Dean’s Measure No. 16/2023
on the Implementation of the Career Rules and Assessment of Academics and Researchers

CHAPTER I.
Subject matter

  1. This Measure is issued further to Article 22(5) of the Constitution of the Faculty of Science of Charles University (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Faculty’) and with a view to implementing Rector’s Directive No. 28/2021. The present Measure defines the procedural rules for the career development of academics and researchers, the periodical assessment of the achievements of the Faculty’s academic and research employees under employment concluded for an indefinite period of time (‘attestation’), which is enshrined in the Constitution of the Faculty of Science of Charles University, and the periodical assessment of academic and research employees under employment concluded for a definite period of time.
  2. This Measure is linked to Dean’s Measure No. 32/2021 titled ‘Criteria for the Assessment of Academics and Researchers’ that lays down the criteria for the assessment of academic and research workers under employment for an indefinite period of time (the ‘Criteria’). The Criteria express the employer’s requirements for the proper delivery of job assignments and obligations, and for the professional achievements of academics and researchers. The criteria are set as minimum, and failure to satisfy them may be considered by the Faculty as unsatisfactory work results on the part of the employee, a failure to meet the requirements for the proper performance of work under the employment contract, or a violation of the employee’s obligations arising from their employment with the Faculty.
  3. The Measure defining the Criteria may be updated or amended regularly or irregularly, depending on how the conditions for the educational and research work of academics and researchers change over time.

CHAPTER II.
Career development of academics and researchers

  1. The career development of academics and researchers at the Faculty of Science is governed by the Framework Principles of Career Growth of Academics, Researchers, and Lecturers at Charles University, which form an attachment to Rector’s Directive No. 28/2021.
  2. The career growth plan for academics and researchers will always be discussed as part of the assessment of academics and researchers.

CHAPTER III.
Assessment of academics and researchers under employment for an indefinite period of time (‘attestation’)

Article 1
Groups of employees subject to attestation

  1. The attestation process assesses the educational, scientific, research, development, and innovation activities of academics and researchers (including lecturers) who are under employment for an indefinite period of time (hereinafter referred to as the ‘employee’).
  2. The attestation criteria are defined separately for individual groups of employees subject to attestation and individual groups of establishments.

Article 3
Attestation

  1. Employees shall undertake attestation every five (5) years, commencing at the start of their employment for an indefinite period of time.[1] If an employee fails to meet the defined criteria during attestation, they shall undertake extraordinary attestation during the next calendar year.
  2. The ‘attestation period’ means five calendar years prior to the year of the attestation or six calendar years prior to the year of extraordinary attestation. The year during which indefinite period employment was concluded or regular or extraordinary attestation took place is also the first year of the attestation period.
  3. ‘Attestation criteria’ are the criteria applicable in the year of concluding employment for an indefinite period, the year of the last regular attestation, or the year of the last extraordinary attestation.
  4. The Attestation Commission will reasonably take into consideration any obstacles to work.
  5. If an employee faces obstacles to work during the attestation period (including but not limited to maternal/parental leave or incapacity for work) of at least six months in duration, their attestation period shall be prolonged by such a period and the date of attestation will be postponed to ensure that, after subtraction of the duration of obstacles to work, their attestation period totals five calendar years.

Article 4
Background material

  1. The Human Resources Division shall submit a list of names of the employees subject to attestation or extraordinary attestation in the current year and the criteria applicable in the year when their attestation period commenced to the Dean, Vice-Dean of the Sections, Research Support Department, and Student Affairs Division by 31 December of the previous calendar year. The list shall specify each employee’s job description and indicate whether the employees faced any obstacles to work of at least six months in duration within their attestation period.
  2. By 15 February of the relevant calendar year, the Human Resources Division shall send the Vice-Dean of each Section the background material for the assessment of educational activity defined in clause 2(1) of Dean’s Measure ‘Criteria for the Assessment of Academics and Researchers’ for each employee subject to attestation.
  3. By 15 February of the relevant calendar year, the Student Affairs Division shall send the Vice-Dean of each Section the background material regarding the number of defended bachelor’s, diploma, and dissertation theses under clause 2(1)(b)–(d) of Dean’s Measure ‘Criteria for the Assessment of Academics and Researchers’, as well as the resultant point score for such activities as defined in Articles 4–10 of said Measure, for each employee subject to attestation.
  4. By 15 February of the relevant calendar year, the Research Support Department shall send the Vice-Dean of each Section the background material for the assessment of scientific research, development, and innovation activity as specified in clause 2(2) of Dean’s Measure ‘Criteria for the Assessment of Academics and Researchers’ for each employee subject to attestation.
  5. The Vice-Dean of the Section shall separate the background material specified in clauses 2 and 3 of this Article for each individual employee and e-mail it to the employees subject to attestation in that year and their direct supervisors for inspection and completion by 31 March of the relevant calendar year. The employee and their direct supervisor shall e-mail their comments on the material to the Vice-Dean of the Section within 30 days after the dispatch of such material. They shall also send the Vice-Dean of the Section any other material that may affect the results of the Commission’s discussion.

Article 5
Appointment of the Section and Attestation Commission

  1. By 31 March of each calendar year, the Dean shall appoint one attestation commission for each Section (‘Section Commission’) and determine which Section Commission will assess the employees of research/educational establishments not included in the Section.
  2. The Dean shall appoint Section Commission members so as to include:
    1. the Vice-Dean of the Section
    2. heads of the concerned establishments and their deputies
    3. study programme guarantors
    4. members of the Faculty’s Research Board
    5. external members – experts from outside the Faculty.
  3. The Dean shall appoint another Vice-Dean as the deputy Vice-Dean of the Section.
  4. For each date of attestation, the Vice-Dean of the Section shall appoint an attestation commission with at least five members chosen from among the Section Commission members (the ‘Attestation Commission’).
  5. The Vice-Dean of the Section or, in their absence, their deputy shall chair the Attestation Commission. The head of the establishment where the employee undertaking attestation works shall take part in the Attestation Commission session as a commission member, unless prevented from doing so due to their absence from their establishment.
  6. The Attestation Commission shall cover attestation and extraordinary attestation procedures.
  7. The term of office of the Attestation Commission is from 1 April to 31 July of each calendar year.
  8. The chair of the Attestation Commission shall schedule its meetings to ensure that the attestation procedures take place from 15 May to 15 July. They shall also ensure that extraordinary attestation takes place within a period longer than 12 months from the previous attestation and shorter than 12 months from the delivery of a letter requesting the employee to rectify shortcomings at work.
  9. Where the attestation concerns the Vice-Dean of the Section, their deputy shall be the chair of the Attestation Commission. Where the attestation concerns the head of an establishment, their deputy shall be a member of the Attestation Commission.

Article 6
Meetings of the Attestation Commission

  1. By 30 April of the calendar year, the employee shall e-mail a self-assessment to the chair of the Attestation Commission in which they shall give any information the Commission should take into consideration in attestation (primarily educational and research activities, monographs released through impacted publishers, patents, acting as a study programme guarantor, knowledge and technology transfer, science popularisation) and explain the reasons why they failed to meet the criteria if applicable.
  2. By 5 May of the calendar year, the chair of the Commission shall e-mail individual Commission members all the relevant material for the upcoming date of attestation concerning the observance of the criteria by the employee, any material the Commission can take into consideration in attestation, and the employee’s self-assessment.
  3. The chair shall determine the date and venue of the Commission meeting and notify the Commission members and all employees who are to undergo attestation of this by the fifth business day of May of the calendar year. The venue for the Commission meeting shall be one of the Faculty’s establishments. If a commission member cannot attend a meeting, they must send an excuse to the chair in good time.
  4. The Commission shall assess the employees who undergo attestation during the meeting. The meeting of the commission must be attended by the chair or their deputy, the head of the establishment or their deputy, and at least one additional member, but at any rate by a simple majority of the commission members appointed for the specific attestation date.
  5. The Commission may invite the employee subject to attestation or any third party to the meeting to give explanations. If the employee subject to attestation applies to the chair of the Commission to be allowed to attend the Commission meeting at least three business days in advance, the chair of the Commission shall allow them to attend. Otherwise, Commission meetings are not public.
  6. In the attestation procedure, the Commission shall assess the employee’s professional results and proper performance in accordance with the employer’s requirements in the past attestation period in relation to the criteria defined in Dean’s Measure ‘Criteria for the Assessment of Academics and Researchers’ in an objective and transparent manner, observing the principle of equal treatment of employees and the ban on discrimination against employees. In its meeting, the Commission shall assess the material it has received with regard to the employee undergoing attestation and compare it with the attestation criteria applicable in the year of concluding indefinite period employment or, if the employee has already undergone attestation, with the criteria applicable at the time of their most recent attestation or extraordinary attestation.
  7. The Commission shall furthermore assess the activities of the employee subject to attestation in terms of any criteria not included explicitly, provided that such activities have been undertaken to benefit the Faculty and are similar in importance to the defined criteria (e.g. monographs released through impacted publishers, patents, acting as a study programme guarantor,  knowledge and technology transfer, science popularisation, etc.). It shall furthermore assess the employee’s soft skills (conduct at work, communication, social skills, professionalism, responsibility, being pro-active, collaboration, etc.) and/or language skills.
  8. Commission members must not disclose any information they learn while acting as commission members or in connection with such activity. The chair of the commission shall ensure that external commission members execute their non-disclosure clauses.

Article 7
Recommendation of the Attestation Commission

  1. The Commission adopts decisions through a simple majority of the attending members. If a member has a dissenting opinion, they shall write it in the Commission’s recommendation. If no dissenting view is included, it is understood that the Commission has decided unanimously. In the event of an equal vote, the chair’s opinion shall prevail. The recommendation shall be issued in writing.
  2. For each employee subject to attestation, the Commission shall issue exactly one of the following recommendations:
    1. to issue the decision to the effect that the employee has met the attestation criteria;
    2. to request the employee to rectify the shortcomings in their work on the grounds that they have not satisfied the attestation criteria;
    3. to terminate the employment of the employee because, despite a written request, the employee has failed to improve their professional performance within the past 12 months and failed to satisfy the attestation criteria during the extraordinary attestation.
  3. If an employee fails to satisfy the attestation criteria, the Commission may, depending on the situation of the specific establishment, request the employee to rectify the shortcomings or recommend that the Dean terminate the employee’s employment, or, subject to the employee’s approval, reassign the employee to a different position or reduce their working hours. The year of reassignment to a different position or of reducing the working hours due to a failure to satisfy the attestation criteria is the first year of the new attestation period.
  4. If an employee subject to attestation holds a position for which only the PED indicator is set (refer to Dean’s Measure ‘Criteria for the Assessment of Academics and Researchers’), the Commission shall proceed as follows:
    1. If the employee’s PED indicator is equal to or higher than the set criterion, the Commission shall issue recommendation sub (a).
    2. If the employee’s PED indicator is lower than the set criterion, the Commission shall issue recommendation sub (b), or recommendation sub (c) in the event of extraordinary attestation.
    3. Prior to issuing its recommendation, the Commission shall assess the employee’s other activities not included explicitly in the criterion; in cases worthy of special attention, the Commission may issue a different recommendation supported by written reasoning.
  5. If an employee subject to attestation holds a position for which only the VED indicator is set (see Dean’s Measure ‘Criteria for the Assessment of Academics and Researchers’), the Commission shall proceed as follows:
    1. If the employee’s VED indicator is equal to or higher than the criterion, the Commission shall issue recommendation sub (a).
    2. If the employee’s VED indicator is lower than the criterion, the Commission shall issue recommendation sub (b), or recommendation sub (c) in the event of extraordinary attestation.
    3. Prior to issuing its recommendation, the Commission shall assess the employee’s other activities not included explicitly in the criteria; in cases worthy of special attention, the Commission may issue a different recommendation supported by written reasoning.
  6. Ifs an employee subject to attestation holds a position for which both PED and VED indicators are set, the Commission shall proceed as follows:
    1. If both the employee’s VED indicator and their PED indicator are equal to or higher than the respective criterion, the Commission shall issue recommendation sub (a).
    2. If both the employee’s VED indicator and their PED indicator are lower than the respective criterion, the Commission shall issue recommendation sub (b), or recommendation sub (c) in the event of extraordinary attestation.
    3. Prior to issuing its recommendation, particularly if the provisions of subsections (i) or (ii) of this clause cannot apply to the employee subject to attestation, the Commission shall assess the rate of failure to satisfy the VED or PED indicators and the employee’s other activities not included explicitly in the criterion; in cases worthy of special attention, the Commission may issue a different recommendation supported by written reasoning.

Article 8
Dean’s decisions

  1. The chair shall ensure that the material assessed by the Commission and all of the Commission’s recommendations are submitted to the Human Resources Division by 31 July of the calendar year.
  2. The Human Resources Division shall verify whether the material provided is complete and whether the Faculty in its capacity as the employer has observed the formal principle of equal treatment of employees and the ban on discrimination against employees.
  3. By 31 August of the calendar year, the Section Secretariat shall prepare the individual draft decisions of the Dean based on the Commission recommendations and submit them to the Dean for decision through the Human Resources Division. If termination of an employee’s employment is recommended, the Human Resources Division shall prepare draft notices of termination of employment such that they shall satisfy all the requirements defined by Act No. 262/2006, the Labour Code.
  4. The Dean shall make the individual decisions by 30 September of the calendar year. If the Dean diverges from a Commission recommendation, they shall consult the chair of that Commission in advance and discuss the decision.
  5. The Human Resources Division shall ensure that an original copy of the Dean’s decision is delivered to each employee and that copies of the decisions are delivered to the Section Secretariat and the employee’s establishment.
  6. The Human Resources Division is responsible for the completeness of the documents related to attestation and for archiving them.

CHAPTER IV.
Assessment of academics and researchers under employment for a definite period of time

Article 1
Employees subject to assessment

Academics and researchers employed for a definite period of time (hereinafter ‘employees’) shall always be assessed when extending their employment. The Vice-dean of the Section can decide that employees assigned to the section managed by him whose agreed weekly working hours for the last 6 months before the expiration of the specified period were up to 16 hours incl. (i.e. working hours 0.4 and below), will be withdrawn from the evaluation.

Article 2
Extending the employment of academics and researchers

  1. The Human Resources Division shall send a list of employees whose employment is going to end in the subsequent half year by expiry of the agreed term to the secretariat of each Section every January and June. List must include working hours of said employees.
  2. The Vice-Dean of the Section shall appoint a commission for assessment interviews with the employees, which will include:
    1. the Vice-Dean of the Section
    2. the head of the establishment
    3. other workers, as the case may be (chief project researcher, deputy head, etc.).
  3. The Vice-Dean of the Section shall set the date for the assessment interview, which shall take place at least two months prior to the expiry of the employee’s current employment contract.
  4. The Section Secretariat shall invite the employee to the assessment interview for the set date. In case of employees exclusively paid from grants/projects, the relevant Vice-Dean of the Section will decide which employee to invite and which not to.
  5. The employee shall e-mail their self-assessment with an emphasis on their educational and research activities to the Section Secretariat no later than one week prior to the assessment interview. The head of the establishment shall send this self-assessment to the other commission members.
  6. Employee assessment places an emphasis on the rating of their research and educational activity. The employee’s other activities are also assessed (e.g. membership of official bodies and boards, representing the Faculty, etc.), as are their soft skills (conduct at work, communication, social skills, professionalism, responsibility, being pro-active, collaboration, etc.) and/or language skills. The employee’s further career progress shall also be discussed with them during the assessment interview.
  7. The Committee shall issue a written record of the assessment interview with the employee, stating clearly whether their employment contract will be extended. In case of a "negative" conclusion (choice of point 3 with justification), the Vice-dean of the Section immediately sends an information letter to the evaluated employee.
  8. Assessed employees can respond to the Commission’s conclusions in writing if they disagree. Within five business days of the assessment interview, the employee shall e-mail their response to the head of the establishment who will forward it to the Section Secretariat.
  9. The Section Secretariat shall send the original record, as well as the employee’s response to the Human Resources Division.
  10. If the employee disagrees with the Commission’s assessment and submits a written response, that employee’s assessment shall be discussed by the Dean’s Board.
  11. If the employee’s employment contract is to be extended, the Section Secretariat shall send a letter of proposal (available for download from the Human Resources Division website, Forms Section) to the Human Resources Division.
  12. If the employee’s employment contract is not to be extended, the head of the establishment shall give the employee a letter with notification to the effect that their employment will end on expiry of the agreed period (a template for the letter is available for download from the Human Resources Division website, Forms Section). The head of the establishment shall send a copy of this letter to the Human Resources Division.
  13. In justified cases, the assessment interview may be replaced with a competitive hiring procedure for the position held by the employee. The employee may take part in the hiring procedure. Thus, the competitive hiring procedure will replace the assessment interview.

CHAPTER V.
Assessment of academics reassigned to different academic positions

  1. When an academic (hereinafter ‘employee’) is to change their position, such employee shall undertake assessment in the form of an assessment interview. The employee’s success in the competitive hiring procedure supersedes the assessment interview.
  2. The Section Secretariat shall invite the employee to the assessment interview for the set date.
  3. The employee shall e-mail their self-assessment with an emphasis on their educational and research activities to the Section Secretariat no later than one week prior to the assessment interview. The head of the establishment shall send this self-assessment to the other commission members. It is possible to omit the self-assessment if the employee has successfully passed the appointment procedure to become an assistant professor or professor.
  4. Employee assessment places an emphasis on the rating of their research and educational activity. The employee’s other activities are also assessed (e.g. membership of official bodies and boards, representing the Faculty, etc.), as are their soft skills (conduct at work, communication, social skills, professionalism, responsibility, being pro-active, collaboration, etc.) and/or language skills. The employee’s further career progress shall also be discussed with them during the assessment interview.
  5. The assessment interview with the employee shall be recorded in an official record which shall also specify the title of the position to which the employee is to be reassigned and indicate whether the date of termination of their existing employment contract is to change. In case of a "negative" conclusion (choice of point 3 with justification), the Vice-dean of the Section immediately sends an information letter to the evaluated employee.
  6. The Section Secretariat shall send the original record to the Human Resources Division.
  7. If the employee is reassigned to a different academic position, the Section Secretariat shall send a letter of proposal (available for download from the Human Resources Division website, Forms Section) to the Human Resources division.

CHAPTER VI.
Final provisions

  1. Documents to be served under this Measure shall be served through the Faculty mail room or by electronic mail to the last known address of the employee. The material specified in Chapter III, Article 8, clause 3 of this Measure, specifically the request to remedy shortcomings at work and the termination of employment, must be served in accordance with the Labour Code.
  2. I hereby appoint the Head of the Human Resources Division and the Vice-Deans of Sections to act as the persons responsible for the verification and execution of this Measure.
  3. The Academic Senate of the Faculty of Science discussed this Measure in accordance with Article 22, clause 5 of the Constitution of the Faculty of Science, Charles University at its meeting held on 22 June 2023.
  4. This Measure supersedes Dean’s Measure No. 10/2023.
  5. This Measure becomes valid on the day of its issue and takes effect on 1 January 2024.

Prague, 22 September 2023

  Prof. Jiří Zima
Dean

 

[1] - Example: The employment for an indefinite period comes into existence during the course of 2023, the attestation period is from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2027, and the attestation procedure will be held in May or June 2028. In the event of extraordinary attestation, the attestation period will be from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2028, and the extraordinary attestation procedure will be held in May or June 2029.

Measure in PDF format