News
President Petr Pavel appointed today the rectors of ten public universities at Prague Castle, including professor Jiří Zima. He will assume leadership of Charles University on 1 February and will serve until 2030. The Academic Senate of Charles University elected him to the position at the end of October last year. He will succeed the current rector, Milena Králíčková.
Her internationally acclaimed miniseries Burning Bush (2013) commemorated the period that followed shortly after Jan Palach, a student at CU’s Faculty of Arts, set himself on fire on Wenceslas Square on 16 January, 1969, to rouse the public from the resignation after the August 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia. On the eve of the 57th anniversary of Palach’s act, Polish director and screenwriter Agnieszka Holland received the Charles IV Prize, jointly awarded by Charles University and the City of Prague.
“The biggest benefit of MathPhys collaborating with IT companies is the sharing and connecting of different experiences and perspectives,” agree Ondřej Václavek, who, together with colleagues from the company HAVIT, teaches a seminar on cloud technologies at CU MATHPHYS, and Filip Zavoral, the faculty coordinator for this course, which bridges academia and the corporate world.
Paedagogium, Charles University’s platform dedicated to developing pedagogical competencies and supporting the professional growth of academic staff, held its third conference on December 5, 2025 at the Charles University Karolinum.
The ERC Scientific Council has elected six new members, including Kateřina Králová from the Faculty of Social Sciences - congratulations! This is the first time Charles University is represented on the ERC Scientific Council. The Council serves as the governing body that establishes the funding strategy for this leading European program dedicated to supporting frontier research. Previously, Czech scientists who have served on the ERC Scientific Council include Alice Valkárová, Tomáš Jungwirth, and Pavel Exner.
On Wednesday, November 19, the National Information Day on ERC Grants took place at the Carolinum. Its aim was to present the mission of the European Research Council (ERC), which organizes the most prestigious European individual grant competitions to support top-level research.
On Tuesday December 2, Charles University awarded the academic title of doctor honoris causa to two prominent figures in global medicine: cardiologist Professor Béla Péter Merkely and virologist Professor Marc Van Ranst.
Charles University once again played an active role at CEEDUCON, one of the most significant international conferences dedicated to internationaliation of higher education. Dozens of representatives from both the Rectorate and CU faculties attended, and a total of six Charles University speakers contributed speeches on some of the most current topics in the field.
The entire university joined forces on Saturday, November 22, at the Faculty of Law to offer prospective students answers to all their questions. The Na Karlovku 2025 Open Doors Day began with a warm introductory speech by Rector Milena Králíčková, in which she presented the main reasons for choosing to study at Charles University and answered several questions from the audience. Afterwards, brief presentations of the individual faculties followed.
From 3 to 7 November, Charles University hosted an eleven-member delegation from Oles Honchar Dnipro National University (DNU), led by Rector Sergiy Okovytyy. The visit represented the culmination of a year-long project entitled “Development of Education, Research, and International Cooperation at DNU”, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic under the programme Strengthening the Capacities of Public Higher Education Institutions in Developing Countries.
Mobility of PhD students, student conferences, or the organization of summer schools – all of this is supported by Charles University through the Fund for the Support of Internationalization (POINT). Read more about how the Faculty of Science, with the help of POINT, organized a successful cross-border seminar on electroanalytical chemistry. The autumn round of POINT applications is open until November 30.
Sharing experiences and transferring good practices among Czech universities and research organisations – these were the main goals of the two-day HR Excellence in Research 2025 Conference, organised by Charles University on 4–5 November in Prague.
Minister of Education Mikuláš Bek presented the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Awards in the field of higher education, science, and research. Twenty laureates from Czech universities and the Academy of Sciences received awards. The award winners from Charles University are Jana Krejzová, Samira Eissazadeh, and Marek Dvořák. Congratulations to all!
American studies scholar Jana Sehnálková, alumna and lecturer at CU’s Faculty of Social Sciences, heads the Fulbright Commission in the Czech Republic. She explains how to succeed with trips to American universities.
Join us for the National Information Day on ERC Grants, taking place on November 19, 2025, at the Charles University Rectorate in Prague. The event will offer insights into ERC calls, proposal writing tips, and a panel discussion on the Czech research environment. ERC President Prof. Maria Leptin will deliver an online address.