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Created as part of the project “Improving the strategic management at Charles University in the area of human resources in science and research”, reg. no. CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/16_028/0006210, supported from OP RDE. |
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Management of the faculties and other units of Charles University 4y | ||
Charles University and its four faculties was established in 1348 on the basis of a deed of foundation. The most important dates of the long history of the university can be found here. The historical seat of the university is the Carolinum, which has been a part of Charles University since the 14th century. The university’s insignia include the sceptres of the faculties and the medals of university dignitaries. The Institute of the History of Charles University and Archive of Charles University and the Charles University Museum document the history of the university.
The main activities of the university are its educational and creative (i.e. academic, research, developmental, and innovative) activities. The third role of the university concerns activities focusing on society – active involvement in social debates, the popularization of science, the transfer of practical knowledge and technology, etc.
The basic values of Charles University are the promotion of freedom, humanistic ideals, and democracy, continuous efforts to achieve superior results, the development of academic integrity, preserving academic freedom and autonomy, and fulfilling its duties to society above and beyond its primary activities.
Charles University is made up of 17 faculties, 13 additional units and the Rectorate. The head of the university is the Rector. The Rector is appointed and recalled by the President of the Czech Republic upon proposal of the Academic Senate. The Rector’s most important advisory body is the Rector’s Board, which is made up of vice-rectors who are responsible for their own portfolio of agendas, the Head of the Rector’s Office, the Bursar, the President of the Academic Senate, student representative, and other members appointed by the Rector. In addition, the deans of the faculties and the directors of the other units of Charles University are members of the Extended Rector’s Board.
Next to the rector, the Academic Senate, the Research Board, and the Internal Evaluation Board are self-governing bodies of the university. The Academic Senate of Charles University (the “large” senate) is elected by the academic community. Its powers include, for example, adopting internal regulations, strategic documents, approving the budget, and the selection of a candidate for the position of Rector. The Research Board of Charles University is involved, in particular, in creative activities, e.g. its most important competencies include decision-making relating to procedures for the appointment of professors, and in disputed cases, also procedures for associate professorships. The Internal Evaluation Board of Charles University deals, in particular, with ensuring the quality of education, creative and support activities, and approving programmes of study.
The Bursar manages the finances and internal administration of the university. The Board of Trustees ensures public interest at the university and also supervises its management.
The deans are the heads of the faculties and are appointed by the Rector upon proposal of the academic senates of the faculties. The dean’s closest advisory body is the dean’s board. The Bursar of the faculty is responsible for the management and internal administration of the faculty. The faculties have their own academic senates (the “small” senates”) which adopt the internal regulations of the faculties, their strategic documents, and the budgets, and elect the dean. In the same manner, the research boards of the faculties are involved in the creative activities and academic qualifications at the faculty level. In addition, the faculties establish disciplinary committees to deal with the disciplinary offences of students. You can find more information on each faculty here.
Other units (university institutes, other workplaces, and special facilities) are headed by their directors. University institutes have scientific and graduation councils.
The academic community is made up of academic staff and students. An academic member of staff is someone who carries out pedagogical and creative activities as an employee according to their job description. In addition to academic members of staff at the university, there are also people who carry out only teaching or research activities, as well as “other employees” (economic, administrative, technical, and professional staff and for manual workers, service employees, and business-operational employees). They, however, are not a part of the academic community. There is a Rector's Directive on who is "academic staff".
The Charles University´s strategic objectives are expressed in its five-year Strategic plan. The University's strategic plan is updated every year in its annual implementation plan. The university strategies are based on the strategic plan of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport and on the related faculty strategic documents. The annual fulfilment of the strategic plan is described in a status report. The basic information and data can be found in the Annual Report on Activities and Financial Management of Charles University. The faculties publish their own annual reports.
The fundamental legal regulation that governs public universities is the Higher Education Act. Other important regulations are the Act on the Support of Research and Development from Public Funds and several subordinate legal norms in the form of a decree of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport. As a part of its autonomous powers, the university adopts internal regulations, the most important of which is its Constitution. The internal regulations of Charles University are subject to registration at the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport. As a part of these regulations, the Rector may issue directives, which also have an impact on the entire university. Similarly, the faculties and other units adopt internal regulations, and the deans issue directives.
The university environment is not only characterized by academic freedom, but also ethics and academic integrity. Charles University has a Code of Ethics that defines the basic rules of conduct at Charles University. If the code is violated, a complaint may be filed with the Ethics Committee of Charles University, which will investigate the case when justified. Violations of regulations on the part of students are resolved by the disciplinary committee of the faculty where the student is enrolled. The process is regulated by the Disciplinary Code of Charles University and the related codes of the faculties. Some of the faculties also have their own ethics committees and codes of ethics. Special attention is being paid to sexual harassment prevention.
The academic calendar is issued every year as a Rector’s directive and establishes the start and end of a semester, the exam period, and holidays. Once a year, there is also a Rector’s Day. The faculties themselves specify, for example, the dates of enrolment in courses, the dates for submitting final theses, the dates of final state exams, and dean’s days in their own academic calendars.
The processing of personal data is regulated by a Rector’s directive, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The basic principles and obligations relating to the protection of data and personal data for instructors, researchers and other employees, as well as students are incorporated in these regulations. All information, including contacts for the university’s data protection officer, can be found here.
Charles University offers Bachelor’s study programmes, Master’s study programmes (“long” master’s”), and Master’s programmes that are a continuation of a Bachelor’s study programme (“continuing” master’s”). There are three modes of study: on-site, distance or a combination of these (combined studies). Programmes of study may be in all forms of study, i.e. full-time, part-time, and distance. Studies are organized in a credit system. Programmes of study at Charles University are offered without specialization, with specialization, and as programmes that combine knowledge and skills from two programmes, so called joint studies.
Studies are regulated in particular in the Code of Study and Examination and in the related faculty Rules of Study. Scholarships and bursaries are regulated by the Scholarships and Bursaries Rules of Charles University and the related faculty Rules for Awarding Scholarships and Bursaries.
All other practical information relating to studies can be found here.
PhD studies are based on the individual study plan of each student. Every PhD student studies in cooperation with their supervisor and under the supervision of the subject-area board. After defending their dissertation and taking the state PhD examination successful graduates are awarded the title Ph.D. The subject-area boards of similar study programmes are grouped in coordination boards. The PhD platform offers PhD students additional courses mostly oriented towards so called "soft skills“. All information on PhD studies can be found in the PhD studies manual.
As part of Charles University’s constant efforts to develop and strengthen its research base, the University is keen to recruit high-quality post-doctoral research fellows from abroad to work in top institutional or faculty centres and contribute to the University’s strong research profile. The goal of the International Post-Doc Research Fund is to attract promising post-docs who will carry out research within a specific field. Selection is carried out by the relevant research centre or department of the faculty (or other part of the University) responsible for research.
All courses, their syllabi, examination dates, final theses, and other important information are available in the Student Information System (SIS).
Charles University offers instructors LMS Moodle for e-learning, Adobe Connect for organizing webinars, StreamServer for uploading videos accessible only for internal needs, and the web library eCuni for publishing documents. All tools may be used for the education of students, employees, and the public. The Central Library of Charles University provides all the necessary methodological and technological support.
Charles University has acquired its institutional accreditation from the National Accreditation Bureau, which authorizes its autonomous competence to develop, manage and evaluate degree programmes for the next ten years. The Board for Internal Evaluation, which guarantees, supports and develops the provision and internal quality evaluation of the University's educational and creative activities. The Internal Evaluation Board guarantees, supports and develops the provision and internal quality evaluation of the University's educational including accreditation/self-approve of the degree programmes. The whole process is regulated by the University´s Accreditation Code.
If a student, by his/her own fault, breaches the obligations set out under law or in the regulations of Charles University or the faculty, the student commits a disciplinary offence. This relates in particular to cheating during an exam, copying, damaging the good reputation of the university, or plagiarism with respect to final theses or other student work. Disciplinary offences are deliberated by the faculty’s disciplinary committee, and the dean may decide even to expel a student. The process is regulated by the Disciplinary Code for students of CU and related codes of the faculties.
Graduates of Czech Master’s study programmes (“Mgr.”) may take the State Rigorosum Examination, defend their Rigorosum thesis, and obtain the so called “small doctorate” JUDr./PhDr./RNDr./PharmDr./ThLic./ThDr. in front of their name. The procedures are regulated by the Rigorosum Examination Code and related faculty Rules for the Organization of State Rigorosum Examinations (at those faculties that have Rigorosum procedures). Rigorosum procedures are not studies in the strict sense of the term.
As a part of educational activities, the university also provides lifelong learning (LL/CŽV). This involves programmes either profession-oriented, incl. internationally acknowledged courses, or interest-oriented, including the university of the third age and other internationally acknowledged courses. The terms are regulated by the Rules for Lifelong Learning, and the Lifelong Learning Centre is in charge of this area at Charles University. Some faculties that provide this service have their own lifelong learning regulations.
For final theses (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Rigorosum, and PhD), special attention must be paid to the originality of the work and personal data protection. The Turnitin system, in particular, is used at Charles University for checking the originality of theses and online support of academic writing. Qualification theses are also automatically controlled in the Student Information System with the Theses service. An overview of final theses defended at Charles University, including the full texts of these works and their assessments, can be found in the repository of theses.
Matriculation is a ceremonial act where students vow to fulfil their student obligations while respecting their moral obligations to the university, its regulations, and the decisions of academic officials. Graduation is a ceremonial farewell to the student during which the graduate takes an academic oath (in Latin) and receives the diploma from the promoter entitling them to use the academic titles they have attained.
Applicants, students, and employees with special needs are supported by the Centrum Carolina. They may take advantage of services, such as counselling, digitalization of study materials, assistance during studies, or borrowing special devices. The Carolina Centre is a part of CU Point (formerly the Centre for Information, Counselling, and Social Services).
Basic research includes theoretical, experimental or empirical work that primarily focuses on acquiring new knowledge about the most fundamental causes of phenomena and observable facts without addressing the use and exploitation of this knowledge. On the contrary, applied (targeted) research is experimental and theoretical work for acquiring new knowledge but that is clearly focused on specific, predetermined objectives for application.
The results of the creative activities (scientific, research, development, innovation, artistic and other creative activities) of the employees and students of Charles University are stored via the information system IS Věda.
The system of science support programs is a tool for long-term conceptual development of scientific activities at Charles University. It includes support for all categories of researchers at CU, from student projects through start-up grants for emerging scientists, basic support for postdoctoral students and juniors, support for excellence in extraordinarily fertile teams, and personal grants by an exceptional university personality. The backbone of the system consists of PROGRES programs, which provide basic institutional support for scientific activities at CU. Each program is dedicated to one broader field of science or interdisciplinary issues. Together they cover all the major scientific areas developed at CU, with the participation of most academic and scientific staff and doctoral students.
To promote scientific excellence, the UNCE program aims to provide a six-year perspective for the work of outstanding research groups bringing together experienced researchers, postdoctoral students and doctoral students. The PRIMUS program has been introduced to support young researchers to set up a new group or laboratory.
Donatio Universitatis Carolinæ is an award of prominent scientists of Charles University who make an extraordinary contribution to its professional prestige, next to it there is a competition of high quality monographs. The science support program system also includes support for student research activities through the CU Grant Agency (GACU) and a Specific Academic Research Projects competition. All of these programmes are introduced here.
The most common Czech grant opportunities are offered through Czech Science Foundation (GA CR), the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR), and programmes from various ministries. The most common European grants are provided through the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) as a part of Horizon2020 (from 2021, Horizon Europe). Advisory services in this area are provided by the university´s European Centre (EC).
A work created by an employee is a copyrighted work, the unique results of the creative activities of an author that were created as a part of employment at Charles University. The copyright to an employee’s work belongs to the employer. The details are regulated in Rector’s Directive no. 17/2018. The intellectual property rights for copyrighted works are regulated by Rector’s Directive no. 46/2018.
The transfer of knowledge and technology for practical application is handled at Charles University by the Centre for the Transfer of Knowledge and Technology (CPPT). The centre provides patent and legal advice in the area of commercialization and preparation of project applications and also has a network of innovative scouts at the faculties. In order to transfer research and knowledge to the real world, a subsidiary company was founded: Charles University Innovations Prague (CUIP).
Charles University has subscribed to a policy of open access (OA) in a joint declaration of the management of Charles University and the Academic Senate. Methodical guidance and support for OA is provided by the Central Library of Charles University and the network of libraries.
Initiatives relating to ethics in research are assessed by the Research Ethics Committee. The committee also proposes strategies, recommendations, and principles for ethics in research. The faculties and other units that are involved in research establish their own faculty committees for ethics in research.
Associate professorship procedures and procedures for appointing full professor take place at Charles University in branches that are accredited in accordance with the Code of Procedure for the Granting of Associate Professorships and Full Professorships. The recommended assessment criteria for the procedure of granting associate professorship and full professorship and further requirements to the committees, as well as the documents to be submitted are regulated by a related Rector’s directive.
The internationalization strategies of Charles University (2018 to 2021) present the basic framework for establishing priorities in the area of international cooperation up to the year 2021. This focuses on students, research collaboration, and the transfer of knowledge in the area of administration.
The 4EU+ Alliance was created as a part of the initiative of a European university alliance. In addition to Charles University, the alliance includes Heidelberg Universität, Sorbonne Université, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Università degli Studi di Milano, and Københavns Universitet. The objective is the very close cooperation of the institutions in all activities – instruction, research, and the administration and management of universities. At Charles University, the European Centre is in charge of 4EU+.
Charles University contributes to the activity of international organizations and university networks. As a result, it has valuable contacts and can jointly create a university educational and research environment. The most important alliances and organizations of which Charles University is a member are IAU, EUA, UNICA, Coimbra Group, Europaeum, CELSA, EARMA, and others.
Charles University closely collaborates with several first-class universities around the world as a part of multi-lateral and bi-lateral relations. This allows the university to concentrate its capacity more effectively. The Centre for Strategic Partnerships was created at Charles University to support these strategic relationships.
Charles University considers the work of employees abroad to be an integral part of their professional growth. They may work abroad as a part of ERASMUS+, the mobility fund, inter-university agreements or faculty agreements, and others.
The Staff Welcome Centre provides practical support to incoming employees from abroad and methodically supports the faculty staff in charge of this agenda.
The main principles of human resource policies are regulated by Rector’s directive no. 21/2018. It focuses on relationships between employees, education and professional growth, career development, balancing employees’ personal and professional lives, and benefits for employees. The relationships between Charles University as the employer and employees are also regulated in a collective agreement.
Benefits may differ for the individual faculties or units, so it would be advisable to consult the web pages of the specific unit. Charles University employees receive a contribution to meals in the form of vouchers (based on partial deductions from wages) or discounted meals in canteens, five or eight weeks of holiday, up to five days for personal development per year, the possibility of working from home - home office (under a contract), flexible working hours (for employees where this option is possible), a Multisport card, use of discounted sports facilities and Charles University recreational facilities, contributions from the social fund, and other benefits and discounts. Academic members of staff have eight weeks of holiday time and, in addition, are entitled under law to a sabbatical of six months once every seven years, provided there are no serious circumstances relating to the fulfilment of educational tasks. More on benefits can be found here.
The university offers further education of employees in social-psychological, managerial, language, and other competencies. The complete offer of university-wide educational programmes can be found on the Integrated Educational Portal, and employees may log on to this site via CAS using their log-on name CUnumber@cuni.cz. Instructions can be found here. Some faculties offer their employees additional training and other courses or other forms of education they provide.
The salaries of Charles University employees are based on the Internal Salary Regulation of Charles University. Employees are placed into wage categories according to their job description as follows: Academic member of staff I-4, Researcher I-3, Lecturer I-2, and Other employees I-8. In extraordinary cases contractual wages may be arranged in extraordinary cases.
Academic members of staff, and in certain cases, also other employees are selected using an open and transparent hiring procedure based on an assessment of merits set out in the Competitive Hiring Process Code. More details about the hiring process and the list of open vacancies are published on Career at CU website.
Based on the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, research institutions throughout Europe implement the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R). Successful institutions receive from the European Commission “HR Excellence in Research", i.e. the HR Award. Charles University received this prestigious award in February 2019, and its goal is to continually improve working conditions and retain the certificate.
At certain units of the university, employees may take meals at a discounted rate in several canteens, dispensaries, and cafeterias. Meals can be booked via a reservation system.
In general, accommodation for CU students and employees (and also for their families) is mainly provided by the Charles University dormitory office. The offer of accommodation depends on current available capacity. For more information, contacts and the catalogue of dormitories, please see this website, for a reservation, contact . Young academics and researchers up to 35 years may apply for a “starter flat”.
As a part of CU Point, employees may take advantage of the services of psychological, social, and legal counselling or coaching.
When starting their job, employees are required to take health and safety at the workplace training and fire training, personal data protection training, and an employee medical check-up. These must be retaken on a regular basis.
In addition, employees must announce to their employers any change of personal data and keep a record of their working hours allocated by their employers. In the event of a disability, doctor’s visit, business trip, request for time-off, or unpaid time-off, employees must contact the head of the workplace or HR department at the respective faculty or unit of Charles University. Smoking is prohibited at the workplace.
If the employees of Charles University need to purchase any goods or services (e.g. for performing their work or activities entrusted to them) using the university’s financial resources or funds entrusted to the university (subsidies, etc.), they are required to comply with the Rules for Public Procurement department at Charles University. More information on public procurement is available on the pages of the Public Procurement Office of the Rectorate of Charles University.
Employee ID cards are issued free of charge (there is only a fee for ITIC or ALIVE licences) by CU Point at five card service centres. The ID card can be used for discounts (e.g. lunches), entrance to certain buildings, for using university libraries, or discounts at external partners. Employees must arrange for their ID cards immediately on their first day of work. Without an ID card, employees do not have access to their work e-mail or other internal electronic systems at the university or its units.
The Central Authentication Service (CAS) is used to verify the identity of users by way of a log-on name and password for Charles University’s Information System, to set passwords for Eduroam, and others. For more information on user accounts and passwords, visit the web pages of the Computer Science Centre.
The WhoIS system functions as the central register of persons who have a relationship to Charles University (employees, students, participants in lifelong learning programmes, members of university or faculty bodies, etc.). WhoIS can be used to search for other employees, the organizational structure of Charles University, and at certain units, the electronic records of working hours and pay slips.
Charles University does not have one central building for the university library. The libraries are located at the individual faculties. The CU Central Catalogue is used to make general searches in the collections of all libraries. The recommended access to the electronic databases is via the Electronic Resources Portal. To perform an aggregate search of information resources, it is possible to use the central search service UKAŽ. In order to use the electronic databases, the licensing rules must be followed, in particular, employees may not provide any full texts in the electronic version to persons outside Charles University. More information in the section Charles University libraries.
Students and employees have the option of using Office 365 free of charge, including the cloud service OneDrive, SharePoint and basic programs for up to five devices.You can log in using <CUnumber>@cuni.cz; instructions can be found here.
The Wi-Fi network Eduroam is available in most buildings of the university and can be used by the students and employees of Charles University and other connected organizations (e.g. universities in the Czech Republic and abroad).
The entire university, with the exception of the 1st Faculty of Medicine, uses the system Electronic Records Management System (ERMS CU), which is for document and mail registration.
Charles University issues the magazine Forum and iForum as an electronic version. You can find the university on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Charles University communicates with media primarily through its spokesperson and representatives of the External Relations Office. Faculties and other units of the university have their own profiles on social networks, and some even publish their own magazines.
Each month, with the exception of summer break, CU Point sends all employees and students an electronic newsletter containing planned events, university news, and updated employee benefits.
The Unified Visual Style of Charles University sets a binding standard for the use of university and faculty emblems and other principles of visual communication.
The Central Library is not a traditional library but a central workplace for library information services at Charles University. The standard library services are provided by the libraries of the individual faculties and units. To use the services of the libraries of Charles University, you need to have an employee ID card and password to the Central Authentication Service (CAS). Based on the employee ID card and password for CAS, employees may register at the libraries by filling in an electronic application. To use the electronic resources portal, you only need to know your password for CAS.
University promotional merchandise may be purchased in the e-shop or at the physical shop at Celetná 14. Most of the faculties also have their own promotional merchandise.
CU Point provides information, counselling, and social services to employees, applicants, students, and graduates. CU Point includes the Staff Welcome Centre, the Carolina Centre, and the university shop.
The university has its own publishing house that publishes textbooks, academic monographs, professional journals, and proceedings. Some of the faculties also have their own publishing houses.
The Czech-English dictionary contains the principal terms used in the university environment. In order to unify the English terminology at Charles University, everyone should use.
Charles University
Ovocný trh 5
Prague 1
116 36
Czech Republic
CU Point - Centre for Information, Counselling and Social Services
E-mail:
Phone: +420 224 491 850
Erasmus+ info:
E-mail:
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