UP Endowment Fund to support talented students again

For the tenth time, the most talented students have the opportunity to receive support from the UP Endowment Fund (UP EF) for their projects. The new call for applications, which offers financial contributions of up to €8,000, is open from 1 March to 2 May 2025.

The UP EF has been helping gifted students since 2015. Over that time, it has helped 76 talented young people to carry out their scientific research or creative projects, and distributed more than €280,000 among them. The Fund supports projects of students enrolled in Master’s and doctoral programmes. They can use the contribution for travel, accommodation, purchase of literature and necessary tools, research software, and conference fees.

Projects are selected by the Fund’s Board of Directors and evaluated according to several criteria: originality and novelty, contribution to the field, social utility, practical application, international impact of the research, results and their presentation. A social or health disadvantage is an additional criterion for assessing applications.

“We guide the scholarship holders throughout the duration of the project and often for much longer. In addition to the money needed to implement the project, thanks to the cooperation with the UP Career Centre, they also become members of the Talented Palacký community. They are given opportunities to develop their skills and abilities in courses, learn to communicate science with us, participate in prestigious international competitions, present their results at the Academia Film Olomouc film festival every year, and get the chance to address their themes with us through coaching and career counselling,” explained Katrin Stark, EF Talent Coordinator.

The Fund is able to support talented students thanks to the support of corporate and individual donors. The general partners of the Fund are Komerční banka [Commercial Bank] and Sigma Group. Other major donors include Veolia Czech Republic and the Helena Morávková Foundation. “We greatly appreciate the long-term support of our partners and individual donors from among the academic community and university alumni. Thanks to them, dozens of students have already been able to engage in collaborations with top institutes around the world, participate in high-profile conferences, develop new approaches, methods, and drugs, publish and even patent their discoveries, publish books, create works of art, develop their skills, and win many prestigious awards,” said UP EF Director Jiří Rudolf.

What students who have received support in the past appreciate is that it is not just financial support, but an entire, sophisticated system of instruction. “I’m very grateful for the subsequent support I’ve received from the Talented Palacký programme – in the form of personal coaching, inspiring workshops, and networking programmes. I can say with certainty that the fact that I became a UP EF scholarship holder in 2023 had a huge impact on my future personal and professional development alike. This support has also resulted in several awards that I greatly appreciate – whether it’s the 3rd place in the national round of the FameLab science popularisation competition or a prestigious award from the Czech Ministry of Education. Another illustration is the fact that I am one of the selected participants in this year’s Leadership Matters! course, where I’m gaining invaluable experience which I’m already using in my work as a scientist and team leader. In short, being a UP EF scholarship holder has unlocked doors on my career path that I never dreamed of before,” said Eliška Zgarbová from the UP Faculty of Science.

Marta Sýkorová of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology was able to publish an interesting book. “Without this support, this project of mine would have remained in a drawer for a long time and wouldn’t have been able to evolve as it has now. My book of Very Bad Fairy Tales is already sold in many bookstores across the country. In addition, a weekend self-development course for women based on one of these fairy tales has been created and more courses are in the works. My positive experience with the UP Endowment Fund does not only involve the finances and technical implementation, but also their approach and incredible support and execution throughout all phases of implementation,” noted Sýkorová.