(This content has been translated automatically.)

Dear employees,

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.

New benefits: discounted ski service, women's fitness and free eye check

During the autumn, Palacký University added several new benefits offered to all its employees from external partners. It is now possible to get a discount and a free eye check at Flora Optik, discounted service, rental or purchase of equipment at Snow4Fun Olomouc or a cheaper season ticket to the fitness centre Jako proutek. More information can be found in this report (in Czech) or in the complete overview of benefits (in Czech).

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 student evaluation

These days, students have the opportunity to evaluate the semester that is now ending as part of the student course evaluations, again from anywhere using the interactive online form at eval.upol.cz. However, in order for the evaluation to be objective, it is necessary to get feedback from as many students as possible. Please ask them to participate in the evaluation of the course as much as possible. Stress that the evaluations are truly anonymous and that they need not be afraid to express praise, but also constructive and fair comments. The opportunity for student evaluations will close on February 13, 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.

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)

Where do the Sodexo points go? To the UP Bookshop!

Someone is turning water into wine, Palacký University Press is turning Sodexo points into books. Did you know that in the Bookshop at the Armoury (Zbrojnice) you can also pay for books with FlexiPass vouchers and cards? You can take advantage of this, for example, before Christmas and give a smart book to one of your loved ones under the tree. A selection of Christmas tips from VUP can be found on the website (in Czech). Or go directly to the Bookshop at the Armoury (Zbrojnice) and tell the booksellers what genre and area you would like a book from. They will be sure to find the right one for you in the colourfully stocked shelves - either from our University's production or from other publishers.

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.

Vánoční otevírací doba UPointu

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.