(This content has been translated automatically.)

Dear employees,

the first day of spring is less than a month away, and nature is slowly noticing this not only in the university botanical garden – you can look for signs of spring all around, for example, while walking through Bezručovy sady gardens with the university buildings overhead. In the meantime, you can see how we started the new semester during the last Academic Week of UP and commemorated the post-war rebuilding of our university and the 450th anniversary of its foundation. Photos from the events can be found on the website 450.upol.cz, as well as a calendar of the following ones.

At the last management meeting (15 February) the amendment to the Higher Education Act or the functioning of the filing service was discussed. The national opening ceremony of the academic year in Olomouc is planned for October. Read the full summary (after logging in the UP Portal), we will prepare another one in 14 days. More detailed information can be found in the minutes of the management meeting in UPShare, as well as in the minutes of other bodies, in UP standards and documents and on other information platforms.

Get opportunities for your development and education and financial support for your scientific research or artistic-creative projects. We support artists, creatives, researchers and innovators from among the students of UP's master's and doctoral programmes. Information on the current call of the UP Endowment Fund, which is open until 31 March, can be found on the Fund's website or in an article in the UP Journal. On Thursday, 23 February at 15:00, an online seminar will be held where you can ask questions about the call and have the opportunity to consult your plans. A link to Zoom will be on the Facebook event page in due course. 

Bike, scooter, walk or trot the whole month of May – sustainably and actively. Sign up for the Bike to Work challenge and support your own fitness and the development of infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians. Thanks to the Sustainable University, the first 100 interested employees will be able to register for free again this year. Take the opportunity to motivate yourself and your team of colleagues to get moving regularly, and compete for exciting prizes in the university competition (in Czech) and beyond. For full details, please see this article (in Czech).

Drama, ballet, opera and operetta – such is the wide repertoire of the Moravian Theatre Olomouc. Now you can go to selected performances with a 30% discount. You can find the offer for each month on the benefits website (in Czech). Tickets can be purchased at the theatre box office, to redeem the discounted offer you need to show the QR code on the offer sheet or your UP employee card. You can pay with leisure vouchers and Sodexo cards.

Would you like to go to the USA for study or research? Each year, Fulbright scholarships help about 40 Czechs cover living expenses, airfare, and other necessities for 3-10 months of living in America. Information and tips for applying will be available at a lecture/information session (in Czech) on Wednesday, March 8 at 4:15 p.m. for all UP students and staff hosted by the Faculty of Physical Culture. It will take place in the auditorium of the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Physical Education of UP (Tr. Míru 117, room NA 4.20). More information here (in Czech).

Choose from Chinese for beginners or workplace communication courses in the summer term, or try your hand at brush and ink in Chinese calligraphy classes. These courses are free for UP students and employees. For details and to register, visit the Confucius HYPERLINK "https://konfucius.upol.cz/vyuka-a-kurzy/"Institute (in Czech) website.

For the thirteenth time, the Mattoni 1/2Marathon will take place in Olomouc on 17 June, bringing with it a unique sporting atmosphere. But this is not possible without the annual help of indispensable volunteers. This is a unique opportunity to enjoy this event from the front row and spend a nice late afternoon in the company of amazing people. The main race is 21.0975 miles long, so there are plenty of people needed! Volunteer at tomas.holada.olma@gmail.com; more information about the race, which includes the UP Rector's Cup Run, can be found here.

How do you make a film festival? Volunteer for the One World Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, which will take place in Olomouc from 27 March to 1 April. You will meet new people with a common interest, be an important element in organising film screenings, events and concerts, and for some disciplines it is also possible to have your work at the festival written down as a fulfilment of your internship. You can apply by emailing staff@jedensvetolomouc.cz or calling +420 739 461 560, for more information visit the website (in Czech) or Facebook.

The new standard Establishment of bodies and security roles in connection with ensuring cyber security at UP (Zřízení orgánů a bezpečnostních rolí v souvislosti se zajištěním kybernetické bezpečnosti na UP), effective from 27 February 2023, regulates the fulfilment of the obligations imposed on UP by the Cyber Security Act and related to the security management system at UP. It also establishes the Cyber Security Committee and other security roles (manager, auditor, asset guarantor) and their rights and obligations. 

All UP norms, including the ineffective ones, divided by UP units, with the possibility of filtering and searching in them can be found by students and employees of UP after logging in to files.upol.cz.

In cooperation with the csfd.cz portal, we have prepared a quick competition for free tickets to the CineStar multiplex. Email us by Friday, February 24 at soutez@upol.cz with the correct answer to the contest question and one of the tickets could be yours! The contest question is: What is the name of the guide to the attractions of Palacký University, in which you can find recommendations for visiting the Botanical Garden, the Chapel, the Lookout or the Museum of Anatomy?

Did you miss the Pub Quiz – 450th Anniversary Special during Academic Week at the Jazz Tibet Club? Don't hang your head! The interactive knowledge quiz is free to play with friends or colleagues until 13 March. In five rounds, 56 questions about the university and Olomouc, music and pictures and, most importantly, at least two hours of fun await you. The quiz can be run on a computer, mobile phone or smart TV. After each round, the correct answers will come up, so you know where you stand and whether you need to work harder. See the full quiz rules for more information. Download the quiz (in Czech) by entering the password 3116f97420.