Principles Applicable to Progres Programmes

(Consolidated Rector’s Directive No. 16/2016 as amended by Rector’s Directive No. 9/2018)

Article I Introductory Provision

Progres programmes are in accordance with the 2016-2020 Long-term Plan of CU designed for the institutional support for the development of research at CU using the financial resources provided by the state to the University as “institutional support for long-term conceptual development of a research organisation”. They relate to the programmes for the development of research areas at CU (“PRVOUK”), implemented in the 2012-2016 period.

Progres programmes are a primary non-competitive tool for institutional support for research at CU. It is expected that the programmes will include all main academic fields to be further developed at Charles University and that majority of members of the academic staff and researchers of CU will be involved in their implementation.

One of the main objectives of the Progres programmes is support for communication and mutual cooperation between faculties and higher education institutes of CU within closely related academic fields and in interdisciplinary research. Financial bonuses are incentives for such cooperation: they are awarded to faculties for the implementation of joint Progres programmes and also for international cooperation, and for the implementation of research that is unique on the European or global scale.

Article II Progres Programme

1. The Progres programme (“the Programme”) joins members of academic staff, researchers and other staff members of CU and students in doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s programmes of study who within the Programme deal with one academic field in the widest sense or with interdisciplinary issues (“research area”).

2. The goal of the Programme is to improve the position of CU in the given research area in national and in particular international rankings; and also to maintain or develop mutual cooperation between faculties and higher education institutes of CU, international cooperation, or unique research in the European or global context.

3. The Programme may be implemented at a faculty or the Institute of the History of Charles University and Archives of Charles University, Centre for Theoretical Study, Centre for Economic Research and Graduate Education, Environment Centre of Charles University (“the higher education institutes”), or at several such units of CU jointly (“joint Programme”).

4. An identical or similar research area must be researched within one Programme unless this is prevented by the nature of the research area or manner of its implementation so far at CU. If an identical or similar research area is to be researched within several Programmes, the focus of such programmes must be clearly differentiated.

5. The Programme is managed by the Programme Council (“the Council”) chaired by the coordinator. The Council is composed of no fewer than five and usually no more than fifteen members. Only members of the academic staff and researchers of CU who can show international achievements in the given research area may become members of the Council. If it is a joint Programme, the Council must include at least one member from each participating faculty (higher education institute).

6. The coordinator is a member of the academic staff or a researcher employed for a majority full time equivalent (“FTE”) at CU or at a joint establishment of CU and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Akademie věd ČR, v. v. i.); if it is a staff member assigned to a faculty of medicine the condition of majority FTE applies to a sum of FTEs at CU and at the relevant university hospital; the FTE at CU must always be at least 0.5. The Programme coordinator may not be a member of a Council of another Programme.

7. The powers of the Council include in particular the conceptual and coordination issues related to the implementation of the Programme and directing the principal activities in the Programme. The coordinator and the Council are authorised to request information and opinions from the researchers within the Programme in both oral and written form.

8. The Council meets at least twice a year; the Rector and the dean of a participating faculty or their representatives or the director of a participating higher education institute may participate in the Council meeting and also request the coordinator or the Programme Council to provide information or opinions. Members of expert commissions (see Article III paragraph 5) may also participate in the meetings of the Council.

9. The Programme implementation period is five years.

Article III Programme Application

1. The coordinator, together with members of the Council nominated and notified by the coordinator to the deans of the faculties involved (or directors of higher education institutes involved), drafts the Programme application. After it has been discussed by the research boards of all faculties (higher education institutes) of CU where the relevant Programme is to be implemented, the Programme application is submitted by 20 October 2016 in one printed copy to the Research Support Office of the Rectorate of CU and at the same time it is sent in electronic version (in Word format) to the email address progres@ruk.cuni.cz.

2. The Programme application includes:

   a.	Programme name;
   b.	Research area in accordance with the code list in IS VaVaI,
   c.	Brief description of the Programme;
   d.	Details of the coordinator;
   e.	Details of the nominated Council members;
   f.	Approximate information about the number of persons to be involved in the Programme and potentially also details of the key persons to be involved in the Programme;
   g.	Identification of the faculties and higher education institutes of the University where the Programme is to be implemented;
   h.	Description of the programme including its relations to existing research results; critical evaluation of the position of the research area at CU in the national and international context; proposal of key steps to be taken to improve that position within the time frame of the Programme implementation, justification of and approximate timetable for the steps, indicators of improvement ;
   i.	Information for determining the amount of the bonus for international cooperation or the bonus for unique research on the European or global scale;
   j.	In the case of joint Programmes, the expected percentage of financial resources allocated by individual participating faculties (higher education institutes) in the first year of Programme implementation and an approximate outlook for the subsequent four years;
   k.	Signature of the coordinator;
   l.	Signatures of the deans (directors) of all faculties (higher education institutes) involved in the Programme.

3. The application must be submitted on a standard application form. The sections of the application under paragraph 2 (a), (b) and (c) are completed in both the Czech and English languages, while the remaining sections of the application are completed in the Czech language.

4. In addition to the application, it is necessary to submit a draft agreement for the implementation of the Programme in one printed copy and one electronic version in compliance with the elements stipulated in Article IV.

5. Programme applications are reviewed by three field-specific expert commissions (“the Commission”). The members of the Commissions are nominated by the Vice-Rector for Research in cooperation with the Vice-Rector for Projects and Publishing and are approved by the Research Board of CU. The members of the Commissions are appointed and removed from office by the Rector.

6. After the Programme applications were reviewed by the Commissions, they are discussed by the Research Board of CU in particular with respect to the quality of data under paragraph 2 (h), the research profile of the members of the Council, and the adequacy of numbers in paragraph 2(f). The submitted application is always reviewed separately, it is not compared to other applications; this does not affect the provision of Article II para. (6), the second sentence.

7. If the Research Board of CU does not recommend the Programme to be announced, it must justify such decision in detail. The Rector initiates, without undue delay, a meeting of all involved parties (representatives of the parties) and the coordinator so that a new draft can be submitted to the Research Board of CU. If such new draft is not recommended for announcement, the Rector decides on the steps to be taken and informs the Research Board of CU and the Academic Senate of CU of the decision.

8. Programmes are announced by the Rector. The applications of announced Programmes are published on the CU website.

9. Potential conflict between the opinions of the Research Board of CU and research board of a faculty (or higher education institute) is always discussed by the Rector with the deans of the relevant faculties (directors of higher education institutes) and the Rector informs of the result the Research Board of CU and the Academic Senate of CU.

Article IV Agreement to Implement a Programme; Economic Matters

1. The details of implementation of the Programme and management of the allocated resources are regulated in the agreement to implement a Programme (“the Agreement”). The Agreement is signed by persons authorised to sign the Programme application and the Rector.

2. The coordinator and the dean of a faculty (director of higher education institute) are responsible for compliance with the conditions of the relevant Decision to Grant Institutional Support for Long-term Conceptual Development of a Research Organisation issued by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports. They are also responsible for the proper spending and economical use of the allocated resources; the details are regulated in the Agreement. The resources allocated to the Programme may be spent exclusively in relation to implementation of the Programme unless they include supplementary and overhead costs under paragraph 5.

3. The Agreement regulates the powers of the coordinator so that they always include:

   a.	Proposals for remuneration and extraordinary bursaries/scholarships for the persons doing research within the Programme at a share of 10% of the total expenses for salaries paid from the resources allocated to the Programme, unless a higher share is stipulated in the Agreement;
   b.	Decisions on the spending of operating resources or submitting proposals for their spending within the scope stipulated in the Agreement; and
   c.	Proposals for making expenses for the acquisition of long-term tangible and intangible property within the scope stipulated in the Agreement.

   Unless the proposal of the coordinator under letter (a) is contradictory to an internal regulation of the University, internal regulation of a faculty (higher education institute), a Rector’s directive or a dean’s (director’s) directive, the dean (director) approves such proposal providing that it is not against good morals.

4. The Agreement may also include a more detailed distribution of powers between the coordinator and the Council including a potential role of the Council or a Council member in submitting the proposals under paragraph 3.

5. The maximum amount of supplementary and overhead costs of a faculty (higher education institute) is stipulated in the Agreement and may not exceed 20% of the current resources allocated to the Programme (including the possible bonus) .

6. Ongoing control over the spending of financial resources is carried out by the faculties (higher education institutes). The records of persons involved in the Programme and other necessary data are kept by the faculty (higher education institute); the details of the registration of persons doing research within a Programme will be stipulated in a separate Rector’s directive.

7. In the case of a change in data under paragraphs 1 to 5, an appendix to the Agreement is made. The Rector may authorise a dean (director) to approve certain changes.

Article V Programme Funding and Bonuses

1. The sum of resources for the Programmes forms part of the budget of CU for the given calendar year and is determined in accordance with the rules set out in the Principles for Distribution of Contributions and Subsidies at Charles University for the given calendar year (“the Principles”).

2. Every year, 2% of the total amount of resources for Programmes is earmarked for Programme bonuses; the remaining 98% is designated for the implementation of the Programmes. Programme bonuses form part of the Programme budget.

3. The types of financial bonuses for Programmes and the mode of determination of the amount of bonus is regulated in a separate Rector’s directive.

4. Every year the Rector informs the deans of faculties (directors of higher education institutes) of the planned total amount of financial resources (excluding bonuses) which are to be allocated in accordance with the approved Principles to the faculty (higher education institute) for the implementation of Programmes. The dean of faculty (director of higher education institute) together with the coordinators of Programmes implemented at the faculty (higher education institute) submit to the Rector, within the deadline stipulated by the Rector, the proposal for the distribution of resources allocated to the faculty (higher education institute) to individual Programmes; in the case of a joint Programme to the part of such Programme assigned to the given faculty (higher education institute) upon agreement with the remaining participating faculties (higher education institutes). The proposal must be approved by the academic senate of the given faculty; this approval granted on an annual basis may be replaced by a previous approval of long-term general rules for drafting of the proposal.

5. Together with the proposal under paragraph 4 it is necessary to submit an overview of long-term tangible and intangible property having a value exceeding the value stipulated in a legal regulation for a small-scale public contract that should be acquired in the given year. Acquisition of such property is monitored on the University level so that there is no undesirable duplicity.

6. If the Commission or Research Board of CU identifies any serious deficiencies, the Rector may decide to restrict or stop funding of the relevant Programme based on recommendation of the Research Board of CU. The Rector informs the Research Board of CU and the Academic Senate of CU of such decision.

Article VI Progress Report, Status Report, and Final Report

1. A progress report is submitted after the first and third year of implementation of the Programme within the deadline stipulated by the Rector. It reports on the past calendar year and contains in particular a brief overview of implementation of the Programme, a list of the most important outputs, a general overview of spent financial resources, and an update of data under Article III (2) (f), if any.

2. A status report is submitted after the second and fourth year of implementation of the Programme within the deadline stipulated by the Rector. It reports on the period of implementation of the Programme to date and contains in particular summary information on the Programme implementation and a list of the most important outputs in particular with respect to the implementation of the steps under Article III (2) (h). The status report also contains a general overview of the financial resources spent and an update of data under Article III (2) (f) and (h), if any. The status report submitted after the second year of implementation of the Programme also contains the data for the new determination of the amount of the bonus.

3. The status report is reviewed by the Commission and then discussed by the Research Board of CU; the provision of Article III (6) second sentence applies by analogy. If the Research Board of CU identifies, based on the status report submitted after two years of implementation of the Programme, serious deficiencies in the implementation of the Programme, it proposes to the Rector a manner of correction or mitigation and the Rector then discusses the issue with the coordinator and deans of the relevant faculties (directors of higher education institutes).

4. The final report of the Programme is submitted within six months of the end of the implementation of the Programme.

5. Further details of the content of the progress, status, and final reports and of their submission and discussion may be stipulated in a Rector’s directive.

Article VII Common, Transitional, and Final Provisions

1. The activities related to Programmes and procedures under this directive are coordinated by the Vice Rector for Projects and Publishing in cooperation with the Vice-Rector for Research, and the administrative work is performed by the Research Support Office of the Rectorate of the University.

2. Any major changes to individual Programmes are discussed by the Research Board of CU. Changes in data concerning the Programme are approved by the Rector or his representative, usually based on a joint proposal of the dean (director) and the coordinator; the Rector may authorise the dean (director) to approve certain changes.

3. Stating the dedication in the published outputs created within the Programme is not obligatory; its possible wording is fully within the powers of individual faculties (higher education institutes). However, all published outputs must state the exact affiliation of the authors to CU and the specific faculty (higher education institute) in accordance with the applicable Rector’s directive. It is also necessary to state Progres as the source of funding in accordance with the applicable Rector’s directive for all outputs of the Programme in OBD application.

4. After discussing the status reports under Article VI (3), the Rector submits to the Research Board of CU and the Academic Senate of CU an overall report on the status of the Programmes to date.

5. If changes are made in the course of implementation of the Programmes to Act No. 130/2002 Sb., as amended, or other relevant legal regulations causing significant changes in the conditions of institutional support for the development of research at CU, the Rector submits, sufficiently in advance, the proposed steps to be taken at CU to the deans of faculties, directors of higher education institutes, the Research Board of CU, and the Academic Senate of CU.

6. The proposed structure of programmes for the support of research at CU since 2017 of which Progres programmes form an integral part was approved on 22 January 2016 by the Academic Senate of CU and on 28 January 2016 by the Research Board of CU. The draft of this directive was discussed on 18 April 2016 and 16 May 2016 by the Rector’s Board, on 26 May 2016 by the Research Board of CU, on 30 May 2016 by the extended Rector’s Board and on 3 June 2016 by the Academic Senate of CU.

7. This directive becomes effective on 15 June 2016.