Basic Conditions, Regulations and Deadlines
The GA UK Competition
The GA UK is funded by particular university research resources. It differentiates between student research (grant) projects and student academic conferences. While in the SVV Competition, both of these project types are possible, GA UK ’s resources can only support research (grant) projects.
24th Competition Round (2027):
Schedule of Deadlines - 24th Competition Round (2027)
Opening of the application for editing new project proposals, continuation requests, and final reports: from October 1, 2026
Rectorate deadline for submission of new project proposals from faculties: November 12, 2026
Rectorate deadline for submission of continuation requests from faculties: January 21, 2027
Rectorate deadline for submission of final reports from faculties: April 1, 2027
It is necessary to follow the faculty deadline for submission, which is usually before the rector's deadline. The GA UK application will close after the faculty deadline. For information about the deadline, contact your faculty.
Regulations
Details regarding the GA UK competition can be found in Principles of Activities of the Grant Agency of Charles University and Grant Rules of Charles University. This translation is for informative purpose only. The legally binding regulations are those in Czech registered by the Ministry.
Principles of Activities of the Grant Agency of Charles University - Rector’s Directive No. 31/2026 (CZ)
Principles of Activities of the Grant Agency of Charles University - Rector’s Directive No. 31/2026 (ENG)
Grant Rules (ENG)
Tender documents
INFORMATION ON SUBMITTING A GRANT PROJECT APPLICATION
PRACTICAL INFORMATION FOR SUBMITTING A GA UK PROJECT PROPOSAL
Unofficial AI-based application review tool
Unofficial AI-based application review tool
This is an unofficial tool designed to assist students in reviewing their project applications / continuation request / final reports prior to submission. It is recommended to use the tool a few days before the faculty submission deadline to allow time for any necessary adjustments.
A link to a brief, anonymous questionnaire is provided at the end; completing it helps improve the tool.
GA UK emphasizes that this tool does not belong to the Charles University Grant Agency (GA UK) or the University itself, nor is it used by GA UK. Furthermore, the tool does not replace the official regulations, tender documents, project application submission, collaboration with the project supervisor, formal checks by faculty and GA UK administrators, or the evaluation process. Use of the tool has no impact on the evaluation process and is not an evaluative authority.
A note from the author:
Hello. If you are submitting an application for the 24th round of the GA UK grant competition, you can have it checked before submission.
This is an unofficial tool created by Prof. Tomáš Havránek (Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University); it is not an official GA UK tool. Its use is voluntary, it plays no part in the evaluation process, and it does not write any content for you.
The webpage analyzes your attachments directly within your browser (without sending them anywhere) and flags certain formal errors: missing attachments, a first-year budget exceeding the limit, or a schedule that falls outside the calendar year. It then prepares a prompt for a chatbot that provides feedback on the content—specifically, whether the proposal clearly outlines what is novel, the methodology, and potential risks. It works in both Czech and English. It does not replace feedback from your supervisor. The tool handles tasks that AI can currently manage, allowing you and your supervisor to spend more time on the essentials.
Any information you enter into the chatbot is transmitted to its operator. Therefore, please submit the project text only with your supervisor's consent, as required by the declaration of honor in the application; the webpage will ask you to confirm this. Personal data belonging to others—such as your supervisor's CV—should not be entered into any chatbot without their permission. For the project text, the webpage recommends using the university’s Microsoft Copilot (office365.cuni.cz, CAS account), which, according to Charles University, offers commercial-grade data protection. If you use AI, please disclose this in your application following the guidelines at ai.cuni.cz.
Success in the competition depends on the competition rules and your faculty's guidelines, including submission deadlines.
Good luck.
My Project / Continuation Request has been funded. What’s next?
After the competition results are announced, all applicants/principal investigators of continuing projects are notified via an automated email from the application system regarding the funding or non-funding of their project/continuation request. The email is sent to the address provided in the project application.
Following this, we will begin preparing the contract in collaboration with Charles University's IT Department. Once the contracts are ready for signature, the faculty will inform the principal investigators to come to the faculty to sign the contracts and receive them.
The transfer of funds from the Rectorate of Charles University (RUK) to the faculties will then commence.
Contacts for Faculty Coordinators
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Faculty of Catholic Theology |
Ing. Radka Šerclová | |
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Faculty of Protestant Theology |
Jarmila Bergstra | |
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Faculty of Hussite Theology |
Mgr. Ondřej Kadlec | |
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Faculty of Law |
Bc. Veronika Osúchová | |
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Faculty of Education |
Mgr. Ivana Metelková | |
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First Faculty of Medicine |
Mgr. Kamila Kábeleová | |
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Second Faculty of Medicine |
Bc. Kamila Procházková | |
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Third Faculty of Medicine |
Kateřina Sojková | |
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Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen |
Bc. Ivana Choulíková | |
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Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove |
Hana Horká | |
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Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove |
Renáta Neznámá | |
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Faculty of Arts |
PhDr. Petra Koldová |
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Ing. Adam Vacek | ||
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Mgr. Alena Pilnáčková | ||
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Faculty of Science |
Ing. Michaela Štěpánková, Ph.D. | |
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Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
Marie Křížková | |
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Faculty of Social Sciences |
Mgr. Eva Horníčková | |
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CERGE |
Mgr. Blanka Boboková | |
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Michael Mařata | ||
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Faculty of Humanities |
Mgr. Eva Benešová | |
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Faculty of Physical Education and Sport |
Ing. Martin Hemer | |
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Mgr. Věra Dušková |
Submitting annual / final reports
The researcher is obliged to submit a request for continuation or a final report or an supplemented final report (after Evaluation postponed) within the deadlines set by the Rector's measure.
The request for continuation is submitted again in the GAUK application, to the faculty within the faculty deadline, which is determined by the dean of the faculty and is usually a few days earlier than the rector's deadline. The faculty submits requests for continuation to GAUK within the deadlines published in the Rector's measure. Requests for continuation are evaluated by the project rapporteur, the subject council and the grant council. Therefore, do not consider requests for continuation as a formality. In the event of deficiencies, requests for continuation may be financially reduced or terminated altogether.
In the financial requirements section (in the original project application), it is necessary to properly specify and justify the requirements in the text part (except for additional costs). State the financial requirements in the text in CZK, not in foreign currency. The same rules apply to financial requirements in continuation applications as when submitting a project application.
In the continuation application (entry from the introductory table of the project details), the researcher shall state the results achieved. Reports should contain a verbal evaluation of the results, the project's contribution and a specific result - the researcher shall provide preliminary data, a publication (or manuscript or confirmation of acceptance for publication), or a patent as an attachment. Publications resulting from GA UK projects must contain an affiliation to the university and faculty and a dedication to GA UK. If trips to conferences were financed, the researcher shall provide an abstract from the conference, a poster. The researcher shall also comment in detail on the use of funds. It is not enough to state that the funds were used according to plan, but it is necessary to specify the costs. If financial or other changes occurred during the solution, this must be stated and justified in detail. If the funds are not used up, it is necessary to return these funds to GA UK and include the information in the application for continuation.
Final reports and supplemented final reports
The project researcher is obliged to submit a final report / supplemented final report. Reports are submitted again in the GAUK application (you can access the report from the initial table of the project details), to the faculty on the faculty deadline, which is determined by the faculty dean and is usually a few days earlier than the rector's deadline. The faculty submits reports to GA UK on the deadlines published in the rector's order. The reports are evaluated by the project rapporteur, the departmental council and the grant council. The deadline for submitting the supplemented final report is the same as for the final report and is submitted in the same way.
In the final report / supplemented final report, the researcher will state the results achieved and comment on the use of funds.
Reports should contain a verbal evaluation of the results, the project's contribution and a specific result - in the form of an attachment, the researcher will provide an abstract from the conference, a poster, preliminary data, a publication (or a manuscript or confirmation of acceptance for publication), or a patent. A textual commentary alone is not enough, the results must be documented. Publications resulting from GA UK projects must include an affiliation to the university and faculty and a dedication to GA UK.
The researcher will also comment in detail on the use of funds. It is not enough to state that the funds were used according to plan, but it is necessary to specify the costs. It is necessary to describe what the funds were used for, not only in aggregate, but also after partial payments. State the financial requirements in the text in CZK, not in foreign currency. If there were approved financial changes during the solution, this must be stated and justified in detail. The reason for the change must also be stated (not only why and what the transferred funds were used for, but also why they were not used in the originally planned item). If the funds were not used up, it is necessary to return these funds to the GA UK and include the information in the final report.
Based on the information provided in the report, it is also possible to obtain a Deferred Evaluation. The researcher indicates the proposal for "deferred evaluation" by checking the appropriate box in the application. The GA UK Department Boards and the Grant Board of Charles University decide on the granting of "deferred evaluation". As a basis for the decision, the final report must contain a justification for the delay in preparing the outputs, and the manuscript of the publication being prepared is a condition. However, the manuscript may be in the development phase.
Exceptionally, the project may also be granted a second Deferred Evaluation. Please note that this is only possible in the case of maternity and parental leave or in the case of long-term and ongoing illness (must be documented). To grant a second Deferred Evaluation, it is necessary to send an request to the GA UK office. (Note: From 1 January 2023, the reason for the impact of Covid-19 on the project is excluded).
A third postponement of the evaluation is not possible.
Affiliation, dedication
Affiliation
The agreement on the allocation of funds contains the obligation of the principal investigator and the faculty to always explicitly state in all project outputs, including publications, that they have been made possible with the full or partial financial support of the Grant Agency of Charles University and to state the affiliation to the university and the relevant faculty in the authors’ addresses.
Dedication
A publication can be recognized as the result of a grant project only if it explicitly states that the work was carried out with the financial support of the provider, and at the same time the number of the relevant grant project and the affiliation of the publication author to Charles University are stated. The project number is the number specified for the project in the application, not the faculty or billing number.
It is possible to include thanks to several projects of the Charles University General Academic Service or a combination of thanks to the Charles University General Academic Service + another provider, but it is not possible for the same output to be reported as a single publication output for two or more projects of the Charles University General Academic Service.
The official affiliation of Charles University is listed in Appendix No. 1 of the Charles University Rector's Directive No. 40/2021.
Publication outputs without proper affiliation and dedication will not be recognized! This also applies to posters and abstracts, but not to ppt presentations.
Evaluation criteria for ending projects
a) Authorship
The author/co-author of the output must be a student from the team. If the author is the project leader, without a student researcher/co-researcher – such output cannot be considered the project result – thus, do not include it in the annual report;
b) Types of outputs with which an ending project can be evaluated as “completed”
Only the original text accepted for publication, possibly a patent. In the case of section C, this is a publication in an impact journal;
c) Evaluation
“Extraordinarily good” (EG) – In section A, a book publication at a major publishing house or articles in peer-reviewed journals; in the case of sections B and C, several significant publications or an excellent first-author work of the principal investigator published in a periodical with a high IF (Q1 according to the WOS).
“Fulfilled” (F) – In sections A and B, the original text accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed periodical; in section C, the original publication with an IF according to the WOS.
“Fulfilled with a reservation” (FR) – Starting from the 17th round (2020). The goals were only partially met; the assignment was not fully achieved.
"Evaluation Postponed" – The final report contains a justification for the delay in preparing the outputs. The condition is the manuscript of the publication being prepared - however, it may be in the development phase. The researcher submits an Amended Final Report after a year. This evaluation is proposed by the rapporteur and decided on by the Faculty Council and the University Grants Council.
Exceptionally, the project may also be awarded a second Deferred Evaluation. Please note that this is only possible in the case of maternity and parental leave or in the case of long-term and ongoing illness (must be documented). To award a second Deferred Evaluation, it is necessary to send an application to the GAUK office. From 1 January 2023, the reason for the impact of Covid-19 on the project is excluded.
“Not fulfilled” (NF) – No output; no hope of a timely publication and/or incorrect drawdown.
If a project received an evaluation “not fulfilled” or “fulfilled with a reservation”, it is possible up to the end of the following year in which the final report was evaluated to document the relevant publication outputs and to request that the Grant Board modify the evaluation (this applies to projects from the projects evaluated in 2022; this does not apply to previously evaluated projects – the original deadline applies to them). In other words, for projects evaluated in 2022, the deadline is the end of 2023; for projects evaluated earlier, the deadline is until the end of the calendar year in which they were evaluated – the new rule cannot be applied.
These criteria are a necessary condition for granting the above-described evaluations. The evaluation of projects is assessed individually. When evaluating a project, the reviewer takes into account the planned outputs in the project proposal as well as the progress made on the resolution specified in the annual reports. We recommend realistically planning the project outputs presented in the project proposal.
Potential proposals for changes in the research project
Requests for Changes
Requests for changes should be sent to the Chair of the University Grant Council at the email address gauk@ruk.cuni.cz or by postal mail to the address GA UK, Ovocný trh 560/5, 116 36 Prague 1. The applicant must always provide a contact email or postal address to which a written response should be sent. The request must include the reason for the change (why the change is necessary) and the purpose of the change. Always specify in detail how and why the funds will be used for the new item and why they will not be utilized according to the original plan. For financial change requests, you may use this sample form (optional): request form in Czech / request form in English. For other types of requests, this form may be modified accordingly.
All types of requests require the signatures of the principal investigator and the project supervisor.
For requests concerning a change of project leader or principal investigator, it is also necessary to attach the CV of the proposed new leader/principal investigator, along with the signatures of both the original and proposed new leader/principal investigator. Additionally, provide the email address of the proposed leader/principal investigator for the purpose of receiving our response to the request. The request must be submitted in one copy, including all required signatures.
No request is required for a change in co-investigator. The principal investigator should report such changes in the project continuation request or in the final project report. The principal investigator can add the new co-investigator to the team by entering their personal identification number. If funds are to be transferred to the new co-investigator, the amount must first be deducted from the current co-investigator's allocation; otherwise, funds cannot be transferred to the new co-investigator. The existing co-investigator must then be removed (terminated) and the new one added. It is essential to follow this procedure.
Students of the 1st Faculty of Medicine, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, and Faculty of Science should not send requests directly to GA UK, but rather through their respective faculty’s scientific offices. If students from these faculties send a request directly, GA UK will notify the faculty and the request may be returned. For all other faculties, it is advisable to contact the relevant grant/scientific department coordinator at the faculty. If the change is approved, the principal investigator should report the change in the project continuation request or in the final project report.
A decision on the request will be provided within 30 days.
Changes in individual budget items of allocated financial resources may be made without submitting a request, according to Article 1, Section 6 of the contract, provided that the change in the given category does not exceed 20,000 CZK (this does not apply to transfers into personnel costs, where the limit is 10,000 CZK). Note that the amounts of individual changes are cumulative (it is not possible to make several changes of up to 20,000 CZK if their total exceeds 20,000 CZK without submitting a request). Any changes in expenditures must also comply with the rules and limits.
Types of request:
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Request for Budget Change
In addition to the specific amount, please include the new use of funds (e.g., from travel expenses to other non-investment resources for the purpose of purchasing specific project-related items). Also, specify why it is no longer necessary to spend the funds on the original item as planned. Individual budget items can be changed without a formal request according to Article 1, Section 6 of the contract, provided that the change in the relevant category does not exceed CZK 20,000 (this does not apply to transfers to personnel costs, where the limit is CZK 10,000).
Note: The amounts of individual changes are cumulative (it is not possible to make several changes of up to CZK 20,000 without a formal request if the total exceeds CZK 20,000). Any change in expenditure must also comply with the prescribed limits.
(Canceled as of January 1, 2023: Transfer of funds from the Travel Costs category in any amount without a request due to COVID-19.)
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Request for a Change of Project Supervisor
The request must include the consent of both the current (original) and newly proposed project supervisor and the personal identification number of the proposed leader. A CV of the proposed supervisor and their email address must also be attached to the request.
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Request for a Change of Principal Investigator
The request must include the consent of both the current (original) and newly proposed principal investigator and the project leader. Requests are evaluated individually based on the specific project and may not always be approved. A CV of the proposed principal investigator, their personal identification number, and email address must also be attached to the request. If the change is approved, it will be updated in the system by GA UK staff.
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Request for a Change of Co-investigator
No formal request is required for a change of co-investigator. The principal investigator should report the change in the project continuation request or the final project report. The principal investigator can add the new co-investigator to the team using their personal identification number. If you also plan to transfer funds to a new co-investigator, click the yellow box to the right of the outgoing co-investigator, enter the new person's ID number, and then check the "transfer funds to the new person" box. If you have already disbursed some of the funds and need to reallocate them, please contact the GAUK office via your faculty; they will arrange the necessary changes.
Please note that the project team composition cannot be modified in the application's team table during the project's final year; any changes must be justified within the project's final report.
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Request to change the project duration
Changing the project duration is not possible.
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Request for Project Suspension
A GA UK project can be suspended for the following reasons: maternity or parental leave, or long-term health issues. It is possible to request a suspension for a minimum of six months. In the case of a two-year suspension, a new request must be submitted after one year. A suspension for a third year is possible only in exceptional cases; for a fourth year or beyond is not permitted (GR of 18 February 2022).
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Request for early termination of the project
A request for early termination of the project is possible if the early termination does not result in the project being handled for less than a year. In the event that the project is terminated prematurely, it is necessary to submit a final report in due time and return the unspent funds back to GA UK.
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Procedure for Changing Faculties
If the principal investigator changes faculties, this must be reported to GA UK. The project record will be transferred to the principal investigator’s new faculty. The transfer of the project and funds to the new faculty is managed by the principal investigator in cooperation with the GA UK coordinators at both faculties.
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Change of Project Goals
Changing the project goals is not permitted.
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Requests for a change of evaluation
If a project was evaluated as "Not fulfilled" or "Fulfilled with reservations," it is possible to submit relevant publication outputs and request a change of evaluation from the Grant Council by the end of the year following the evaluation. The output must be submitted along with the request; it is no longer possible to add the output to the application system. The deadline of "by the end of the following year" applies to projects evaluated in 2022 or later. For projects evaluated earlier, the original deadline applies—by the end of the year in which the evaluation took place. Address the request to the Chair of the Grant Council and attach the publication results, as well as confirmation of publication or acceptance for publication.
What project number should be provided when writing change requests or acknowledging?
It is necessary to write the number of the grant project as stated in the application, do not use accounting numbers of the faculties or the contract numbers.
Information for researchers
We managed to obtain the opinion of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports that time of project suspension will not count in total project time (this is a maximum of 3 years).
The GA UK project can be suspended for the following reasons: maternity and
parental leave; long-term health reasons; concurrence with the START project
(applies only to already running GA UK projects). Request to UK Grant Council for
suspension of the project is possible only for the whole calendar year, if suspension is needed for two years, it is necessary to send the application again after first year.
Please address requests for suspension of the project to the Chairman of Grant Council
of the University through the office of GA UK.
Information for researchers with regard to the crisis situation (COVID-19):
1/ Using finances from item "Travel costs"
At its meeting on 16 April 2020, the University Grant Council decided that it is possible to transfer funds from the “Travel costs” item to any other item for 17th round (year 2020), even in full and without additional request. The condition is that the changes are effective, economical, efficient and related to the crisis situation (COVID-19). The change must be recorded and commented in the annual report and the condition should be compliant according to all GA UK rules and limits. If the above conditions of change cannot be ensured, the funds can be returned to GAUK.
Note: According to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the funds are intended for a calendar year and they cannot be transferred to the next year.
In the annual reports, must be recorded, how the situation about COVID-19 affected the solution of the project.
Also applies to the 19th round (2021)
As of 1/1/2023, the possibility to transfer travel costs in any amount without request due to COVID-19 has been cancelled!
(the University Grand Council 30. 9. 2022)