After two years of intensive negotiations, a scientific infrastructure with global ambitions will be established at Palacký University Olomouc. The UP Academic Senate has approved the Statute of the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), a new university institute into which several university research centres will be integrated. The Senate meeting again took place partly in the form of an online videoconference.
The senators decided to approve the document necessary for the establishment of the university institute after more than four hours of debate. Rector Jaroslav Miller gave an introductory speech, emphasising that every major project has its risks and pointing out the successful cooperation of scientific centres during the coronavirus epidemic. “As rector, I am obliged to strive for the development of the university. And I am convinced that thanks to the integration of scientific research capacities, we will be able to succeed against global competition,” said the UP rector. He also suggested that the document, if approved, be effective from 1 October 2020.
After hearing the resolutions of the Senate Legislative and Economic Commission, in addition to senators, other experts also took part in the discussion, such as Martin Kubala, Dean of the Faculty of Science, and Tomáš Opatrný, Chairman of the UP Academic Senate, who expressed their opposition to the establishment of the institute; also Pavel Banáš, Vice-Rector for Science and Research Strategy, Marián Hajdúch, Director of the Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine at the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Prof Pavel Hobza, and Roman Havlík, Director of University Hospital Olomouc, and others.
In the end, sixteen of the twenty-three senators voted in favour of the statute, one was against, and six abstained. The resolution was therefore adopted in the following form: “The UP Academic Senate approves the new Statute of the Czech Advanced Technology Research Institute at Palacký University Olomouc as amended after the meeting of Legislative Commission of the UP Academic Senate and as amended by the adopted proposal.”
Further information will be available after approval of the minutes of the UP Academic Senate meeting. Starting in September, a series of communications, prepared by the Communications Office of the UP Rector’s Office, will also focus on the details, visions, and goals of the institute.
During the meeting, the UP Academic Senate also took note of the final report of the Main Electoral Commission on the course and results of the May elections to the Senate for the 2020–2023 term of office. With regard to the positive experience with the electronic form of elections, the Senate also recommended that the new Senate consider the possibility of permanent introduction of the institute of electronic voting in the Senate Election Rules and amending these rules with regard to the extended term of the current Senate and its effects on future elections.
UP Academic Senate Chairman Jiří Langer also informed that the current Senate will continue to act with twenty-three members. Martin Pumprla, a senator from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, successfully completed his studies, which terminated his mandate. However, due to the approaching end of the Senate’s term of office, there is no need to call a by-election.
The senators were also acquainted with the composition of the Senate’s ad hoc working commission for the preparation of the UP Strategic Plan for the period 2021+, which was decided by a roll-call vote. The commission will be chaired by Kateřina Vitásková; Irena Smolová was elected vice-chair, and its other members are Zbyněk Janečka, Lukáš Merz, and Marek Stratilík.
Other items originally announced on the agenda were postponed. The next meeting of the UP Academic Senate will take place on July 8 from 1 pm, again partly in person and partly in the form of an online videoconference.