(This content has been translated automatically.)

Dear employees, 

Did it ever happen to you that you didn't know something that the sparrows on the roof were chirping about? Just to make sure it doesn't happen to you, we're sending you another edition of the university newsletter to mark the first day of spring and World Sparrow Day. In it, we've picked out the most important things that have happened, are happening and will happen at the university.

WHAT'S GOING ON AT UP

At the last management meeting on Wednesday 13/3/2024, there was discussion about security measures or increasing the housing stipend. The UP Internal Assessment Board is looking into a proposal to replace the final undergraduate thesis with an alternative form of demonstrating student competence for some of the Faculty of Arts' degree programmes. 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 subsequently be 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 university has in recent days introduced measures against unwanted visitors on campus (in Czech). The reception desk at the 17 November Residence Hall has resumed operations and security guards are in place throughout the campus. Also, the passage between the main canteen and the Šmeralova dormitory and canteen is closed (in Czech).

On Maundy Thursday, March 28, the main canteen will be open only until 2:30 pm. Other canteens and FreshUP bistros will have standard opening hours.

Are you struggling with personal, study, work or other problems and feel the need to solve them? Do you need advice on law, healthy living, sustainability, or perhaps business, projects and grants? Take advantage of the counselling services provided by our university. You can find a wide range of them in the new signpost on the website upol.cz/counselling.

Thanks to our partnership with the Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon, this year we are also offering university employees the opportunity to get free registrations for the dm Family Mile, which is a traditional part of the Olomouc Half Marathon. If you are interested in a registration code, please send an e-mail to soutez@upol.cz by Wednesday, April 3, stating how many codes you are interested in. Given the limited number of free registrations, your speed is the deciding factor!

The Olomouc Majáles of Palacký University (in Czech) will again enrich the festival spring in the city. In three days, it will offer a lot of music, film and theatre, the largest showcase of student and non-profit organizations, competitions, talks, exhibitions and workshops for everyone. All this with the subtitle Without Borders on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union. Every day you can look forward to a different programme in a different location and great concerts by Bára Poláková, Pam Rabbit, Michal Horák or the Slovak DJ duo Malalata. Follow on FB and web!

Also this year, corresponding authors from UP can continue to publish their articles in open access in selected journals of ten publishers at a discount or directly without having to pay the open access fee (APC). Free and unrestricted open access publishing applies to Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Royal Society of Chemistry, IOP Science and American Chemical Society (only in hybrid journals). SAGE and De Gruyter provide significant fee discounts to UP authors. In the case of Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature and Wiley, the contract covers only hybrid journals and the number of subscription articles for UP is limited. For more information, please visit openscience.upol.cz or the consortium website czechelib.cz. In case of questions, you can write to open@upol.cz.

You can also sign up for a series of Open Science courses (in Czech). On the agenda are open publishing, cybersecurity, copyright, research data management and F.A.I.R. principles, project funding and commercialisation of results. You can apply now via the CŽV Portal or the links in the article (in Czech).

An extensive advisory network has been established at UP, three faculties have their own ombudsmen, and the fourth is currently holding elections for ombudsmen. What is the awareness of students and workers at UP about the possibilities of help in case of unethical behaviour? The results can be found on the Fair University website (in Czech).

VOLUNTEERING AND TEMPORARY JOBS

Academic Sport Center UP (in Czech) is looking for leaders, assistant instructors, coaches, medical staff and warehouse workers for summer suburban camps. It is also looking for sports program instructors and qualified archery or fitness instructors.

Do you want to experience the festival differently and help with the organization? Join the AFO59 crew! If you are interested in joining us and want to know more info, email stab@afo.cz.

The Divadelní Flora festival, which will take place in Olomouc from 9 to 20 May, is also looking for volunteers. If you are interested and want to know more info, please write to petra.pankova@divadelniflora.cz by March 30. In the next newsletters you can also look forward to a competition for tickets!

LECTURES AND COURSES

There is no doubt that the results of scientific work need to be published. However, it is equally important to popularise research and the work of scientists – that is, to bring it closer to the public. The upcoming AFO Popular Science Film Festival will therefore also include two science communication workshops. They will be led by experts from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, UP's partner in the Aurora network. Sign up by the end of March!

How did the West go from the New Age to the cult of Donald Trump, and why is our culture the deepest battleground of the information war? Alexandra Alvarova is a journalist, political communication and online propaganda expert. The lecture (in Czech) will take place on March 26th at 3 pm in the auditorium of the Faculty of Education of UP.

Lovers of Old English poetry and those interested in translation have a unique opportunity to delve deeper into the famous heroic poem Beowulf. The lecture and discussion "The Borrowed World or On Translating Beowulf" (in Czech) will take place on Wednesday, April 3 at 5 pm in Room 3.05 at the Department of English and American Studies, Faculty of Arts, UP (Křížkovského 10, back wing).

Would you like to finally break down your inhibitions when communicating in German? Sign up for the AKTION Czech-Austria Summer Colleges! Every year, students from the Czech Republic and Austria meet in České Budějovice and Poděbrady with one common goal: to learn the language of the partner country and thus improve mutual understanding. More info and other offers can be found on the International Cooperation (in Czech) website.

INVITATIONS

Donate Life campaign arrives in Olomouc. Come on Thursday 21 March (8:30-16:30) in front of the Faculty of Law of UP and expand the bone marrow donor register (in Czech). The recruitment is coordinated by Alma Mater under the umbrella of the Czech Hematopoietic Cell Donor Registry IKEM. Donors enter the registry anonymously and under a barcode. The event is part of the International Conference of Municipal Police, which is co-organized by the PF UP.

There are 19 Easter caches in the centre of Olomouc, especially in places connected with the university and student life. Now you have to find them! The hints will lead you (in Czech) to the hiding places. Be sure to register (in Czech) before you start your search. There are prizes for the most successful and fastest searchers. The game runs from March 20 to April 30; for more information, visit the FB or IG of the Society of Students of the Department of Social Sciences of the Faculty of Education of UP.

EGEA is looking for the Olomouc GeoGuessr champion! The game consists of appearing on Google Streetview in a random place on the planet. Your task is to find out where you are by what you see. The winner is the one who hits it the fastest and closest to the actual location. You can compete in teams of three on April 2 at 6:00 p.m. at the Faculty of Science (17. listopadu 12, room 5.007). More info and registration at olomouc@egea.eu.

The Department of Sport of the Faculty of Physical Culture of UP invites you to the 20th year of the UP Rope Climbing Championship (in Czech). Athletes from all parts of the university can take part in it, competing on 4.5-meter and 8-meter ropes. The fastest climbers will be awarded the title of UP Champion/Premier for 2024, a medal and a diploma. The championship will take place on Tuesday, March 26, at 5 pm in the Hynais Gymnasium.

The One World International Human Rights Film Festival (in Czech) starts on 2 April at the Metropol cinema. The event, supported by UP, will highlight dozens of stories about human rights and their violations, as well as the brave actions of people around us. It will focus on climate change, freedom of speech, independent justice, identities and artificial intelligence. The festival will take place in Olomouc from 2 to 6 April 2024 in several venues, including the auditorium of the Cyril and Methodius Theological Faculty (in Czech).

NEW STANDARDS

• Issuance of documents on graduation from studies, lifelong learning programme and rigorous proceedings at UP – Amendment No. 2

  This amendment to the UP internal standard, effective from 15 March 2024, (in Czech) is intended for UP employees, CŽV and MUK participants. It responds to UP's involvement in the NPO for the field of higher education for 2022-2024, specific objective C1 – Improving the accessibility of education at the level of higher education through microcertificates, adds the concept of a microcertificate CŽV programme and completes or amends some provisions concerning documents of completion of CŽV programmes, microcertificate CŽV programmes and competences of UP units and UP employees; it also expands the number of annexes – 4 new annexes are inserted.
  
  

• Accommodation scholarships at UP for the period January-June 2024

  This internal UP standard, effective from 18 March 2024, (in Czech) is intended mainly for UP students and other UP employees. It sets the amount of the accommodation grant for the period January-June 2024.
  
  

• Principles of the UP Junior Grant Competition – Amendment No. 3 

  This amendment to the UP internal standard, effective from 20 March 2024, (in Czech) is intended for UP employees and regulates the announcement of the call for project proposals.

   

  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.

COMPETITION

Palacký University is a proud partner of the Mattoni Olomouc 1/2Marathon again this year! The biggest running festival in Moravia will take place on Saturday 15th June and you have the opportunity to run the main race for free and compete for the UP Rector's Cup (in Czech). We are currently competing for a registration for the main race worth CZK 2,100. Just email us the correct answer to the competition question to soutez@upol.cz by Wednesday 27 March and the registration can be yours. Question: What is the name of last year's winner of the UP Rector's Cup?