(This content has been translated automatically.)

Dear students,

The streets of the university town have been covered with snow again after a year, so we should slow down a bit and maybe read something nice. Fortunately, there's no need to go far, as you're about to receive the last regular UP newsletter of 2022. You can find the dates for next year on the page along with the archives (in Czech). But as the run-up to Christmas is a time of various hustles and chases, you might be pleased with the extended hours of UPoint, where you can go this Saturday and also on 23 December. The Bookshop (in Czech) at the Armoury (Zbrojnice) will be open until December 22, and the opening hours of the UP Library (in Czech) will also be adjusted. While you're at the Armoury (Zbrojnice), you can also pick up a light of Bethlehem. From Sunday noon to Thursday evening it will illuminate the passageway by its gatehouse.

There is now a public defibrillator at the Faculty of Arts' reception desk

Did you know that there are already eight publicly accessible defibrillators available in university buildings to perform lay first aid? The newest one is located in the Faculty of Arts' porter's lodge at Křížkovského 10. The technology housed in a small box can help restore vital heart rhythm in a person in cardiac arrest. It can be used even by a complete layman, the device guiding him or her with voice and visual cues after activation. Check out this article for an overview of all defibrillators at UP (in Czech).

Winter semester is already waiting for your evaluation

If you're thinking about a New Year's resolution, here's an idea: in 2023 (for starters), send feedback on teaching at UP. You can start now with an evaluation of the just-ended winter semester. The online questionnaire will take you a few minutes to complete, and you can influence the shape of study programmes and courses in the future. Don't stay alone in this resolution and tell your classmates about the evaluations, you will increase the credibility and impact of the evaluation. You can fill in your opinions, suggestions and evaluations on eval.upol.cz or via the UP Portal until 13 February 2023.

Go to Bethlehem (and to the USA at the same time!) to study

Want to try studying in America? You have a chance. All you have to do is apply for a semester-long study stay at a partner institution within the UP study programme founded thirty years ago by the American philanthropist and friend of Palacký University Charles Merrill. Moravian University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Who the program is for, how to apply if interested, and other details are on the International Office website (in Czech). Just don't delay too long, as the deadline is February 12.

The way to graduation is not through the plague column

On the Lower Square in Olomouc stands the Marian Column - an impressive work of the Baroque master Václav Render. Old student legends have it that whoever literally crawls through the opening in the lower part of the column in the direction of his faculty in anticipation of an exam/internship will also proverbially pass the exam. However, it must be added here that this is a superstition completely unsupported by hard data; on the contrary, severe penalties await those caught crawling through. The column is closely monitored by cameras, identification of offenders is easy nowadays and the real financial penalties are unpleasantly high. So please - don't embarrass yourself or the school and don't damage cultural heritage or your bank account. Rather, reward yourself with something good for the money you save after a successful exam.

You can meet the Three Kings at the university

On Friday, 6 January, the Three Kings will make a short stop at Palacký University during their journey on horseback through Olomouc. Come and meet them at 9:40 am in the Rector's Courtyard (Křížkovského 8), when the Rector Martin Procházka will come to greet them. Afterwards, the carolers - Josef Suchánek, Governor of the Olomouc Region, Miroslav Žbánek, Mayor of the Statutory City of Olomouc, and Josef Nuzík, Bishop and Administrator of the Archdiocese of Olomouc - will ride on horseback to the city centre to the Olomouc City Hall. You can find out what this year's Three Kings collection will look like and the detailed programme of the Olomouc caroling on the Charity's website (in Czech).

Survey: drivers, pedestrians and light

New lighting technologies are increasingly penetrating our lives, bringing more and more different light sources into the world around us. Recently, there has been a significant renewal of light sources both in cars and in public lighting. A survey by the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prague is investigating how different light sources affect people. Specifically, the area of the effect of light on drivers and pedestrians in the context of crossing the road at pedestrian crossing points. Read more and complete the survey straight away. (in Czech)

Questionnaire: experiences of foreign students at universities in the Czech Republic

How do foreign students study at Czech universities? This is what the newly launched questionnaire of the Ministry of Education and Science and the House of Foreign Cooperation, which helps Czech students to go abroad and at the same time introduces foreign applicants to the possibilities of studying at universities in the Czech Republic in the Study in the Czech Republic (STUDY IN) programme, is intended to find out. The questionnaire can be filled in until 31 December here.

Universitas magazine summarises the Czech EU Presidency

Interesting news from the life of Czech universities can be read regularly on the Universitas (in Czech) website, where you can also subscribe to Newsletter (in Czech). Its latest issue (in Czech) looks back at the slowly winding down Czech Presidency of the EU Council. Check out a selection of the best articles, including an interview with the Minister for European Affairs Mikuláš Bek or a report from the debate European ducks or What are we willing to believe? , which focused on the growing pressure of disinformation. Read the full newsletter on the website (in Czech).

Even Palacký knew when he'd had enough: the university launches a campaign against food waste

The average Czech throws away 50 kg of food a year, and the weight of uneaten food in the Palacký University canteens is around 50 tonnes for the whole year. The campaign, which has just been launched by the student association Udržitelný Palacký (in Czech) and the Sustainable University, is intended to change this. The posters with the motif of František Palacký encourage students and staff to be more responsible with food both in the university canteens and in their own fridges and pantries. More information about the campaign and important links can be found on the website (in Czech).

Olomouc remembrance of Václav Havel

Václav Havel is, among other things, the first ever post-Soviet recipient of an honorary doctorate from Palacký University. In Olomouc, his personality is commemorated throughout the year by the Václav Havel bench (in Czech) in the courtyard of the Armoury (Zbrojnice), but also by a pre-Christmas commemorative event. We will meet at the bench on Sunday, 18 December at 5 pm, with readings from Havel's works, music, charity punch and books for purchase. All proceeds from the charity event will be donated to the Heřmánek Family Center and the mobile hospice You Are Not Alone. The meeting is organized by Radostná Olomouc and People of Good Will with the support of UP.

Christmas opening hours of UPoint

At UPoint, you can find plenty of things that can come in handy before Christmas, whether it's a new Christmas card, a ball for the tree, calendars for next year or a handmade candle. How will it be open during the Advent and Christmas period?

On Saturday 17 December we will be open from 9am to 1pm.
On Friday, December 23, it will be open from 9am to 2pm.
24 December – 1 January will be closed.
January 2–4 will be closed for inventory.