Student scientific, professional and artistic activity
Statute of the SSAA
DEAN'S GUIDELINE No. 2/2024 Statute of the Competition of Student Scientific, Professional and Artistic Activities at the Faculty of Education of CU in Bratislava
The Student Scientific, Professional and Artistic Activity (SSAA) is an important part of the development of the creative potential of students and a space for the development of scientific disciplines and study programmes that can be studied at the Faculty of Education of the Comenius University in Bratislava. Together with other scientific and artistic activities, such as scientific conferences, professional seminars and workshops of the departments of Faculty of Education CU, in which students participate, it is one of the important professional activities of students. SSAA is implemented in close cooperation with the student part of the Academic Senate of Faculty of Education CU in Bratislava.
The aim of the competition is:
- to deepen the scientific, professional and artistic activities of the students of the Faculty of Education of CU,
- to stimulate and develop their abilities and competences for scientific, professional and artistic activity,
- to identify and support talented and creative students,
- to educate prospective professionals in particular scientific and artistic fields,
- to improve communication between students with each other and between students and teachers.
Competition work
The competition is announced by the Dean of the Faculty for the respective academic year. The announcement of the competition shall be published on the official notice board of the Faculty. The competition is open to any student of the Faculty of Education of CU in both full-time and part-time study in one of the following two categories:
- students of the 1st level of higher education,
- students of the 2nd level of higher education,
- students of combined studies.
The participant of the competition shall prepare a thesis on a topic related to the study programme they are studying.
Topic proposals and thesis proposals of the SSAA may be implemented in the following ways:
- topics are proposed by teaching and research staff of the Faculty, as well as by internal PhD. students through their departments,
- a student can also propose his/her own topic, in which case it is approved by the study programme supervisor or the head of the department,
- the work may be part of the final (bachelor's, master's) thesis, and this fact must be declared in the introduction of the thesis,
- the work may be an extension of a semester thesis, and this fact must be declared in the introduction to the thesis.
The student may also choose the elective course Student Scientific Professional and Artistic Activity, for which he/she will receive the appropriate number of credits.
The theses may have theoretical, theoretical-applicational or research character.
In art-oriented study programmes, the work may also be of an interpretative character (musical performance, artwork, etc.).
The work may be produced by an individual or by a collective of students, in which case the contribution of each author must be indicated. During the preparation of the work, students may consult with the faculty members who assigned the topic or with experts from other departments.
If this has been done, it shall be stated in the introduction of the thesis.
The written thesis must comply with the Internal Regulation No. 32/2023 Directive of the Rector of the CU in Bratislava on the basic requirements of theses and the total length of the thesis with appendices is a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 45 standard pages. The thesis must have a comb or other suitable binding and must be submitted in 1 copy together with an identical electronic version to the departmental coordinator of the SSAA no later than 30th of April of the given academic year.
In art-oriented degree programmes, the competitor shall submit a musical composition or interpretation of a musical work (in the form of a recording), a work of art or a set of works of art (in one copy). In art-oriented study programmes, the submission of a written work is not required.
Students will submit the application form in accordance with Attachment 1. and then submit the work by the deadlines set out in the timetable of the SSAA.Students who fail to meet the relevant deadline for submission of the work or whose work does not meet the requirements specified will not be admitted to the competition.
Organisation of the competition
The competition is organised by the Department for Science and Art (hereinafter referred to as DSA) of the Department for Science, Art and Doctoral Studies of the Faculty of Education of CU. SSAA takes place at the Faculty in two rounds. The first round takes place at the departments and institutes of the Faculty, the second round is at the whole-faculty level. Both rounds of the competition are public, competitive and are conducted in the following sections:
A. Teaching fields
1. section for bachelor's degree students,
2. section for master's degree students,
B. non-teaching fields
1. section for bachelor's degree students,
2. section for master's degree students.
Students in the joint degree programme will be placed in sections according to the year in which they are studying.
Both rounds of the competition may also be mediated by videoconferencing or other means of information and communication technology for students who do not participate in the SSAA.
Preparation of the 1st round of the SSAA at departments and institutes
The preparation of the first round of SSAA is carried out at the departments and institutes of the Faculty of Education of CU. The head of the department appoints an employee (departmental coordinator) who will coordinate the activities within the SSAA at a particular department (e.g. announcement of topics, information of students, colleagues, control of deadlines).
The institutes are the organisers of the first round of the SSAA. Within each institute, the coordinators in the individual departments are expected to co-operate. The institute has the right to create sub-sections if more than 10 students apply for one section or if there are papers with a different focus (e.g. a section for SSAA papers in art disciplines).
The members of the evaluation committee for the 1st round of the competition at the institutes are usually the coordinators of the SSAA in the individual departments. The minimum number of committee members, including the chairperson is 3, the maximum number corresponds to the number of departments in a given institute. In the case of a lower number of departments within an institute, the commission will be supplemented with additional members from the staff of each department/department on the basis of proposals from the heads of the departments. An expert from another institution may also be a member of the committee. The chairperson of the evaluation committee for the 1st round of the competition shall be elected by the members of the committee at its first meeting.
At the institute level, one committee may be formed for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Communication with DSA is primarily through the chair of the committee or a committee member designated by the chair.
At the Institute level, the committee shall appoint a thesis assessor who shall make a judgement; a second judgement shall be made by the thesis supervisor (consultant), if one is named in the thesis. If the thesis does not have a named supervisor, the committee shall appoint two referees who shall draw up two reports.The assessments shall be transmitted electronically to the chair of the committee.The authors of the thesis must receive the assessment by e-mail or other appropriate means at least 3 working days before the 1st round. The date of the 1st round of the SSAA must be published at least 10 days before it takes place. Judgements will be drawn up according to templates that are prepared and approved separately for scientific and artistic activities.
The exact order of the works is not determined at the institutional round, only the three works that will proceed to the faculty round of the SSAA are determined.
Preparation of the faculty round of the competition SSAA
Based on the results of the first round, each institute may propose up to 3 works from each section (or subsection) for the faculty round, which is carried out no later than 10 June of the relevant academic year.
At the faculty level, section chairs and evaluation committees are in place.
The section chairs of the SSAA are appointed by the Dean of the Faculty and are an advisory body to the Vice-Dean for Science, Arts and Doctoral Studies. The section chairs also in the faculty round may form a subsection if more than 5 papers are proposed in one section. The chairpersons of the sections of the SSAA may also be the chairpersons of the evaluation committee, or the Dean of the Faculty appoints the chairpersons of the evaluation committee on their proposal. The members of the evaluation committees are appointed by the chairs of the sections.
The evaluation committee implements the faculty round of the SSAA in the relevant section and must have at least three members, including the chairperson. An expert from another institution may also be appointed as a member of the evaluation committee.
At the faculty round, the competitors will present the theses of their work, respond to the assessments of the assessor(s) and the supervisor (consultant) and to questions and suggestions from the audience. In the arts, a musical composition or interpretation of a musical work (recording), a work of art, or a body of artwork will be judged, and the student may also present his or her work verbally. He/she will then respond to the evaluations, questions and suggestions from the audience.
The date of the faculty round will be set by the DSA in accordance with the academic year schedule. The student part of the Academic Senate of Faculty of Education CU and DSA participate in the organization of the faculty round of the competition.
The Dean of the Faculty may grant a dean's leave on the day of the faculty round of the SSAA.
The evaluation committee in the faculty round in each section will announce the order of the three best works. The committee may decide not to award a place or to propose two works for the same place. After the evaluation of the competition in their section, the committees will immediately draw up a report, which they will sign and send it, together with one copy of the winning paper, to the Vice-Dean for Science, Arts and Doctoral Studies. On the basis of the documents of the evaluation committees, the Department of Science and Arts will prepare diplomas/certificates of placement in the SSAA competition, which will be handed over after the faculty round or on another appropriate occasion (e.g. a meeting of the management, the College, the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Education of CU).
The academic community will be informed about the results on the Faculty's website. The evaluation committee may recommend works for the national (international) rounds of the SSAA, if such rounds are to be held in the given field.
Evaluation of works and the evaluation committee of the faculty round
The evaluation committee has a chairperson and at least 2 other members. If the member of the evaluation committee is a person who was the supervisor of the participant of the faculty round of the SSAA, he/she does not vote in the case of the evaluation of his/her work. The exact method of evaluation shall be agreed before the start of each round, and the members of the individual committees shall have the opportunity to get acquainted with the individual works in advance, in agreement with the chair of the committee.
The Vice-Dean for Science, Arts and Doctoral Studies has the right to check that the evaluation committees have worked correctly.
Rewards
Authors of papers that place in the top three places in the faculty round will receive, depending on their placement, a special scholarship. In the case of co-authorship, the reward will be divided in the proportion of the co-authorship in the creation of the competition work. The specific amount of the extraordinary scholarship will be determined according to the amount of funding available to the Faculty for this purpose in a given academic year.
Participants in round 1 of the competition who do not advance to the second round will receive a certificate of participation, which will be prepared and submitted by a committee at the level of the institute on the basis of a form from the DSA.
If a national or international round of the competition is held, the Faculty will cover travel and accommodation costs for students who advance to this round.
Participants in the faculty round of the SSAA will receive 50 points in the points assessment for the accommodation needs of students of the Faculty of Education of Comenius University in accordance with Article 2, point 3 of the Dean's Guideline No. 16/2023: "Allocation of points for activities for the accommodation needs of students of the Faculty of Education in the accommodation facilities of Comenius University".
On the effective date, the statute of the Student Education Centre valid from 14. 11. 2018 is repealed.
This Directive comes into force and effect on 23. 02. 2024.
All important information is available here