Provision of the Dean D 114

This measure is applicable from the 2^nd of July 2025

This Dean’s Provision regulates the notification obligation and the procedure for preparing project proposals, for the implementation of projects, and for the period of their sustainability. The aim of the measure is internal awareness, coordination and cooperation in preparing projects and their implementation. In the case of administratively demanding, strategically important projects, where the involvement of an external consulting company is necessary, a procedure is determined for the selection of projects for which the faculty will financially contribute to the involvement of such a company. The measure also describes the assurance of the scientific independence of the research teams.

Article I
Notification obligation

1. All project applicants (whether for foreign or domestic funding agencies) are obliged to notify the Economic and Project Department (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., see the Signpost of Activities Provided by the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Science) of the intention to submit a specific project application at least 10 days before the submission of the project. In the case of faculty co-funding, this deadline is at least 15 days prior to the submission of the project to ensure sufficient time for consideration of the co-funding by the Academic Senate FSc USB.
2. In case of preparation of a more financially demanding project (ca. over 50 million CZK), such as ERC or OP JAK projects, the applicant contacts and informs the Development and Projects Department of the FSc USB at least two months in advance.

The applicant is also obliged to discuss the project budget with the Finance Department and Development and Project Department and to submit the final draft of the project budget for approval by the Faculty no later than 10 days prior to the submission of the project and, in the case of co-financing, no later than 15 days prior to the submission of the project (see Appendix No. 2). The final draft budget may be modified minimally and only in coordination with the Finance Department.

Notification shall be made using the signed form attached to this Provision as Appendix No. 1, which is also available on the FSc website.

3. This intention must be approved by the head of the department/scientific-pedagogical centre/pedagogical unit, who hereby declares the readiness of the department/centre/unit to secure the project in terms of space requirements and necessary human resources, to ensure its successful implementation, and to ensure the necessary cooperation with the faculty administration during the project implementation and sustainability, as well as after the project completion in the necessary administrative tasks (e.g., preparation of reports to the provider, publicity, etc.).
4. This notification obligation also applies to projects whose documentation does not require the signature of a statutory representative of the Faculty or University (Dean, Rector), but which are planned to be carried out at FSc USB. This notification obligation also applies to projects, where (FSc) USB is in the role of co-organization (including GA CR). This notification obligation does not apply to internal university projects such as GA USB, SGA etc.
5. In case the project is submitted without the applicant notifying the intention confirmed by the head of the organizational unit or without the project budget being approved by the Economic Department, the Dean of the Faculty may refuse to sign a project agreement with the provider and the project will not be permitted to be carried out on the premises of FSc USB.

Article II
Selection of applicants in case of a limited number of applicants per institution

1. If the funding agency limits the number of proposed projects per institution (e.g. limitation to one applicant and one co-applicant per institution), the Science and Research Office or the Development and Project Department of the Faculty of Science will send out an e-mail informing about the call and the limitation of the number of applications per institution and inviting those interested in preparing a project to confirm their interest and to send a short description of the project to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., usually within one week.
2. The faculty management will arrange a meeting with the Head of the applicant's department, during which the importance of the project for the faculty, especially with regard to the strategic priorities will be presented. After these discussions, the faculty management will select the proponents. In the case of constraints from the JU side, selected proponents will be sent to the JU Rector's Office.

 Article III
Selection of applicants in the case of a request for a faculty contribution to finance the involvement of an external company in the preparation of projects

1. If the project is prepared by the FSc (i.e., the preparation of the project is not administratively ensured primarily by the USB Rector's Office) and the preparation of the project is administratively extremely demanding, it is possible to involve an external company in the preparation of the project. As a rule, these are OP JAK projects, or the coordination of large European projects, for example, within Horizon Europe.
2. The involvement of an external consulting company is conditional on a previous tender or an existing framework agreement to provide a similar type of service for FSc. The proposer will pre-negotiate the involvement of an external company in the preparation of the project, financial demands, or arrange a tender with the Development and Project Department (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). The preparation of the project then takes place in cooperation with the applicant, the Development and Project Department, and an external company.
3. The applicant may apply to the faculty for a financial contribution to provide the services of an external company. In this case, the cost of providing the service is usually divided between the department and the faculty. The faculty contribution is subject to approval by the faculty management (Point 5).
4. The financial contribution of the faculty to the services of an external company is possible only if the remuneration for the external company is divided into a basic fee and a so-called success fee (i.e., part of the funds is paid only in the case of a successful application that receives financial support from the provider). The application for a financial contribution of the faculty is submitted at least 6 weeks before the deadline for the given call through the Economic Office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), in copy to the Vice-Dean for Development. The application must be approved by the head of the organizational unit, confirming the commitment of the organizational unit to financially participate in the provision of the service of an external company.
5. The faculty management will arrange for the applicant to be discussed without delay with the head of the applicant’s organizational unit, during which these heads or their deputies will present the importance of the project for the faculty. Support can only be provided for the financing of the preparation of a project within the strategic development priorities of the faculty and an applicant with a history of scientific outputs and funded projects (investigator, co-investigator, or holder in another role of at least two projects in the last five years).
6. The department of the applicant must participate in the co-financing of the costs of the external company, namely

• in the amount of 20% of the costs associated with the consulting services by an external company, including the success rate in the case of project award
• however, up to a maximum of 20% of the funds (101 contribution + 103 RVO) allocated to the department in the given year. If more than one department participates in the activity, their joint share is 20% in total, the share distribution is handled internally by the heads of departments.
• if the department financially participates in other activities in a given year (e.g., according to the methodology to ensure the necessary instrumentation for the needs of the faculty), such total departmental funding shall not exceed 30% of the funds (contribution + RVO) allocated to the department and the amount above 30% of the funds is paid by the faculty.
• In the case where the costs of an external company can be financed directly from the project, the total costs will be reduced by the amount secured from the project budget, and the remaining funds will be divided between the faculty and the department according to the procedure above.

7. The success rate can be financed from a financial bonus to the PI (Measure D117).

Article IV
Researcher's cooperation during the project implementation and sustainability

1. The principal investigator is obliged to provide full cooperation to the administrative staff of the Faculty and the University during the project implementation, especially regarding the timely use of funds, the correctness of the use of funds, the timely and correct delivery of documents for tenders, the supply of the necessary data for the required reports. In this respect, the principal investigator is also obliged to respect the set deadlines for the delivery of documents for all types of required reports and documents (regardless of the specific name of such a document, i.e. even if the word "report" does not appear in the title).
2. Timely and correct delivery of reports and documents to the funds provider is essential to maintain project funding; therefore, failure to comply with such cooperation under Article IV, Point 1, with the potential risk of financial penalty to the faculty/university, may be grounds for termination of the project and may be grounds for the employer to invoke labour law sanctions.
3. During project implementation, the researcher respects the instructions of the responsible faculty and university staff and ensures that, in order to avoid possible problems and to enable effective control of the documents, he/she provides the relevant administrative staff with sufficient advance information, in particular for:

     a. Selection procedures for team members at least one month in advance of the announcement of the selection process
     b. recruitment of team members at least one month in advance of the required recruitment
     c. Tenders for the acquisition of services, materials and investments at least one month in advance of the call for tenders
     d. Interim and final reports by project type and reports during the sustainability period at least one week in advance of the submission deadline
     e. Extraordinary unscheduled inspections at least two days in advance of the inspection date (if such inspections are known at least one week in advance)
     f. Routine purchases of materials and services at least two weeks in advance of the date on which it requests the purchase be made

   5. If the project investigator does not or cannot provide sufficient assistance to the administration of the Faculty and University, the head of the organizational unit (department/research center/teaching unit) may provide such assistance on a temporary basis in accordance with Article 1, Point 3 to avoid potential problems in the solution. In the event of a recurrence of such a situation, Article IV, Point 2 of this Measure shall apply.

Article V
Scientific independence of project teams

1. If the proponent of the project fulfils the notification obligation, the submission of the project proposal is approved at the relevant levels of FSc USB, and its implementation is supported by the relevant provider, the applicant’s department/centre/unit is obliged to provide the applicant and his/her team with conditions for the implementation of the project that correspond to the capabilities and standards of FSc USB, including its premises and infrastructure in accordance with the procedures and rules in force at FSc USB. In particular, the department is obliged to guarantee the principal investigator's scientific independence in terms of the use of the project budget, in terms of the selection and management of the members of the research team in accordance with the relevant laws, other related regulations, and internal use of FSc and USB, and in terms of the authorisation to publish scientific results according to the principles of scientific ethics.
2. FSc USB also commits to providing the principal investigator with appropriate administrative support during the project implementation, while ensuring the necessary cooperation of the researcher with the administration of the faculty and the university during the implementation of the project. If circumstances arise that could adversely affect the performance of the project, FSc or the relevant department is to inform the principal investigator of these circumstances without delay.

Article VI
Other provisions

1. In the event of a conflict between the Czech and English versions of this measure, the Czech version shall prevail.
2. This provision replaces the document from the 1^st of March 2024.
3. This measure includes:

Appendix 1 - Intent to submit a project application form
Appendix 2 - Timetable

In České Budějovice

prof. RNDr. František Vácha, Ph.D.
Dean of the Faculty of Science
University of South Bohemia