GAČR: A Major Project Success for the Institute of Educational Sciences
4. March 2024The Faculty of Humanities regularly applies for standard grant projects under the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR). At the end of 2023, a project proposal titled Self-regulation of Children’s Digital Behaviour secured GAČR funding. In recent years, the Faculty of Humanities has achieved considerable success with GAČR projects.
For instance, projects supported include Dynamics of Self-regulation among Socially Excluded Pupils (Institute of Educational Sciences) Blind Spots in Non-formal Adult Education in the Czech Republic: Non-participants and Their Social Worlds (Centre for Research), among others. However, increasing demands and stricter criteria for submitted applications are putting growing pressure on project teams and the originality of their proposals. Success rates for submitted proposals decline annually, and in the face of fierce competition, it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure funding. The successful project proposal from late last year was led by Mgr Karla Hrbáčková, Ph.D., from the Institute of Educational Sciences, supported by a team of four other academic staff members: doc. Jakub Hladík, Ph.D., Mgr. Anna Petr Šafránková, Ph.D., Mgr. Lucie Blaštíková, Ph.D. and Mgr. Julie Junaštíková. The principal investigator, with her extensive experience in scientific and publishing activities, significantly contributed to securing this prestigious project grant. SCIENCE AND RESEARCH 7 The aim of the project is to understand the mechanisms behind excessive use of digital technologies and to explain the role self-regulation plays in children’s digital behaviour. Given that up to a quarter of adolescents in the Czech Republic are affected by excessive use of digital technologies, the research results, to be conducted over the next three years, could have a profound impact on re-evaluating programmes and strategies aimed at mitigating unhealthy use of digital technologies. We wish the research team many fascinating results that will further advance scientific understanding, and we trust this success will be followed by many more for our faculty.