CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR SUPPORT OF PEDAGOGICAL AND STUDENT PROJECTS IN 2025 (DAMU INTERNAL COMPETITION)

Targeting of the call:

Circle 1: The aim of the call is to support innovative pedagogical activities of DAMU academic staff.

Circle 2: The aim of the call is to support the creative artistic activities of students in accredited study programmes of DAMU (hereinafter referred to as 'students')

Schedule of the Call:

15 October 2024 - announcement of the call

25 November 2024 - deadline for submission of applications

16 December 2024 - announcement of the decision to support projects

1.1. - 30.11.2025 - eligible period for the implementation of the projects and the disbursement of funds

15.12.2025 - deadline for the submission of the final report and clearance of the allocated funds

What the call can support:

Circle 1:

Support will be given to pedagogical activities of academic staff*ic, aimed at improving the quality of teaching in accredited study programmes. For example, support can be provided for innovations in existing compulsory and optional subjects, courses and entire curricula; joint activities of several departments, in particular aimed at sharing subjects and courses or at subject-specific training of lecturers; the preparation of study guides and the implementation of flexible forms of teaching (blended learning, the use of Moodle for teaching or certification); the implementation of professional student practice in external entities, etc.

Projects aimed at: creating new compulsory, compulsory elective and elective subjects/courses/modules will not be supported under this heading, unless the project involves an adequate reduction of the study load in another subject; publishing and scientific research activities without a direct link to educational activities; travel abroad by female employees.

Circle 2:

The development of new creative artistic projects by students, carried out outside the scope of their study obligations, may be supported. In addition, support may be given for complementary, expanding or continuing activities of ongoing projects carried out within or beyond the students' study obligations, such as the re-staging of a production on or outside the premises of DAMU, the presentation of a production at a domestic or foreign festival, the addition of an educational or lecturing programme to a production, a residency/research stay of female members of the creative team to prepare a production, etc. Only projects with an artistic outcome will be supported under Strand 2. Funding for projects that simultaneously receive support from another AMU source (SGS, Interfaculty Competition) is possible.

Eligible costs:

Funds may be requested for materials, relevant services related to the fulfillment of the project, travel of staff*women, salaries including freelance*women, and stipends. For Circle 1, salaries can only be used for the remuneration of the project's pedagogical sponsors, this item is also mandatory. For the salaries of the investigators/co-investigators in Circle 1, it is necessary to describe what work on the project is no longer part of their standard job description. Do not forget also the salary for the administration and financial management of the project in the department.

Who can apply for support:

Circle 1: The principal*researcher*can be an academic*staff member*of the DAMU. Other faculty and students involved in the implementation may be listed as co-investigators*on the application.

Circle 2: The principal*researcher*may be a student of an accredited bachelor's, master's or doctoral study programme at DAMU. The student applying for support must have the status of a student for the entire duration of the project (he/she must not have completed or interrupted his/her studies).

Principal Investigator* (applies to both circuits unless otherwise stated):

• Responsible for implementing the project according to the approved schedule and budget
• Responsible for delivering the deliverables
• Coordinates the work of the other co-investigators*
• She is the financial operations officer (for Strand 1 only)
• Reports changes in the project to the project manager - deliverables, schedule, budget
• Collaborates with the project manager and relevant departments of the dean's office according to the nature of the project
• Prepares final report

For Circle 2, the applicant*shall indicate the name of the project's supervising academic*who*will provide methodological and professional support and help with the planning of individual steps during the project. The project sponsor is not the project investigator or project leader and is not responsible for the submission of the final project report. The project supervisor must be an employee of the faculty where the researcher is studying.

Application method and deadline:

The application must be made on a single form. Applications should be submitted only in electronic form to the following email address: veronika.stojanova@damu.cz. Applications must be sent in copy to the relevant*department head*who will then evaluate the individual applications,,determine the order of preference of the department's projects and send a comment on each of them to the project manager no later than 1 week from the closing date.

Any application that is not sent from the applicant*s school email to both of the above addresses will be automatically discarded.

Financial Framework and Funding Decision:

The financial support of the projects is non-request-based, the granting of funds and their amount is decided by the Dean of DAMU on the basis of the proposal of the evaluation committee composed of the Dean, Vice-Deans and a representative of the AS DAMU (Circle 1 - representative of the AS pedagogical chamber, Circle 2 - representative of the AS student chamber).

The maximum amount of financial support granted for one project in Circle 1 is 100 000,-CZK.

The maximum amount of financial support for one project in Circle 2 is 50 000,-CZK.

CZK 500 000 is available for Circle 1 and CZK 800 000 is available for Circle 2.

Evaluation criteria:

Circle 1:

The Commission will assess the extent to which each criterion is met (each project does not necessarily relate to all the criteria listed):

• the relevance of the innovation to the curriculum of the accredited programme of study or to the teaching schedule
• the sustainability of the innovation after the end of the project, or its long-term impact
• the contribution of the project to multiple study programmes or departments
• quality, coherence and clarity of the project
• budget adequacy
• opinion of the head of department

Circle 2:

The committee will evaluate the extent to which each criterion is met (each project does not necessarily relate to all of the above criteria):

• artistic quality of the project plan
• budget adequacy
• opinion of the project leader
• production readiness and sophistication of the project, including staffing

Other conditions:

• Projects in Circle 2 must include a student in a production* position.
• The director* of approved projects is required to display the DAMU logo on the event promotional materials (downloadable here: https://www.damu.cz/cs/vse-o-fakulte/pro-media/logo-damu/) and send the materials to the project manager for approval prior to the event.
• The solver* of the approved projects is obliged to send the materials for the promotion of the event on the DAMU website 14 days before the event to: tereza.doslova@damu.cz
• The financial management and administration of the project is the responsibility of the*departmental secretary*who is also the budget manager (except for personnel costs where the faculty secretary is the budget manager).
• Methodological support for project researchers is provided by the project manager Bc. Veronika Stojanova.
• Changes in project outputs, implementation schedule and substantial changes in salary costs and scholarship costs (reduction/increase greater than 20% of the total amount allocated to the project) are approved by the Vice Dean for Academic and Pedagogical Affairs and Artistic Activities.

Final reports:

The Principal Investigator* will send the final report on the implementation of the project electronically to veronika.stojanova@damu.cz by 15 December 2025 in a maximum of 2xA4 in the following structure:

• Title of the supported project
• Composition of the project team (including other participants)
• Amount of financial support provided
• Brief description of the implementation process
• Description of project outputs
• Evaluation of the success and benefits of the innovation for the discipline/department/faculty/student*
• Evaluation of the sustainability of the project outputs in the future and their further applicability
• Summary of expenditure and justification for the efficient use of the allocated funds
• List of attachments (documentation of relevant materials that the project has been implemented - e.g. programme; poster; syllabus of the upgraded course and list of enrolled students; photo documentation; video documentation; printscreens of websites, social media or media coverage etc.)
• Author of the report
• Date
• The investigator* will attach the listed attachments to the report (electronically only, if possible)

Questions and Consultations:

Consultations on project applications are possible and welcome - with the Vice Dean for Academic and Teaching Affairs and Artistic Activities, Mgr. Michal Somoš (michal.somos@damu.cz) for content and with the project manager Bc. Veronika Stojanová (veronika.stojanova@damu.cz) in terms of formalities and budget. However, it is better to do this well in advance and by prior arrangement.

Doc. Mgr. Karel František Tománek, dean of the DAMU