Project activity is a faculty priority, among other things because it is an important condition for gaining accreditation and the subsequent development of study programmes delivered by the faculty. At the UWB and FE there exists a well-structured system for internal project support (such as SGS, SVK, GRAK or BAMAPE), in the framework of which dozens of small projects are taking place every year. Below we focus on some of the most important projects by external suppliers which have been carried out in recent years and brought results of both national and international relevance.  

INSPIRE 2 – Support for Pre-Service Teacher Education (2024–2027):
This project is co-financed by the European Union through the Jan Amos Komenský Operational Programme, project registration number: CZ.02.02.XX/00/23_019/0008370.
The aim of the project is to provide a synergistic, comprehensive, practice-oriented, and competence-based pre-service teacher education program at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. The vision of strengthening the professional competencies of future teachers and improving everyday educational practice will be implemented through enhanced collaboration among university educators, field experts, and students—across faculties, departments, higher education institutions in the Czech Republic, regional education stakeholders, and international partner institutions.

"From Four Rivers to the Sea" – A Project of the Departments of Russian, Czech, and German Language at the Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia, and the Institute of Slavic Studies, University of Greifswald (Germany) (2024):
A project funded by the Czech-German Future Fund, registration number: 6-24-14777.
The aim of the project is to foster mutual contact between students and academics, enabling a deeper understanding of Czech and German cultural environments within the context of a multicultural and multilingual Europe. The project is implemented under the annual theme Technological Progress and therefore also focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of using technological tools in higher education, compared to methods from the “pre-digital” era.
Project activities include, among others, a six-day internship at the University of Greifswald, a virtual photo exhibition titled Once Upon a Time in Rügen, field research and a study on Slavic-Origin Toponyms in Pomerania, a telecollaborative project My Day with Technology, and the development of a computer game.

PEDAL – Young People with Intellectual Disabilities in the Period of Transition (2022–2024):
A project funded by the Czech Science Foundation, registration number: 22-26896S.
The aim of the PEDAL project is to fill the gaps in current knowledge about the lived experience of young people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, especially during the key transitional phase from formal education to adulthood. To achieve this, the research team combines methods from the social sciences with approaches from performance arts and new media in an innovative way. However, the project does not focus solely on describing the current situation; it also seeks to identify and explore the factors associated with a successful transition into adulthood and the necessary conditions that enable schools and support services to assist each individual with a disability in becoming fully and actively engaged members of society.

Development of Subject Didactics as a Tool for Improving Teaching in Schools in the Pilsen Region (RIS3) (2022):
A project funded by the Pilsen Region, registration number: 022ZU14.
Within this project, the Faculty of Education at the University of West Bohemia worked in cooperation with secondary school principals in the region to compile a list of possible interventions to support unqualified teachers. Communities of practice were established for all key subjects in the region. These communities serve as platforms for sharing inspiration and good practices, as well as providing peer support from qualified teachers and university staff to unqualified colleagues. Thanks to this cooperation, the offer of lifelong learning opportunities for unqualified teachers has been expanded, especially in the form of short courses that allow participants to earn credits applicable to further studies at the Faculty of Education—either in long-term continuing education programs aimed at qualification enhancement or directly within bachelor’s or master’s degree programs. The offer now includes more distance and blended learning formats, making the courses easily accessible and allowing unqualified teachers to prepare for teaching specific subjects precisely when needed (e.g. immediately upon starting a job or even before).

Experimental Development of an Adaptive Practice Module (2021–2023):
This project is co-financed by the European Union under the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness, registration number: CZ.01.1.02/0.0/0.0/20_321/0024420.
The aim of the project is to develop an AI-powered reporting tool that will provide output for students, parents, teachers, and school management. Anonymized outputs will also be usable by school founders, researchers, and editorial staff. The university is involved in the project as a partner.

Internationalization, Cooperation, Innovation, Reflection, and Evaluation in Pre-Service Teacher Education (INSPIRE, 2020–2022):
This project is co-financed by the European Union through the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education, registration number: CZ.02.3.68/0.0/0.0/19_068/0015764.
The aim of the project was to improve the quality of teacher training at the Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia. New activities focused on developing evaluation and self-evaluation strategies were introduced into selected courses across all subject areas. The project strengthened cooperation among university teachers, students, and teachers from partner kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in the region. It also enabled international collaboration through the implementation and reflection of joint teaching internships in selected European countries.

Didactics on the Border – Teaching Together for the Future (2020–2022):
Provided by INTERREG, project registration number: 294.
The project’s main goal was to develop new modern teaching materials for regional history and civics in digital and interactive formats and to create methodology for a new generation of humanities teachers at the pre-service level.

Model of Teacher Education for Diversity:
In October 2021, the international research project "Model of Teacher Education for Diversity" was completed, implemented in partnership between The Mazovian State University in Plock (Poland) and the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (Czech Republic). Since October 2019, academic teams from the Faculty of Humanities and Computer Science (Poland) and the Faculty of Education (Czech Republic) have explored theoretical frameworks related to the education of pupils with migrant backgrounds. The team conducted research among school principals, teachers, and parents in both countries, analyzed the collected data, and formulated conclusions and recommendations for necessary changes in the support of these pupils and their teachers in mainstream schools, as well as in pre-service teacher education. The key output is a digital publication available in English, Polish, and Czech.
The project was supported by the Polish program “Pathways for Cooperation – Support for Entities Implementing International Cooperation” (Operational Programme Social Innovations and Transnational Cooperation, POWR.04.03.00-IP.07-00-007/17).
Contributors from the University of West Bohemia included Josef Slowík, Dagmar Šafránková, and Markéta Zachová from the Department of Education, Faculty of Education.

Development of a Screening Tool for Identifying Students at Risk of Reduced Effectiveness of Distance Learning (2019–2022):
Registration number: TL04000147.
The aim of this project is to create an online screening tool that enables teachers and school leaders to identify students (and subsequently whole classes) at risk of reduced learning effectiveness in distance learning compared to traditional education. The tool will be based on research identifying predictors of (in)effective distance learning, using data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic across various school subjects.

Application of Virtual Reality Tools for Training Communication Skills of Hotel Staff to Reduce Fears and Risks Related to the Spread of COVID-19 (2019–2022):
The main objective of this project is to develop appropriate methodology and tools for training hotel staff in communication skills to help reduce concerns and risks associated with the spread of COVID-19. The project uses virtual reality to simulate critical communication scenarios based on pre-prepared scripts.
Key outputs include:

1. An interactive VR hotel environment.

2. A methodology for communication skills training using virtual reality.
   The project requires an integrated approach, drawing on knowledge from didactics, communication psychology, hotel management, and information technology.

Supporting the Development of Digital Literacy (2018–2021):
This project is co-financed by the European Union through the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education, registration number: CZ.02.3.68/0.0/0.0/16_036/0005366.
The project aims to contribute to the development of an educational system based on the principles of open education, equipping every individual with the digital competences necessary for success in the information society. The main focus is on capacity building for the development of digital literacy among children and pupils, in line with the revised national curricula (RVP PV, RVP ZV, G, SOV) being finalized within the project under the coordination of the National Institute for Education.

Didactics A – Humans and Nature (2017-2019) This comprehensive project, financed by the European social fund and state budget of the Czech Republic, dealt systematically with the issue of essential areas in the primary school curriculum in biology, chemistry, physics and geography. A significant role was played by active teachers. The outcome of the project consisted in more than ten professional articles and five monographs (one general in nature, the others for each individual subject) describing the research and at the same time offering practical suggestions for solving essential issues in the relevant areas. Further information, including the outcomes of the project, is available here [CS].  

A child with epilepsy in the school environment: development of an appropriate structural model (2016-2018): This junior project of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic carried out a unique piece of research focused on the school life of children with epilepsy and the influence this has on various factors relating to the children themselves, as well as their parents, classmates and teachers. The outcome of the project was a monograph entitled Dítě s epilepsií, which, in addition to a general summary of the given issue (including a structural model which can be of use in subsequent efforts at improving the quality of life of children with epilepsy), also contains a number of practical recommendations for parents and teachers of children with epilepsy. 

Didactic application of the regional history of Pilsen and the Pilsen region (2013-2016): was the most significant project of applied research at the FPE in recent years. The project was carried out in the framework of the Programme for supporting applied research into national and cultural identity (NAKI), financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. A number of faculty departments were involved in the programme (history, geography, German, IT) and its primary benefit consisted in establishing an integrated methodology for teaching regional history, including among other things, an interactive map of immovable monuments in the Pilsen region, an interactive textbook on the history of Pilsen and the Pilsen region, plus other materials used in teaching history and other subjects. 

Common European Framework of Reference in Visual Literacy (CEFR_VL, 2014 –2016): European thematic network of the pedagogy of art – code: 538568-LLP-1-2013-1-DE-COMENIUS. In the framework of the European project Comenius a proposal was created within the European framework of reference in visual literacy. Specialists from the Department of Arts and Culture at the FE were one of the partners from six European countries who participated in the creation of a European curriculum for art. The outcome of the project was an extensive monograph. 

Support of art education for equal opportunities (2017-2020) from the operational programme of the Czech Ministry of Education “Research, Development and Education” (MŠMT, CZ.02.3.62/0.0/0.0/16_037/0004850). 

Current teaching practice at art schools shows teachers’ lack of awareness of methods for working with children with special educational needs. Similarly, there is clear lack of awareness of educators of specific teaching methods in relation to such pupils when teaching art subjects at primary and secondary schools. There is no comprehensive approach in this area. The problem of methodological competence of teachers is directly connected with the insufficient openness of art schools to accepting pupils and students with SEN for study. The project dealt with methodological and didactic materials for individual and group work in collaboration with teachers of arts subjects. 

Further information on the faculty’s project activity is available on the project centre webpage [CS].