Dean's Measure No. D117
regulating the system of bonus reimbursements to Faculty of Science researchers for projects and determining the method of co-financing projects
as amended on November 25th, 2025
FSc USB financially motivates successful applicants for projects with a system of bonus reimbursements, which researchers can use for any needs within the possibilities of drawing the so-called RVO funds. The system is set up to be transparent and to allow bonus funding to be awarded to investigators of all types of projects if the basic conditions for the award of the bonus are met.
Article I
Projects with the obligation to co-finance and their economic balance
For projects with the obligation of co-financing, it is necessary to provide the FSc USB Academic Senate with the D114 form and the budget, including an explanation, well in advance, at least 15 days before the project is submitted; see Dean's Measure D114. The basic rule is that the faculty should not have additional costs associated with the project.
List of possibilities of the form of co-financing to achieve an economically balanced project budget:
- Co-financing of the project is solved through faculty core staff
The project manager is included in the co-financing of the project if he/she is part of the research team = he/she is listed in the direct costs of the project.
- Co-financing of the project is solved through wages of the faculty core staff, but it is not sufficient – co-financing is paid also by the department
- Co-financing of the project is solved through wages of the faculty core staff, but it is not sufficient – the department is unable to pay the co-financing. It is necessary to look for other ways:
- Prove that the workload cannot be higher on the project because it is already spread over other projects (i.e., faculty saves finances within another project).
- Add an explanation from the Dean or the Head of the Department on the importance of the project so that co-financing will not be further addressed.
- For mobility projects (including MSCA, etc.), co-financing will always be covered by part of the organisational and administrative costs of the project, thus ensuring a balanced budget. In case of the need for additional resources to implement the project, the department provides the finances, and the Head of the Department agrees with this by signing the D114 form.
- If the service of an external company is used in the preparation of the project, the department participates in these costs, and part of the costs of the external company represent co-financing. The rules for securing finance for an external company are specified in Measure D114. This part of the co-financing is usually provided by a contribution from the department and the faculty, if the department and faculty management support the financing of project preparation in the form of consultations by an external company.
Article II
Determination of the bonus for the project PI
Projects with bonus for the PI
The bonus will be provided to the Principal investigator for projects where the overhead[1] after deducting any co-financing (see below) is at least 15 % of the total direct costs. To determine the entitlement to the bonus and the specific bonus amount, the following procedure will be followed:
- Projects without co-financing:
If the overhead in the project is quantified as at least 15 % of the total direct costs (regardless of the method of calculating the amount of the overhead), the amount of the financial bonus to the PI (formerly called reimbursement) is determined as the amount of the indirect costs minus an amount equivalent to 12% of the total direct costs.
- Projects with faculty co-financing
- The amount needed to co-finance the project will be reduced by the funds saved through the employment of faculty core staff (including social security and health insurance), see Article I.
- The resulting amount (real cost of co-financing) is deducted from the overhead. A project for which the amount of overhead so adjusted exceeds 15 % of direct costs (see examples in Annex 1) is eligible for a bonus and the amount of the financial bonus to the PI is determined as the amount of the adjusted indirect costs minus an amount equivalent to 12 % of total direct costs.
- Bonus for pre-financed projects
The bonus is paid out each time from the paid finances/activated overheads for the following calendar year, according to the above points. I.e. it is not possible to pay the bonus in the first year of the project, on the contrary, the bonus will be paid for a year after the end of the project. The total maximum amount of the project bonus is calculated at the start of the project; in the event of a change in the percentage of overhead above which the bonus is determined, the amount of the bonus will be calculated for the funds that will actually be paid out from the time of the new limit. The Project Department will prepare the supporting documentation to calculate the bonus.
- Project managers in the implementation team
For projects falling under the Project Department, the Principal Investigator should consider the administrative complexity of project management by including a project manager in the implementation team. For projects in which the project manager will not be included in the implementation team, including the corresponding funds allocated in the project budget, the amount of the financial bonus to the PI is determined as the amount of the adjusted indirect costs minus an amount equivalent to 15 % of total direct costs.
The percentage of overhead from direct costs, above which the bonus amount is determined, may change depending on the state of the faculty budget in the given year and is announced annually at the beginning of the year together with the percentage level of overheads.
The bonus is usually applicable to applied and basic research projects, e.g., GAČR, TAČR, InterExcellence, ERC, Horizon, etc. The bonus amount can be easily determined using the table in Annex 2.
Due to the administrative burden, the retroactive bonus is applied if it exceeds the amount of CZK 25,000.
In the case of large prestigious projects of the Operational Programmes and other prestigious projects that do not meet the limit of indirect costs, the bonus will be determined individually by the faculty management at the request of the PI.
Form of Bonus Awarding
The bonus for the researcher is always provided in the form of an increase in funds for the department within the departmental budget for the given year, and the head of the department should provide these funds to the PI without reduction.
Unsupported projects:
Projects with a high administrative burden and high faculty costs, low wages for faculty core staff, and low or zero indirect costs, such as:
- mobility projects, cross-border cooperation projects (MSCA – CZ, usually INTERREG due to the method of calculating indirect costs, etc.),
- projects with high co-financing costs exceeding indirect costs.
Article III
Financial support for submitting and obtaining ERC projects
Submitting and obtaining an ERC project can be financially supported by separate bonus financing. In 2025 and 2026, this financial support is provided by the FSP project "Support for the preparation of European Research Council Grants" of the USB Rector's Office. Financial support for the submitted and awarded ERC projects, beyond the scope of this project, or financial support in subsequent years, will be possible if financial resources are secured. Such financial support may be decided by the Management of the FSc USB.
Within the framework of the FSP project "Support for the preparation of European Research Council Grants", it is possible to apply for financial support only in the case of ERC projects for which USB employee is the principal investigator of the project; therefore, it is not possible to apply for financial support in the case of submitting or obtaining a project with USB employee who is a co-investigator.
The application for the payment of financial support for submitting or obtaining an ERC project is submitted to the Rector's Office by the Dean of the Faculty of Science USB within the framework of the FSP project "Support for the Preparation of European Research Council Grants" based on documents prepared by the Vice‑Dean for Development of FSc USB. In the event of an application for financial support after the completion of this project, any support will be paid only if allocated financial resources are available.
In the case of financial support, it will be distributed within the faculty as follows:
- 25 % of the financial support will be paid to the principal investigator in the form of a super-gross salary (i.e. gross salary + social and health insurance) as remuneration to the principal investigator on the next payday,
- 25 % of the financial support will be used by the faculty to cover the costs associated with the preparation and implementation of project applications,
- 50 % of the financial support will be allocated directly to the principal investigator, with the possibility of drawing from a separate event. If costs associated with external services arise (e.g., services of an external company in project preparation), it is necessary to take these costs into account and cover them from this part of the financial support.
Article IV
Other provisions
This measure also applies to all ongoing projects that will continue in 2025 and beyond, as well as to new projects commencing on or after January 1, 2025.
During the transitional period, projects already implemented in 2024 will continue to receive the retroactive bonus on a continuous basis. The new payment method starts for projects that start from 2025.
This document supersedes the version dated November 11, 2024.
This measure takes effect on the day of signature.
In České Budějovice
prof. RNDr. František Vácha, Ph.D.
dean
[1] Overhead or indirect costs (real activated overheads for projects) are used to cover the administrative and operating costs of the faculty during the project. Overhead refers to the part of the project budget called indirect costs, overheads, or additional costs.
