(This content has been translated automatically.)

 

Dear students, 

autumn leaves are slowly falling from the trees and on foggy mornings you often cannot even see the top of the tower of Olomouc Cathedral. At 100.65 m, it is the second tallest church tower in the Czech Republic, and from its gallery you can see the entire university town, which – like us – is slowly changing its winter coat.


But November is also one of the busiest months. This is evidenced by the university calendar (CZ version (= all events) | EN version), which features several different events for each day. As the Day of the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy and International Student Day approach, this week and next week also mark 35 years since the Velvet Revolution.

WHAT’S GOING ON AT UP

Briefly from the UP management meeting

At the management meeting on Wednesday, 6 November, we talked about the supported grant projects of GA CR or the issue of shared repositories of teaching materials used at UP. Read the full summary (in Czech) (after logging in the UP Portal), we will prepare another one for you in 14 days. More detailed information will be subsequently available 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.

The Academic Senate has announced the election of the Rector, which will take place in January

At its November meeting, the Academic Senate of the UP announced the procedure for the nomination of the Rector of the UP for the term of office from 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2029. Members of the academic community can submit proposals for candidates until 6 December 2024. For more information, see the special page.

UP Rector's Award for Sustainability 

Sustainability is not only about waste sorting or energy saving, but also about human rights, health or (in)equality issues. Have you defended a Bachelor's or Master's thesis that touches on one of the Sustainable Development Goals? Submit it to the first edition of the UP Rector's Award for Sustainability (in Czech). The author(s) of the award-winning thesis will receive a cash prize; the deadline for submissions is Monday 2 December. Details can be found on the Sustainable University website. (in Czech)

Help your health and nature with the November canteen offer

That one can sometimes skip meat is a known fact. Following the positive response to the expanded meat-free menu during the European Sustainable Development Week (in Czech), the university canteens are therefore offering one new plant-based and one meat-free meal every day throughout November. Enriching the menu with plant-based food is an opportunity to explore new flavours and help nature and health. You can give your feedback in a short questionnaire (EN friendly) during the month. Read more!

Public meeting of the UP Dormitory Council will answer questions of all residents

Are you staying in the UP dorms and have any questions, problems or ideas? Ask them in person at the UP Dormitory Council (in Czech) meeting on Wednesday, November 27 at 16:30 in the large meeting room of the Rector's Office (Křížkovského 8). Representatives of the management of the Dormitory and Canteen Administration and the UP Bursar's Office will also be present at the public meeting. Questions should be sent in advance via this form by Monday, November 18, 2025.

Last call: Werner von Siemens Prize

Publishing the results of your scientific work and showing them to the world is extremely important in today's competitive environment - and those who do not do so are almost as if they have not done any research. The Werner von Siemens Prize (in Czech) can help students, educators and scientists in engineering, science and medicine to do just that. Help expand the ranks of UP laureates by nominating yourself or someone else by November 30. If the nominee wins, the person who recommended him or her will receive 10,000 CZK. The financial reward is, of course, linked to the awards themselves: 1,000,000 CZK will be distributed among this year's winners. You can apply or nominate someone on the award website (in Czech).

QUESTIONNAIRES AND SURVEYS

How do we cross level crossings safely? Help the research!

Správa železnic ve spolupráci s katedrou psychologie Filozofické fakulty UP provádí průzkum chování řidičů na rizikových železničních přejezdech. Cílem je zvýšit bezpečnost a omezit počet dopravních nehod. Dotazník se zaměřuje na to, jak řidiči vnímají dopravní situace na přejezdech a jak lze infrastrukturu zlepšit. Vaše odpovědi jsou anonymní a pomohou lépe chránit účastníky provozu. Dotazník, který zabere jen pár minut, najdete zde.

LECTURES AND EDUCATION

One million species are threatened with extinction. What's next?

How much of the Earth's biodiversity have we not yet discovered? How many species remain undiscovered? The Sustainable University invites you to a lecture in English by Prof. Piotr Skubała from the Silesian University in Katowice, which will take place on 22 November at 9:30 a.m. in the auditorium of the Faculty of Science (classroom 2.001, main building on the 17. listopadu street).

 

We also invite you to the workshop How to teach about climate differently and the lecture Community energy and electricity sharing: why, what and how? – More information and links to registration can be found on the Sustainable University website. (in Czech)

Element Talks: art, animation, design

We invite you to Element Talks (in Czech) at Olomouc Design Days! This evening dedicated to graphic design, animation and art will take place on November 26th at 5:30 pm at Element Coworking (in Czech) in the Envelopa Hub building. You can look forward to inspiring guests such as animator and illustrator Pavla Baštanová, street art artist Tomáš (Pauser) Junker and AFO Festival Art Director Radim Měsíc, who will present their work and experiences. Capacity is limited, so don't forget to reserve (in Czech) your place. The discussion is held in cooperation with the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the Faculty of Arts UP (in Czech).

Current offers of international courses, scholarships and internships

Keep an eye on the International Cooperation website, where offers for foreign trips, internships and scholarship opportunities are added almost every day. Invitations to various places around the world can be found in this current article (in Czech), but also check out other individual news on the International Cooperation website!

INVITATIONS

Semester City Tour of Olomouc

On Tuesday, November 19, 2024, we will hold the traditional Olomouc city tour. We invite all students and staff of Palacký University who want to learn more about the history of our city and university to join us for this unique opportunity. The tour will be held in English. Register here.

UP Together: Ice Skating and Christmas Atmosphere

We continue our meetings for national and international students within the UP Together initiative. This time, we look forward to the Christmas atmosphere and lots of fun - come and join us for ice skating! No registration required. Read more.

New Article from UP Chronicles

Welcome Office ambassador Inna Arakelova, a student at the Faculty of Arts, has prepared a new article where she shares her experiences of the autumn semester at the faculty and university. Read her story here.

Programme on the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution at UP

UP is commemorating this year's 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution with several events. Already today (13 November) in the Church of Our Lady of the Snows, the events of 17 November 1989 will be commemorated during a student mass, which will be celebrated for UP students and staff from 19:00. The main programme is planned for the weekend, and Monday will offer a special pub quiz on International Student Day. Full programme at upol.cz/17listopad (in Czech).

Discussion on Artificial Intelligence in Art and Law

The Faculty of Law together with the Olomouc Museum of Art prepared a discussion on artificial intelligence in art and law. Guests will be artist and performer Vladimír Havlík and Barbora Kundračíková - curator of the Olomouc Museum of Art. Vladimír Havlík is the author of the AI Monument, which decorates the facade of the Faculty of Law. What does AI offer us in a creative space? How is it tricky? What are the rules of artistic appropriation? And how does copyright law deal with them? These will also be the topics of the meeting that will take place on 25 November at 17:00 at the Law School. Daniel Pospíšil from PF UP will moderate the meeting. Due to limited capacity, advance reservations are required.

The FFest Festival of Student Creativity is in full swing!

Slam poetry with the biggest stars in the field, a cruelly unfashionable afterparty, student author readings, an unconventional exhibition @upol.memes, a book swap, discussions with interesting guests from the world of film and literature or an evening of staged reading and, finally, on Saturday 16 November, a free screening of Jiří Mádl's film Vlny/Waves at the Metropol cinema – you can still experience all of this as part of the festival. More information about FFest can be found on the website (in Czech).

St. Nicholas bar

The Faculty of Physical Culture invites all athletes across the UP to participate in the St. Nicholas' bar – the UP indoor athletics championship in the high jump, which will also include an embedded race in the 60 m run. The competition will take place on Monday, December 2, from 17:30 in the athletics hall of AK Olomouc on 17 November Street, and prizes will be given out not only for the best performances, but also for St. Nicholas masks. More information on the website. (in Czech)

NEW STANDARDS

  • Statutes of the Administration of Dormitories and Canteens of UP – Amendment No. 2
    This amendment to the UP internal standard, effective from 1 November 2024, (in Czech) is addressed to all UP employees. The subject of the amendment is the renaming of Šmeralova dormitory to Josef Jařab dormitory.

     

  • UP University Dorms Regulations – Amendment No. 4 
    This amendment to the UP internal standard, effective from 1 November 2024, (in Czech) is addressed to all UP employees and students. The subject of the amendment is the renaming of Šmeralova dormitory to Josef Jařab dormitory.

    All UP standards, 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.