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.

TA CR - SIGMA Programme: Announcement of the 15th public call - sub-goal 3, Support for the Innovative Potential of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts

The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) has announced the 15th public competition in the SIGMA Programme for the Support of Applied Research and Innovation – Sub-goal 3, Support for the Innovative Potential of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts.

The public competition is focused on supporting projects that strengthen the social sciences, humanities, and arts (SHUV) in applied research and innovation activities and apply the outputs of these activities in the form of new or significantly improved products, procedures, processes, or services.

Sub-goal 3 supports the use of SHUV's innovative potential and its involvement in projects that contribute to maintaining and improving the quality of human life in response to dynamic social, economic, globalization, cultural, or technological changes.

The competition deadline is 18 March 2026. Faculty deadline: 11 March 2026. More information on the provider's website.

Before submitting the project proposal on behalf of UP, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the Dean and the Secretary of the faculty through the green request form ("košilka") and brief information about the project. Queries may be addressed to silvie.savrnakova@upol.cz.

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.

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).

Elections to the UP Academic Senate

In spring 2026, the Palacký University academic community will elect new members of the UP Academic Senate (AS UP) for the 2026–2029 term. The current Senate's term will end on 15 May 2026.

Send your nominations to the chairman of the faculty election committee, Mgr. Martin Zeman, using the prepared form. Written nominations may be submitted:

• personally to Mgr. Zeman,
• via the faculty mailbox marked "Academic Senate" (with an additional label "AS UP Elections") in the Faculty of Science building. The mailboxes are located next to the Student Affairs Office. If proposers decide to submit their proposal to the mailbox, please inform Mgr. Zeman by email at martin.zeman01@upol.cz, who will then confirm receipt of the proposal.

Nominations for candidacy to the Academic Senate of Palacký University Olomouc can be submitted from 3 to 19 February 2026. Any member of the academic community may nominate a candidate (or candidates) from among the faculty's teaching staff or from among the students enrolled at the faculty.

Registration for courses for summer semester 2025/2026

Registration for courses for the summer semester of the academic year 2025/2026 for Bachelor, Master and Doctoral study programmes is already open for Faculty of Science students until 23 February 2026. Detailed schedule is available, as usual, on the website.

Teaching evaluation

Today is your last chance to participate in the evaluation of teaching! You can still evaluate all winter courses on the Portal today and contribute to improving the quality of study at our faculty. Your feedback helps teachers and faculty management better understand what works well and where there is room for improvement.

Tips and support

• It can often happen that you are the only student enrolled in a course. If you are afraid that the teacher will recognize that you wrote a particular evaluation, try to write in such a way that your gender or nationality cannot be identified (e.g., use the passive voice).
• If you don't know what to write in the open-ended questions, just fill in the multiple-choice questions.
• Don't be afraid to praise what you liked about the class. This will let the teacher know what to stick with.
• If you have a problem with a teacher (whether because of evaluations or in general), don't be afraid to speak up. You can contact us, the student senators, who can advise you, or, for example, the Vice-Dean for academic affairs.
• In case of more serious problems, we have two student ombudsmen at the faculty.

Study confirmation

Follow this guide to generate the study confirmation with an electronic seal yourself.

Student Affairs Office

The Student Affairs Office is open for students only during the office hours. Please, do not enter the office outside of office hours.

Ball of the Faculty of Science

The Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, cordially invites you to its traditional ball, which will take place on Friday, 20 March 2026. The festive evening will be held in the foyer of the faculty's main building on 17. listopadu 12.

Tickets are expected to go on sale on 18 February 2026. The exact date will be announced in an email and on social media. Ticket prices remain the same as last year.

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.

UP Ombudsman

A safe, trustworthy, and fair environment at universities and research institutions is supported at many of them by ombudsmen. Fifty of them met in Olomouc in January to discuss communication, visibility, and the legitimacy of their roles in the academic environment and to exchange experiences from cases they have dealt with so far. The meeting also introduced the first university-wide ombudsman of Palacký University, Jaroslav Šotola. His term began on 1 February 2026.

UP Academic Week

Palacký University Academic Week will take place from 16 to 22 February and will commemorate the reestablishment of the Olomouc university in 1946, this year also marking the 80th anniversary of its modern existence. It will offer a varied program for students, employees, the academic community, and the general public – from the traditional Donate Blood with UP challenge, community and cultural events, to the ceremonial presentation of the university's annual awards. It will also include a student mass, the In the Spotlight event, a Palacký University Ball, and the symbolic pealing of the Olomouc church bells.

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.

EM-SPS 2026 practical course

The IMCF at BIOCEV are organizing an EM-SPS 2026 practical course (Sample Preparation Series for Electron Microscopy), which will take place from 13 to 16 April 2026.

This course provides participants with an insight into the principles and complexity of biological sample preparation necessary for routine ultrastructural analysis by Transmission and Scanning electron microscopy. Hands-on training will include workflows and methods of sample harvesting, chemical fixation, contrasting, resin embedding, ultra-thin sectioning, negative staining, critical point drying, plunge freezing and more, with an emphasis on optimization of critical steps and troubleshooting.

For detailed information and registration, please visit the course website: https://imcf.natur.cuni.cz/EMSPS/; X: https://x.com/IMCF_BIOCEV.

The next faculty Newsletter will be published on Monday, 23 February 2026.