Theodor Herzl Distinguished Chair at Masaryk University

Scholarships for academics and researchers

Masaryk University welcomes annually more than 10 scholars coming to conduct research, to teach, or to do a combination of both in the Czech Republic in general, and at Masaryk University specifically. The mobilities are realized in different faculties of Masaryk University.

The application deadline for individual mobility through Theodor Herzl Chair is open throughout the year. The stays can take place any time between 1 January and 31 December.

Application requirements: 

• Israeli nationality, teaching or research position at one of Israeli HEIs
• The minimum length of stay is 3 working days in Brno (plus travel days), maximum 6 months.
• Each application has to consist of
  • The actual application form including the details of the project (available above in the section "Downloads")
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Confirmation – either a letter or e-mail from the academic tutor agreeing to support planned academic activity in the Czech Republic
  • A proposal of activities 
  • Selected bibliography (not required from stays shorter than a week)
  • Course outlines or syllabi (in a single combined document, only for projects including lecturing activity)
  • References (not required from stays shorter than a week)
• The application has to be sent by email with all the supporting documents to contact person. The applications are evaluated and approved by members of the board of the Theodor Herzl Chair programme.

Financial conditions: 

• MU will cover the return ticket from Israel to Vienna or Prague of each participant, based on the real cost.
• Subsistence allowance: each participant will receive subsistence allowance upon arrival to Brno. This sum is intended to cover all his/her expenses during the visit including trip from the airport to Brno, accommodation in Czech Republic and insurance. 
• Calculation of the subsistence allowance:

   

  • Fee for one-time lecture, 150 euros per day, which will be in accordance with the number of lectures, with a maximum of three consecutive days at the most, and a one-time payment of 150 €.
    • 1 lecture – 300 €
    • 2 lectures – 450 €
    • 3 lectures – 600 €
  • stays longer than a month: Remuneration for teaching an academic course, 120 euros per teaching day, depending on the total days of teaching, and one-time payment of 1,700 euros in the case of a semester course.
  • stays shorter than a month but longer than a week: as above, but calculated proportionally

Program administration:

Administration of the visits is managed by Centre for International Cooperation. This includes the practical matters such as flights reservation, accommodation booking and allowance payment.

The academic part of the individual mobilities are managed by the hosting faculty and specific department at Masaryk university. Each participant has to have an academic contact at Masaryk University. In case of questions and uncertainties, it is possible to receive an assistance with finding the academic connection at Masaryk University.

More questions about the practicalities and academic matters can be obtained from the contact person.

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The Annual Conference

The annual conference is jointly organized by Masaryk University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev under the auspices of the Theodor Herzl Chair Committee. The 2 to 3 day conference usually takes place in February in Brno, Czech Republic. The event is intended to bring scholars from Israeli and Central European universities to give presentations and participate in discussion on a given theme, which varies each year.  The topic and Call for papers for the next conference of 2018 will be announced in autumn 2017.

In February 2017, the theme of the conference was Israel 1947–1967: Creating the Country. The event brought together scholars from Israel, Poland and the Czech Republic to discuss historical, political, and sociological aspects of the establishment of the State of Israel and its early years. Part of the program was also a keynote lecture by General Giora Romm and a roundtable discussion with the title What Can Contemporary Israel Learn from its Early Years? Legacies and Perspectives. The participants of the discussion were Jefim Fištejn (Journalist), Tomáš Pojar (former Ambassador to Israel), Eran Yuvan (Israeli Embassy, Prague) and Daniel Kumermann (MZV).

Conference Coordinator: Programme coordinator (contact person).

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Seminar for a group of doctoral students

Masaryk University will organize a seminar for the selection of Israeli and Central European doctorate students (10 in total) in Telč in July 2017. Telč is a town in southern Moravia, near Jihlava, in the Czech Republic. The venue of the seminar is Masaryk University Centre Telč.

The main theme of the seminar for the year 2017 is Democracy in crisis: The stability of democratic regimes in light of social, political, religious, economic, and security changes.

Above all, the seminar aims to attract intelligent and open Ph.D. candidates with interest beyond their own respective fields, who want to share their research findings with the like-minded peers from the Central Europe and Israel.

The programs of the seminar include presentations of papers on the given topic by each of the participants with enough time and space for mutual discussion. The seminar will also consist of cultural program in the town of Telč and in its surroundings. The program of seminars that has been organized in 2014, 2015 and 2016 are available here and here and here.

Application requirements are:

• The following nationalities are eligible: Israel, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary and Germany
• Enrolment in a Ph.D. programme at one of universities in the country listed above
• Complete application sent to the Seminar Coordinator

Each application has to consist of:

• Application form filled by the applicant (the form is available above in the section "Documents to download")
• Curriculum vitae
• An abstract of the paper that should be presented
• Reference (these should be sent directly by the person writing the reference to the address to coordinator)

Financial conditions:

• MU will cover the travel costs of each participant from his/her home institution or permanent address to Vienna or to Telč directly, based on the real cost.
• The program and all subsistence costs (including accommodation and insurance) will be covered by Masaryk University directly.

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Keynote Lecture

A series of events is organized annually to bring closer Israel, its culture, politics and society to the general public. In 2016 a debate of Rainer Höss and Tal Bashan was organized on November 17 (more at Muni Calendar). 

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