Support for creative activities

JAMU’s ambition is to be a top centre of education, independent knowledge and creative activity in the field of dramatic and musical arts and to play a fundamental role in the artistic, scientific, cultural and social development of our society. In addition to educating students, it seeks to achieve this goal by intensively developing creative activities, especially artistic and research activities.

We believe that art and science play an equal and equally essential role in understanding the world. We thus subscribe to the opinion of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk that “the work of art is an outgrowth of a special knowledge of the world, and I say further that it is just as independent and legitimate as scientific knowledge”. Like the Dutch professor Arjo Klamer, we have no doubt that “a civilised society needs culture and art as much as science – as a source of knowledge and creativity”.

Our model is Leoš Janáček. Not only with its name, but with its entire direction, JAMU is committed to the personality and work of composer Leoš Janáček, a unique artist who fundamentally influenced the development of world music art and who throughout his life intertwined artistic creation with research and pedagogical activities.

In order to support the creative – artistic and scientific – activities of students and teachers, JAMU has established three project competitions, thanks to which financial support can be obtained for the implementation of student research(JAMU Student Grant Competition) and pedagogical research(JAMU Research Development Fund) and educational and artistic(JAMU Educational and Artistic Development Fund) projects. Each year, dozens of projects are supported in these competitions, among which more than CZK 3 million are distributed.

JAMU Research Development Fund financially supports projects of JAMU academic staff that contribute to the development of JAMU through scientific, research, development or innovation activities.

JAMU Student Grant Competition provides financial support for the implementation of research and artistic research projects of students of a doctoral study programme or a master’s study programme carried out at JAMU.

Artistic creation at the JAMU is primarily the responsibility of its teachers, who are often exceptionally prominent creative personalities who in their fields significantly co-create the shape of contemporary Czech and international musical and dramatic art and who then pass on their experience to students in their teaching.

Artistic creation is also an integral part of studies at JAMU. In addition to learning about the history and theory of their fields of study and culture and society in general, students are intensively engaged in their own artistic creation throughout their studies, thus preparing for their future work in artistic practice and for the fact that after graduating from JAMU they will be responsible for the further development of art, culture and society as a whole.

The artistic work of the students is presented to the public mainly at the Orlí Theatre and Studio Marta and during graduation concerts at the Faculty of Music. The faculties of JAMU organise a number of international competitions and shows where our students can compare their skills with young artists from all over the world and gain unique experiences and personal contacts, such as the International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER, the Leoš Janáček International Competition in Brno or the International Music Festival Meeting of New Music Plus.

Science and research is an integral part of JAMU’s activities. The results of research and theoretical thinking of our students and teachers are usually published in the JAMU Publishing House, which has already published hundreds of not only professional monographs, but also essay and memoir books and scripts.

The faculties of JAMU organise international scientific conferences and symposia, some of which are unique in the world context and are widely attended by the most important foreign experts, e.g. the International Conference of the Faculty of Music of JAMU “JAMUsica” or the International Symposium of Doctoral Studies of Theatre Schools.

Research projects of academic staff are successful in grant competitions of the prestigious Czech Grant Agency and the Czech Technology Agency and JAMU supports them with its own project competitions.

In recent years, JAMU has been developing artistic research, a methodologically progressive research field in which artistic creation is examined and reflected upon by the artists themselves, who thus gain knowledge that is difficult to access using traditional methodologies.

Doctoral degree programmes are focused on independent theoretical and creative work in the arts and allow students to further their education in their field and develop their artistic talent and skills under the guidance of experienced supervisors. The study of the doctoral programme can also be seen as preparation for future teaching in art schools. The Faculty of Theatre offers doctoral studies in the programme of Dramatic Arts and the Faculty of Music in the programmes of Interpretation and Theory of Interpretation, Composition and Theory of Composition and Music Production.

Habilitation proceedings and proceedings for appointment to professor

The JAMU is accredited to conduct habilitation and appointment procedures, on the basis of which the scientific-pedagogical or artistic-pedagogical titles of associate professor and professor are awarded. The accredited fields of these proceedings are Dramatic Arts and Musical Arts.

The JAMU Artistic Council is a self-governing academic body composed of the most prominent artistic personalities from among the JAMU teachers and artists from outside the JAMU academic community, whose main tasks include discussing the long-term plan of the JAMU and approving proposals for appointment as professor before submitting them to the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports.