The Principles of Awarding the Donatio Universitatis Carolinæ Chair Research Support

Translator’s note¹

Article 1 – Initial Provisions

1. In accordance with its Strategic Plan, Charles University (hereinafter referred to as the “University”) hereby announces the principles of awarding the Donatio Universitatis Carolinæ Chair research support. The aim is to support (for a minimum period of six months and a maximum of two years) senior researchers with sufficient experience (usually researchers with long-term experience abroad or researchers coming from abroad, mid-career researchers, R3 established researchers, i.e., those who have had a Ph.D. degree for 8 or more years).

2. The support should contribute to the future development of a certain field. It is aimed at increasing the international competitiveness of the faculties and higher education institutes of the University (hereinafter referred to as the “Faculties” and “Institutes”) by means of supporting researchers who are able to bring new ideas and innovative approaches to their fields.

Article 2 – Conditions for Submitting a Proposal

1. The call for proposals is held in two rounds.

2. In the first round, the Rector’s Board (hereinafter referred to as the “RB”) will invite the Faculties and Institutes to propose field-specific subjects. These subjects must be in accordance with the Strategic Plan of the Faculty and University and its priorities. The RB will choose five subjects from the proposed total for the given year. The Faculties and Institutes may also propose a joint subject.

3. In the second round, the Faculties and Institutes will nominate a specific researcher (hereinafter referred to as the “candidate”) within the selected subjects.

4. The nomination is submitted by the dean of the relevant Faculty or director of the Institute. A single Faculty or Institute may submit more than one nomination within the selected subjects.

5. Faculties and Institutes which are active in the same fields/research areas may agree to support a joint candidate. In such case, the nomination is submitted by the deans and directors of all participating Faculties and Institutes together.

6. The candidate must come from a research area falling within the five defined subjects and must have had a Ph.D. degree for 8 or more years.

7. As a rule, two candidates will be selected for the support each year.

8. The nominations are submitted one year before the planned start of employment of the researcher at the Faculty or Institute; the researcher may start his employment sooner if there is a mutual agreement with the Faculty or Institute.

Article 3 – Structure of Funding

1. The funding will be provided from the institutional support of the University and from the financial means of the Faculties and Institutes. The support funding is divided into:

   a.	personnel costs;
   b.	scholarships;
   c.	operational costs, travel expenses, services;
   d.	costs of the acquisition of long-term tangible and intangible property;
   e.	supplementary and overhead costs in a maximum amount of 15% of the total of non-investment financial means (this condition applies separately to the funds provided by the University and to the funds provided by the Faculty or Institute).

2. The University will support one candidate up to a maximum amount of CZK 5 million for a maximum period of 24 months (a single nomination entitles a candidate to receive the support for a maximum period of 24 months).

3. The allocated funds will be transferred to the Faculty which will release them to pay for any costs purposefully incurred by the selected recipient of the support.

4. Beyond the scope of the support from the University as specified in the previous paragraph, the Faculty or Institute contributes at least 25 % of the amount.

5. Any unused funding allocated by the University, up to a maximum amount of 5% of the originally allocated financial means, may be transferred to the Faculty’s or Institute’s fund of resources for a defined purpose.

Article 4 – Proposal of a Subject – 1st Round

1. The proposal of a subject should not exceed two A4 size sheets.

2. The proposal should include:

   a.	Reasons for selecting the subject and explanation of its place in the Strategic Plan of the Faculty/University, and
   b.	Explanation why it is necessary to focus on the given subject at the University.

Article 5 – Nomination of a Candidate – 2nd Round

1. The nomination of a candidate should not exceed five A4 size sheets and it is submitted via an online form.

2. The nomination should include:

   a.	Approval of the submitted nomination by the dean of the Faculty or director of the Institute;
   b.	Identification of the Faculty or Institute, specification of the unit, and identification of the field of study according to the internal classification;
   c.	Details of the candidate (a professional CV and a description of professional career history);
   d.	Reasons for the nomination;
   e.	Information about the contribution of the candidate, including specific indicators;
   f.	Description of the role and activities of the candidate;
   g.	Conditions and resources;
   h.	Amount and specification of the required funding for the entire period of the support;
   i.	Financial feasibility.

Article 6 – Evaluation of the Nominations

1. A nomination will be submitted by the dean of a Faculty or director of an Institute. The nomination will be discussed by a commission appointed by the Rector which will be composed of members of the RB. The minimum number of commission members is three. Minutes will be taken during the commission meeting.

2. The following criteria, in particular, will be evaluated when considering each nomination:

   a.	The research activities of the candidate so far with an emphasis being placed on original outputs and international cooperation, including foreign stays and international projects;
   b.	If it is probable that the presence of the researcher will lead to the formation of a new permanent research group;
   c.	The experience of the candidate (e.g., his ability to create and lead research projects, his experience with grant applications and budget management, his experience with the supervision of doctoral students and possibly with mentoring of younger colleagues);
   d.	How important focusing on the given subject is for the Faculty or Institute and if it could potentially lead to greater competitiveness within Europe.

3. The order and proposal of the support is submitted for consideration to the RB.

4. After consideration and evaluation of the nominations, the RB will publish the final order of the nominations, including a proposal for awarding or withholding financial support.

5. For nominations which the RB proposes to support, the RB will approve the amount of the funding, recommend adjustment thereof, or recommend that the Faculty or Institute increase their co-financing.

6. All proposals by the RB will be considered by the Research Board of Charles University (hereinafter referred to as the “CURB”); the result will be also submitted to the International Board of Charles University for consideration.

7. The Rector decides to award the support on the basis of the opinion given by the RB and CURB.

8. If the support is refused either by the Faculty or Institute or by the candidate, the next nomination with the best evaluation result will be selected automatically.

9. There is no legal right to the support.

Article 7 – Agreement on the Use of the Support, Clearing, Interim Report, Final Report and Publication of Outputs

1. The details of the award of the support, allocation of funding and financial management are regulated in an agreement on the allocation of funding (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement“).

2. The Agreement is concluded between the University, the Faculty or Institute and the recipient of the support. If more Faculties or Institutes take part in providing the support, the other participating entities will be also included in the Agreement, or the co-financing of the support and use of the research outputs will be regulated by a separate agreement.

3. If the recipient of the support or the Faculty or Institute does not enter into the Agreement within 3 months following the decision of the Rector, the procedure described in Article 6 (8) will apply.

4. The recipient of the support is an employee of the relevant Faculty or Institute and is responsible for the proper and economical use of the allocated funding and for complying with the conditions of the applicable Decision on the Awarding of Institutional Support for a Long-Term Conceptual Development of a Research Organization issued by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

5. Under the Agreement, the recipient of the support and Faculty or Institute are also obliged:

   a.	To handle intellectual property and property rights to outputs of research and development in accordance with applicable legal regulations governing works made for hire;
   b.	Upon request, to present detailed documents on the use of the funding to the bodies of the Faculty, Institute, or University;
   c.	To return any funding which it is not possible to use or transfer to the fund of resources for a defined purpose to the University within the specified period;
   d.	To finance at least 25 % of the total support which the University provided in the given year from the resources of the Faculty or Institute.

6. If serious circumstances arise on the part of the recipient of the support, the provision of the support may be suspended for a necessary period. The duration of the suspension and the circumstances of its renewal will be specified by an agreement concluded between the Faculty or Institute, the University, and the recipient of the support.

7. Each year, the recipient of the support submits an overview of funding used, and this is done separately for the funding allocated by the University and the funding allocated by the Faculties or Institutes.

8. An interim report, including the overview of funding used, listing separately the funds allocated by the University and the funds allocated by the Faculties or Institutes, is submitted after the first year in which the support was provided.

9. A budget and an application for the allocation of funding for the following calendar year with a written obligation of the dean to co-finance the support forms a part of the appendix to the Agreement.

10. A continuous audit of the use of the funding is carried out by the Faculties and Institutes.

11. A final report is submitted within three months following the termination of the support. The final report must include a description of the overall activities, a list of publications, an overall verbal evaluation of the outputs and the status of submitted continuing international projects (specification of what type of project has been submitted or an explanation why a project has not been submitted) which could ensure sustainability. After the termination of the support, the Rector will inform the CURB about the achieved outputs.

12. If Act No. 130/2002 Sb., as amended, or another applicable legal regulation which would result in a substantial change of the conditions for the institutional support of research at the University are subject to an amendment during the term of the provision of the financial support, the Rector will present a proposal of measures to be taken on the University level to the deans of Faculties and directors of Institutes sufficiently in advance.

Article 8 – Common and Final Provisions

1. Awarding of the support in accordance with these principles is coordinated by the Vice-Rector for Research and Projects and the administration tasks are carried out by the Department of Science and Research of the Rectorate of the University.

2. This Rector’s Directive comes into effect on 15 September 2023.

In Prague on 11 September 2023

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