Once again, Palacký University Olomouc wants to award its best teachers. The second year of the university-wide competition UP Teaching Awards has been announced, whereby students themselves can nominate their teachers. Nominations can be submitted until October this year. As in the first year, the award will have two categories based on the length of teaching experience. The best teachers can receive either the Junior Teaching Award if they have been teaching for less than five years, or the Senior Teaching Award if they have been teaching longer.
Last year’s pilot edition established a new tradition, aiming to acknowledge the educational efforts of individual teachers from various faculties. “What is crucial is the involvement of students in this competition. They are the ones who select the teachers they consider not only professionally accomplished but also innovative and inspiring. I believe their feedback is very important for all teachers as it motivates them in their further work,” said Jitka Petrová, Vice-Rector for Studies and Lifelong Learning.
To submit proposals, students use the university’s evaluation system, which they are familiar with. They are asked to employ five criteria to evaluate the selected teacher. They should consider, for example, whether the teacher is an expert in their field or innovative enough to master new technologies. Once the nominations have been concluded, the five teachers with the most votes in each category will move on to the next round of the competition. Subsequently, they will present themselves and their work to the UP Teaching Board with a prepared portfolio. The board will then select the winner in each category. Prizes for the most popular Palacký University teachers will be awarded in February 2026 at a ceremony during UP Academic Week.
More than eight hundred students participated in the first year, nominating three hundred teachers. The winners were two teachers from the Faculty of Education. I Kamil Kopecký from the Department of Czech Language and Literature won in the senior category, and Kateřina Valchářová from the Institute of Education and Social Studies won in the junior category.
“The very fact that I won was an immense surprise for me – I really did not expect that. After the competition results were announced, I was also surprised that other universities started to approach me with requests for lectures on how to teach and what is the key to engaging students. This is a question I often think about, and I actually think the number one key is that I really enjoy going to the class and seeing the students – and that I often find great inspiration in their views and opinions. It has also energised and reassured me that what I’m doing is meaningful and that students feel that their time, such a valuable resource, is not being wasted in my classes,” said Valchářová when asked about the importance of the award for her future work.
Through this competition, the university is also trying to highlight the importance of quality teaching. “The introduction of the annual process of awarding outstanding teaching activities is part of the Programme for the Support of Strategic Management of Higher Education Institutions for 2022–2025. The course of the competition can be followed on the Centre of Excellence in Education website and is regularly reported by the university media,” said Klára Tesaříková Čermáková, Head of the UP Continuing Education and Teaching Innovations Office, the guarantor of the competition.
The first year of the competition has been documented in detail here.