1. Charles University (hereafter referred to as “university” or “CU”), in accordance with its Long-Term Strategic Plan issues a call for the Primus Grant Proposals. The purpose of the Primus Scheme is to support research workers (with experience from abroad as a rule) in their effort to establish new research groups and laboratories at the university. The Primus Scheme does not intend to provide additional support for the existing groups.
2. The Primus Scheme should create openness and flexibility of research work including the mobility of researchers.
1. The application for the Primus Scheme (hereafter referred to as “project proposal) is submitted to the Rector’s Office through the electronic database.
2. The project proposal cannot be submitted by individuals who hold positions of the Rector, Vice-Rector, Dean, Director of a university research institute (Institute of the History and Archive of Charles University; Center for Theoretical Study; Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education; Charles University Environment Center – hereafter referred to as “University Institute”), or those who are members of the evaluation panel according to Article V, Section 1 of these rules. One applicant can submit only one project.
3. The project proposal can be submitted in these three fields: HUM – humanities and social sciences, SCI – natural sciences, mathematics, and informatics, MED – medical science and biomedicine.
4. The principle investigator is expected to apply for an ERC Grant before the completion of the project, or in the case of a project in the field of humanities and social sciences, he/she is expected to apply for some other significant international grant.
5. The research team consists mainly of:
a) The main investigator, who is an academic or research worker, and who received his/her Ph.D./Th.D. degree no earlier than eight years before the day of application2, has international experience, excels in his/her field, and participates in international cooperation. The main investigator usually has completed at least a six-month research stay abroad. While applying this important criterion, the inherent limitations of the particular field, or the exceptional health and social conditions of the applicant will be taken into consideration. The main investigator is not required to be an employee of the university at the time of submitting his/her application. However, he/she must become an employee of the university before the research work on the project starts. His/her workload must be at least 0.5% within the university (part of this workload may be realized in faculty hospitals or in organizational units shared between CU and Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic);
b) postdoctoral researchers;
c) Ph.D. students in study programs of the university;
d) MA students in study programs of the university
e) other academics or research workers of the university
f) university technical specialists and support
6. The research team may be modified by the main investigator for the duration of the project. However, besides the main investigator, it also has to include at least three Ph.D. students or postdocs by December 31st of the year following the year of the project proposal submission.
7. The work on the project cannot start earlier than January 1, or later than September 1 of the year following the year of the project proposal submission. Projects evaluated by the panel as excellent may be extended by two additional years if such an extension is applied for.
8. The applicant whose project receives a recommendation for the financing can be a part of other internal university Grant Schemes, however not as their main investigator.
1. The financing for the projects will be provided through the university institutional support and from the faculty/research institutes’ budget. The structure of the financing is as follows:
a) personal expenses;
b) stipends
c) operating costs, travel expenses, and services
d) long-term tangible and intangible property costs
e) supplementary and overhead expenses amounting to the maximum of 15% of all non-investment funds. This condition applies separately to the funds provided by the university and the funds provided by the faculty/research institute.
2. The university will support the project with the amount of money matching those of the individual faculties/research institutes. The university support will amount to the maximum of 1.5 million crowns/year/project with the exception of cases indicated in Section 3.
3. In case the applicant submits a project from a foreign institution, where he/she has spent the minimum of two most recent calendar years, the evaluation panel may recommend a higher financial institutional support up to 2 million Czech crowns on condition that the faculty/research institute in question would make a commitment to support the project financially at the same or higher amount.
4. The unused funds provided by the university can be transferred at the maximum amount of 5 % from all of the original amount into the faculty/research institute’s special-purpose fund.
1. The project proposal must include:
a) the project title (in the Czech and English languages);
b) information about the team members, or descriptions of the main vacant positions in case the particular individuals’ names are not known at the time of the proposal submission;
c) a brief annotation of the project (both in Czech and English);
d) description of the research project in the English language ;
project goals
activities to achieve them
expected results of the project
description of the workplace of the project
e) information about the main investigator: ID data, CV, up to five most significant publications, a complete list of publications, possibly also other results of his/her individual research work , information about the extension of his/her study stays or internships abroad
f) a detailed request for the funds for the first calendar year of the project, and a general outline of the funds requested for the whole duration of the project
g) designation of the faculty/research institute of the main investigator, or a list of the faculties/research institutes where the project will be realized
2. The faculty’s Dean/Director of the research institute will add his opinion on the project to the project proposal in the electronic database within seven days after the deadline for the project proposal submissions.
1. The project proposals are evaluated by panels, the composition of which members and activity is regulated by the Rector’s Proposition.
2. Each project proposal is evaluated based on its quality, and further by:
a) its clearly defined research intent;
b) self-reliance and independence of the applicant;
c) previously existing research activity with an emphasis on excellence and international collaboration;
d) the proposal’s compliance with the long-term direction of the university, with the concept of his/her organizational unit, and whether the project’s results have the potential lead for a new research direction, or to start a new school of thought at the university
e) whether appropriate conditions are created for the Ph.D. students
f) whether the expert level of the research team and the demand on funds for the project correspond with the project’s goals
3. Each project proposal is evaluated by two evaluators and a panel reporter.
4. The panel will debate each individual project proposal and its evaluation. Subsequently, it will determine the ranking of the projects and whether the individual projects deserve the requested funds. The panel also agrees with the amount of the funds that the individual projects will be eligible to receive, or it will recommend its adjustment. The panel also determines which other projects may additionally receive financial support should additional funds be released (e.g. due to the failure in making an agreement with the applicant of another project that originally placed higher).
5. The project proposals are debated in the CU Research Board (hereafter referred to as “CU RB”), and they may also be consulted with the CU International Board.
6. The project will be supported only on condition that the faculty/research institute in question agrees with its financial participation, and the agreement is confirmed by the Dean/Director of the respective faculty/research institute.
7. The funds are assigned to the project by the Rector based on the opinions of expert panels and the CU RB. In the case that the proposal for the allocation of the funds is not accepted by the main investigator or the faculty/research institute, another project can be recommended for funding by the panel or by the CU RB.
8. The applicant will acknowledge the Rector’s decision after he/she has been notified via electronic mail. The decision will also be posted in the electronic database of Charles University’s internal grants. A formal objection can be filed against the Rector’s decision within 15 days after the notification was sent to the applicant that his/her proposal has been posted in the database. The objection is decided by the Rector, who follows the recommendation of the panel. The Rector’s decision is final.
9. There no legal claim for the funds.
1. Details on the project implementation, funds allocation, and funds management are dealt with in the Agreement on Funds Allocation (hereafter referred to as “Agreement”). The parties of the Agreement are the university, the faculty/research institute and the main investigator. If more faculties/research institutes participate in the project, these additional collaborators will be included in the Agreement, or the co-funding of the project and the use of the results of the research will be provided for by a separate agreement. Should the main investigator or the faculty/research institute fail to sign the Agreement by December 31 of the year when the project proposal was submitted, the university has no further obligation to fund the project.
2. The main investigator is responsible for the proper and economical use of the funds, and for the compliance with the conditions set forth by a Decision on Providing Institutional Support for the Conceptual Development of Research Organizations issued by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports.
3. A part of the Agreement is also the main investigator’s commitment:
a) to handle the objects of intellectual property and rights to research results according to the law
b) to submit on request the detailed information about his/her use of funds to the faculty/research institute body
c) to return in due time the money that he/she couldn’t use (or transfer to the special-purpose fund) back to the university
d) to finance the project using the faculty’s/research institute’s funds at the same amount, at which the funds were provided by the university in the given year
e) the faculty commits itself to create appropriate material and space conditions for the investigator and provide him/her with due administrative and technical support for the duration of the project.
4. In case of serious circumstances on the part of the investigator, the funding of the project can be interrupted for a necessary period of time. The exact time of the halt and the conditions for the resumption of the project will be agreed upon by the faculty/research institute, the university, and the investigator.
5. The main investigator will submit a yearly report about the project implementation and a summary of the use of the funds, separately the faculty(ies)/research institute(s) funds and the university funds. The summary will also include the budget and an application for the funds allocation for the next calendar year along with a written commitment of the Dean/Director of the institute to co-finance the project. The report will be evaluated by an appropriate panel of experts.
6. A regular supervision of the use of the allocated funds is done by the faculties/research institutes.
7. Should the project be exceptionally successful, it is possible to apply for an extension in funding for the maximum of two additional years. As a prerequisite, the main investigator must apply for an ERC grant (in the field of humanities and social sciences, he/she may apply for another significant individual grant abroad). The applications for an extension will be reviewed by the Rector based on his consultations with the panel of experts and the CU International Board.
8. The final report must be submitted within three months after the completion of the project. The final report must include a description of the activities, a list of published results and an overall results evaluation. The Rector informs the CU RB and the CU Academic Senate (hereafter referred to as “CU AS”).
9. The publications and other results related to the Primus program must carry a dedication note. Primus as a source of financing also has to be mentioned in the Personal Bibliography Database. In all publications, the specific affiliation of the authors to the university and to the faculty/research institute must be quoted in compliance with the current Rector’s Provision .
10. Should the Law No.130/2002 Coll. change in its current version, or should any other relevant legal provision change, which would consequently result in changes of the conditions for the institutional support of research at Charles University and within the Primus Grant Scheme, the Rector will submit well in advance a proposal for further course of action to the deans of faculties and directors of the institutes in question.
1. The Primus Grant Scheme based on these principles is coordinated by the Vice-Rector for Research, and is administrated by the Department for Science and Research of the Rector’s Office.
2. Elementary information about the Grant Scheme and its results including the minutes from the meetings of its panels is customarily made public.
3. The Rector sets the date of the opening of the Primus Grant Scheme, the date for the call for the proposals, the date of the results publishing, the date of the official beginning of the work on the winning proposals, the dates when the yearly reports and the final reports are due, and also other important dates and administrative requirements.
4. The dates of the beginning and of the completion of the projects, which had been started before these rules came into effect are governed by the provisions of Agreement on Project Implementation where applicable.
5. These rules for the Primus Grant Scheme were adopted by the Rector’s Board of Charles University on January 29, 2018, and become effective on February 1, 2018.
6. This Rector’s Provision overrules the Rector’s Provision No.15/2016 of June 10, 2016 - Rules for the Primus Grant Scheme.
In Prague on February 1, 2018
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Czech Republic
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