(This content has been translated automatically.)

Dear employees, 

To begin with, we have one piece of good news: you will not miss the regular supply of operational information, interesting facts or invitations from the world of Palacký University, which the UP HYPERLINK "https://www.upol.cz/zamestnanci/newsletter/"Newsletter (in Czech) brings you every 14 days, even in 2023, when the University of Olomouc, founded on 22 December 1573, will celebrate 450 years of its existence. Before the Christmas holidays, we have therefore launched a special website 450.upol.cz, where you can view a timeline of the university's history or the transformation of Olomouc in maps. There is also a gradually updated calendar of events associated with the celebrations – these will run throughout the year until 22 December 2023.

Another UP Open Day is planned for this Saturday, all information is on the University City (in Czech) website and in last week's email (in Czech). Even if you are not actively involved in the DOD this year or are not planning to look around for other majors yourself, feel free to invite your friends who might be interested in studying at UP to this day! Last but not least, the presidential elections will take place on Friday and Saturday. The Rector of UP Martin Procházka invites (in Czech) students, members of the academic community and employees to use their civic right and go to vote.

The summer semester traditionally starts at Palacký University with the UP Academic Week. Its imaginary highlight will be on Friday 17 February the UP Ball (in Czech), which returns to the university events programme after two years, among other things on the occasion of the celebration of 450 years of the university. Visitors to the ball can look forward to the popular Moondance Orchestra of Martin Kumžák, a dance workshop, a light show, rich refreshments and a raffle. The evening will be hosted by Natálie Tichánková, a member of the Moravian Theatre Olomouc drama troupe. The ball at the NH Collection Congress Olomouc hotel starts at 19:30, tickets will be on sale from 17 January from 10:00 online at smsticket.cz. More detailed information and photos from previous years can be found at ples.upol.cz (in Czech).

Times Higher Education (THE), which publishes one of the most respected global university rankings, is launching a survey to collect data on Interdisciplinary Research. All staff who are selected and contacted via email are asked to participate by completing a short questionnaire. We would also like to remind you that the survey on university reputation is still ongoing, so 0-2 emails may arrive in your inbox. The survey on Interdisciplinary Research will be sent out from the email address surveys@timeshighereducationemail.com, while the survey on Reputation will be sent out from profilerankings@timeshighereducationemail.com. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. 

Are you thinking about starting to donate blood? Or are you a regular donor? Either way, mark the week of February 13-17 on your calendar and join the 12th annual Donate Blood with the Rector challenge. It will take place during the UP Academic Week at the Transfusion Department of the University Hospital Olomouc. And how to do it? Just write to us by 7 February at daruj@upol.cz. All donors during this week can look forward to a small gift. More information about the appeal can be found at darujHYPERLINK "https://daruj.upol.cz/".upol.cz. The Donate Blood with the Rector challenge as well as the long-running Vyhrň rukáv (Roll Up Your Sleeve) competition will be launched on Monday morning directly at the blood transfusion centre by the University Rector Martin Procházka and the President of the Czech Red Cross Marek Jukl.

Since the beginning of this year, new possibilities of publishing scientific articles in open access in journals of prestigious foreign publishing houses have opened for corresponding authors from UP. Thanks to the so-called Read & Publish contracts, negotiated within the national consortium CzechElib, it is possible to publish in the journals of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and IOP Publishing, for example, free of charge. For other publishers, significant discounts or a limited number of APC vouchers are negotiated. For more information and instructions on how to publish, please visit the UP Library's Open Science (in Czech) pages.

Do you have inquisitive and restless children at home who like to puzzle, explore, discover, but also do all sorts of experiments, wander in their minds through space or read maps? Sign them up for Fort Science science clubs (in Czech) with a 10% discount for UP employees by entering the code UPOL10 when registering. Kids from kindergarten through eighth grade can choose from a variety of topics. New this year is Czech and math tutoring (in Czech) for fifth and ninth graders to prepare them for the Unified Entrance Exam for multi-year grammar and high schools. Details can be found on the Fort Science website (in Czech).

Industrial espionage, propaganda or the misuse of scientific infrastructure – academia also faces different types of foreign threats. How can they be effectively prevented? The Center for International Humanitarian and Operational Law (CIHOL) at the School of Law invites you to a lecture, The best practices and experience in countering foreign interference (CFI) in U.S. Academia. The speakers will be Dr. Glenn d. Tiffert (Research Fellow, Co-Chair – Project on China's Global Shar Power, Stanford University) and Dr. Kevin r. Gamache (Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Research Security Officer, Texas A&M University System). The American experts will talk about foreign threats to research in the academic sector and present experiences and best practices in countering these threats. The lecture will take place on January 18 at 10:00 a.m. at the Law School. An abstract of the lecture can be found in this PDF. Please register in advance if you are interested. 

What role does the ability to express and read emotions play in communication between people? Psychologists from the Faculty of Philosophy are trying to find the answer to this question in their research. Join as a volunteer and let the researchers use modern methods to monitor your reactions and feelings during a conversation. You'll find out what your ability to recognise emotions is, and you'll also get a description of your personality based on characteristics such as emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Interested candidates under the age of 35 can apply on the EMOACT (in Czech) project website, also read the article on Journal Online (in Czech).

Before the Christmas holidays, the regular December issue of the UP Strategy and Quality Department newsletter (in Czech) was published. The theme of the issue is the third role of UP and the concept of social responsibility. In the text about the emerging concept, you will find out what all actually falls under the area of social responsibility, and you also have the opportunity to express yourself through the form. You can also read about international evaluation or the UP Foundation. The full HYPERLINK "https://strategie.upol.cz/fileadmin/userdata/cm/strategie/newsletter/newsletter2022_04.pdf"newsletter HYPERLINK "https://strategie.upol.cz/fileadmin/userdata/cm/strategie/newsletter/newsletter2022_04.pdf"can be found here (in Czech).

Try to improve your language skills this year – you don't have to go far. The FF UPLIFT language school is launching group courses for the public from 6 February and UP employees can take advantage of a 10% discount on course fees. Check out the current schedule and descriptions of each course (in Czech), and if you have any questions, email uplift@upol.cz.

The standard, effective from 11 January 2023, affects in particular the members of the UP ECC, study programme guarantors, deans and vice-deans of all UP faculties. It clarifies or supplements the role of the UP ECC chairperson, permanent guests of the UP ECC and other guests, the voting process outside the meetings and the importance and composition of working groups. It is available by logging in here (in Czech).

Palacký University offers a number of scholarships to students. One of them is the social grant, the amount of which is set by the new standard (in Czech) in the period January-June 2023 in the amount of CZK 4,330 per month. The conditions to be met for its award and information on the application form are available on the website.