The Jaroslav Jirsa Award

This translation is for informative purposes only. The legally binding version is the original Czech text.

Rector’s Directive No. 19/2012

Statute of the Jaroslav Jirsa Award for the best textbook of the year

Article 1 – Preamble

Charles University esteems high-quality textbooks as a specific kind of creative scholarly and educational texts. The award for the best textbook of the year at Charles University is named after the long-time director of the university’s Karolinum Press. Jaroslav Jirsa was aware of the indispensable role played by printed textbooks in university education. In accordance with its publishing activities, every year Charles University supports authors and author teams by awarding the Jaroslav Jirsa Award for the best textbook of the year.

Article 2

The Jaroslav Jirsa Award for the best textbook of the year at Charles University (hereinafter referred to as “the Award”) is awarded annually.
Textbooks are understood to mean printed teaching texts.
The Award for the best textbook is usually granted in the following fields:
− social sciences and humanities
− medicine and pharmacy
− natural sciences and mathematics-physics
The Award can only be granted for the first edition of a publication.
For multi-volume series, the Award may only be granted after the last volume has been published.

Article 3

The Award may be granted to an author or author team for textbooks published by Charles University or its departments in the past calendar year, or to an author or author team at Charles University publishing in a non-university publishing house. A team from Charles University is defined as one where at least one member has a professional relationship with Charles University.

Article 4

Nominations for the Award are to be submitted by the Deans of the faculties (or department heads) to the Rector (or a Vice-Rector in charge) in two copies, including a copy of the nominated work. Nominations must be submitted no later than the end of February of the calendar year following the year for which the Award is to be given. Copies of the nominated works shall be returned.
The nomination shall include the name(s) of the author or the team’s members, the name of the faculty (department), the nominee’s or team’s home department, and a justification for the nomination.

Article 5

Nominations received by the Vice-Rector in charge by the deadline set in Article 4(1) shall be referred to the Rector.
The Rector’s advisory body for assessing nominations for the Award is a committee composed of representatives of the university management and the Editorial Board and a representative of the Academic Senate of Charles University.

Article 6

The Award for the best textbook is certified by a document which contains the name(s) of the award-winning author or team’s members, the exact title of the work, and the date of the Award. The document shall bear the signature of the Rector.
The Award is accompanied by a cash prize of CZK 50,000 per publication.
The Award is handed over by the Rector or the Vice-Rector authorised by the Rector.

Article 7

The Award may not be granted every year.
There is no legal entitlement to the Award.

Article 8

This Statute replaces the existing directive Rector’s Award for the best publication of the year.
The Statute shall come into force on 1 January 2013.

In Prague on 27 December 2012

prof. RNDr. Václav Hampl, DrSc.
Charles University Rector