers the opportunity to undertake a professional stay at a partner institution and thus support international cooperation in research.

Those interested in participating can submit applications until 29 January 2026. Detailed information is available on the French Institue's website.

Fulbright scholarship

The Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship is intended for study or research at the Master's or Ph.D. level in the United States for all fields except clinical medicine and MBA and LLM programs.

You can apply until 1 February 2026. Details here.

JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Overseas Researchers

The Czech Academy of Sciences announces a call for applications for JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Overseas Researchers programme in cooperation with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). An application can be submitted for a 12-24 month stay in Japan, starting no later than 30 November 2026.

The deadline for applications is 30 April 2026. The documentation is available on the CAS website in the section Academic Public - International Affairs – News and includes the instructions for applicants, the application form, and the instructions on how to complete the application. All documents must be in English or Japanese. The results of the selection procedure will be available in late June/July 2026.

European Degree Exploratory Action Call

The European Commission has published a call for proposals for the European Degree Exploratory Action, aimed at higher education institutions that want to adapt existing joint study programmes and design and implement new joint study programmes in line with the criteria of the European Degree Label.

The call is open until 17 March 2026, and applications must be submitted via the FTOP portal. The call has a budget of €14 million, with a maximum grant of €1 million per project, meaning that 14 projects are expected to be supported. The grant will cover 80% of the total costs, with 20% co-financing expected. The project duration is three years. The European Commission is organizing a webinar on this call on 13 January 2026, where it will also present a second call related to the European Diploma brand, focused on cooperation between systemic actors (ministries, accreditation agencies, etc.) with universities and other relevant stakeholders. More details can be found in the call document.

FS UP Academic Senate

The regular meeting of the Academic Senate FS UP will take place on 11 February 2026 at 13:00 in the conference room of the Dean's Office. Detailed information and materials as well as the link to the stream will be available at the given time of the meeting on the senate website (in Czech).

Updates and contract templates

From 1 February 2026, only updated contracts from the UPShare repository should be submitted to the Dean for signature. We kindly ask those submitting contracts to refrain from using the former templates. The Legal Department has made updated contract templates available in the Forms and Contract Templates (Formuláře a vzory smluv) folder (e.g., templates for work contracts, license agreements, donation agreements, student internship agreements, etc.). Additional sample contracts will be added to the repository gradually. When filling out sample contracts, it is necessary to follow the attached comments; additional information is provided in the methodology How to correctly fill out a sample contract (Jak správně vyplnit vzorovou smlouvu).

Remember to indicate the following as the representative of the Faculty of Science in the header and signature line of each contract: Mgr. Jan Říha, Ph.D.

Note: The forms will be updated on the Faculty of Science website during February.

Change in the login method

During the last week there was a change in the way you log into STAG, the UP Portal, and other university systems that are connected to the single sign-on system. The appearance of the login screen changed but your username and password remains the same (you only need to add @upol.cz to your username).

This is only a "cosmetic" change for users and is part of the preparations for the introduction of multi-factor authentication, which will replace simple login using just a username and password. More information here.

Language courses

The Department of Foreign Languages offers language courses for employees and doctoral students of the Faculty of Science in the summer semester 2025/2026. Choose your couse here.

Donate blood

Donating blood is one of the easiest ways to help save human lives. Academic Week at Palacký University offers an ideal opportunity to get involved in a good deed that really matters.

This year, it will again be possible to donate blood free of charge as part of the traditional Donate Blood with Palacký University event, which will start on Monday, 16 February. Students, employees, and the public can contribute to saving human lives and at the same time support the transfusion department of the Olomouc University Hospital. Those interested can register using the form by 10 February.

European information centre

Palacký University operates a European information centre. One of twelve Czech branches of the European information network will be located in the university store and information center UPoint at Horní náměstí starting in January. The main goal of the project is systematic communication and popularization of topics related to the EU and European values. More information here.

The next faculty Newsletter will be published on Monday, 9 February 2026.