Úvod do PhD studia

General Information

In the following, you can find the detailed information about the planned retread. The text also contains some general information pertaining funding of business trips. Please read the text carefully.

Health Information

update August 12:

A separate Health Information section was added, please read it carefully.

We believe that it is important for the success of your PhD study to get know your PhD peers. Hence, the retreat will commence as advertised assuming a stable COVID situation. Otherwise, an alternative solution will be found (e.g. an online course for the Spring 2020 cohort and postponement for the Autumn 2020 cohort). As of today (August 4) we see both outcomes as equally probable. The final decision will be made about two weeks before the retreat. Your opinion is also important for us - let us know in the case of doubts, e.g. if you are in an at-risk-group for severe COVID or perceive other unacceptable risk. You can use the registration form "additional comments" section for this.

We count on your individual responsibility in handling the risks and protecting other participants of the retreat (e.g. visiting an indoor club event on the eve of the retreat might not be the wisest thing to do ;) ). Participation in the retreat should be avoided if you show the symptoms of COVID, had a contact with a person with these symptoms or with a person who tested positively for the disease, even if asymptomatic. Seek medical consultation instead. In the case of doubt (e.g. cold-like symptoms in the run-up to the retreat), please let us know.

That said, we will of course make an effort to decrease a potential infection risk during the retreat. Indoor events will take place in rather large and reasonably ventilated rooms and we will consider moving a part of the program outdoors if the weather permits. You are welcome to wear a mask if you wish so. None of these measures are bullet-proof, but they do lower the risk.

Schedule

The retreat is planned to kick off on Saturday, September 5 at 17:00. However, someone will be on-site from ca. 14:00 to handle your accommodation and registration.

We will appreciate if you are in Telč on time; we will start with some activities aimed at getting to know each other and it would be unfortunate to miss that. :)

The last part of the official programme will be the Monday lunch, starting around noon. On the second and third day, the breakfast is served from 8 am to 9 am, after which the retreat programme starts. Lunch breaks are planned to start around 12. On Sunday, we plan a 2-hour "siesta" after the lunch, a great opportunity to take a stroll around the town. Other than that, the schedule is filled with the retreat programme

Funding

The funding of your participation depends on whether, at the time of the retreat, you will have some sort of contract with the university (either a work contract, "pracovní smlouva," or a work agreement "dohoda o provedení práce/pracovní činnosti") or not.

IMPORTANT: When eating out (we plan some social events for the evenings), you are expected to pay your consumption out of your pocket and will get reimbursed later. Please do not leave the restaurants without paying. ;-)

If you have a contract, you need to fill in the travel form in INET. Based on this, you will receive a reimbursement for your transportation costs (with a caveat for car travel, see below) and your accommodation will be pre-paid by the faculty. You will also receive the law-mandated per diems to cover your meal costs. Since the per diems for domestic travel are not very high, we will try to arrange an extra stipend to cover the rest. How to fill in a travel form You don't have to complete the form immediately (to save some work in case the retreat is cancelled), but please do it by August 25 at the latest.

If you do not have a contract, you do not need to fill in anything (your part): you will pay for everything (meals, transport, accommodation) out of your pocket and you will then get a special stipend to cover your costs.

Registration Form

https://forms.gle/pgfGDyznPPg2ATMd9

Deadline for submitting the form: August 11, 2020

Venue

The retreat takes place at the University Centre Telč: https://mapy.cz/s/kupokojuke.

Accommodation

We arranged accommodation in comfortable double rooms at the university centre Telč. For those with a contract, the accommodation will be pre-paid. Otherwise, you will need to pay CZK 900 (for the whole stay) out of your pocket and will be reimbursed via a stipend.

Meals

Breakfasts and lunches will be provided at UC Telč. You will have to pay these out of your pocket (we expect around CZK 800, you will receive payment instructions via e-mail) and will be reimbursed after the event.

update August 12:

We will do the Saturday dinner in an informal way: we plan to take out some pizza or kebab from nearby places and have a picnic in the chateau park or UCT courtyard (or inside UCT in the case of a bad weather).

For Sunday evening, we have booked a private lounge at the "U Hraběnky" restaurant.

Menus to select from will be sent to you in a due time.

Travel

Travel by car

In this new world, an individual mode of transport might be preferred. However, there are some important administrative rules to consider, provided that you fall into the "have a contract with the university" category:

The usage of a car on an official business trip is only permitted if you satisfy all the following requirements:

You are an employee with a regular work contract ("pracovní smlouva"). A work agreement ("dohoda o provedení práce," pracovní činnosti) is NOT sufficient.
Your car is registered with the faculty accounting department (they will provide an info about how to do that).
You have completed the "OHS training for drivers" ("školení řidičů") available in IS.

If you do not meet these requirements, do not use a car while on a business trip. You might get us and yourself into an insurance trouble. N.b.: when filling in the travel form ("cestovní příkaz"), you can give the address of UC Telč as the start- and end-point of your business trip. Then, your travel to and from Telč will not constitute a business trip and in principle you can then travel in any way you like. However, your fuel costs will not be reimbursed.

If you do not have any contract with the university and hence do not fill in a travel form, your participation does not constitute a business trip and you can travel as you like.

If you go by a car and would like to offer a shared ride to your colleagues (or find someone to give you a ride), you can use the discussion forum in IS.

Parking info:

Chyba: Odkazovaný objekt neexistuje nebo nemáte právo jej číst.

https://is.muni.cz/el/fi/jaro2020/DUVOD/94471277/Parkovani_Telc_dlysfatv.pdf

We might also have a limited number of parking permits for the historic centre (right outside of UCT). These will be provided on a first come first served basis.

Travel by public transport

Timetables for public transport can be searched here: https://idos.idnes.cz/en/vlakyautobusymhdvse/spojeni/

If you choose to go by bus, an advance booking might be a good idea. A train trip via Havlíčkův Brod is a slower but slightly more comfortable alternative.

Checklist: What to Bring (and What to Leave at Home :-) )

The only thing necessary to bring is some paper notebook and writing instruments.

We do not have any organized "coffee breaks," but we will have a kitchenette at our disposal; you can bring your favourite tea or coffee to prepare some refreshment yourselves (mugs will be provided).

Sunday evening is yours: we hope that you'll help us to fill the evening with a program that you will enjoy. So please bring anything that might help you to achieve that: perhaps a musical instrument, perhaps a board game, or perhaps nothing, if you'd just like to have a beer and chat. :)

We'd like to gently discourage you from bringing your laptops, if only because there will be hardly any time to use them. Throughout the whole retreat, there will be at most 2-3 hours of some frontal, lecture-like teaching, the rest are activities that require your active and focused participation (small working groups, discussions, exercises, etc.).

update August 12:

Some additional useful stuff: