Merrill Programme
The Merrill programme is a semester study programme at a university in the USA, designed for Palacký University students. It is sponsored by partner HEIs in the USA and co-funded from other sources, e.g. Erasmus+, the UP, and also by students themselves.
Students of the UP Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Law are considerably limited by the programmes of the selected US HEIs and the increased financial costs of studying medicine and law. No academic degrees are earned within the study programme. The expert supervisor of the Merrill programme at Palacký University is Rector of Palacký University Olomouc. The programme is administered by the Office for Mobility UP. The Merrill programme selection committee is appointed by Rector of Palacký University.
Merrill programme 2024/2025
APPLICATION for the academic year 2024/2025 - deadline for submitting the application is 14.2.2024.
In 2015 the charitable activities of Charles Merrill, founder and principal sponsor of the scholarship study programme for UP students, were terminated. As a result, Palacký University can no longer offer fully funded student mobilities at partner HEIs. Students interested in studying in the USA under the Merrill programme need to allow for an increased financial cost and check the new conditions of participation.
Palacký University has prearranged conditions for its students at three partner universities (please see the list of partner HEIs below) for the academic year 2024/2025. Subsequently, negotiations with selected partner institutions will continue with a view to establishing a new funding mechanism that would be acceptable for Czech students.
For more information, please refer to the Office for Mobility UP, Zuzana Hamdanieh.
Who is the programme for and how to apply?
Applicants for the Merrill programme must be full-time students at Palacký University. In the case of bachelor’s programmes, second-year students are eligible to apply, while third-year students may do so only provided they continue their studies in follow-up master's programme at the UP. Students of the follow-up master’s programme are eligible to apply starting with the first year of studies. From the updated list of partner institutions the applicants choose an HEI that best matches their study aims, and specify their selection in order of preference in the application.
The following documents must be submitted along with the application:
- study aims (a clear idea of studies in the USA corresponding to the student’s field of study at the UP)
- resume
- transcript of records issued and confirmed by the office for studies of the faculty
- letters of recommendation from teachers (at least two, one from each department in the case of a double major programme)
Applicants submit the required and signed documents to the Office for Mobility UP.
How are students selected?
The following aspects are assessed in the documents:
- academic performance
- study project planned for the stay in the US, student motivation
- knowledge of English (students admitted to the Merrill programme are expected to take the TOEFL test)
- opinions from competent departments
- study history (the programme supports primarily students with no prior experience of studying at a US higher education institution)
- extracurricular activities of the student
Other criteria considered in the selection of students:
- the offer of partner HEIs
- specific requirements of partner HEIs on students
- opinions of sponsor
Following assessment of the documents by an independent selection committee appointed by PU Rector, all the selected applicants are invited for an interview in English and subsequently notified in writing. The final decision on admitting the applicant to studying in the US is on the US institution, which has the right not to admit the student and request a change.
Programme Organization and Conditions
- The costs of a semester student mobility at a US university, are funded by the student, in combination with e.g. Erasmus+, the PU, and the partner HEIs. Partner HEIs reduce the total amount required for a semester of study abroad by e.g. awarding the student a grant, waiving tuition or other fees - e.g. admission and registration fees, or they provide Accommodation free of charge.
- Tuition fees are waived. Students can be granted a contribution towards the costs of living (Accommodation and food) from available sources by the PU, Erasmus+ etc. Students pay the airfare, visa to the US, and, if need be, health care insurance directly at the host institution. Participants also pay the TOEFL fees. Students can make some extra money to spend on textbooks and their spare time activities by working at the campus of the given HEI.
- If a nominated student decides to withdraw from the programme for reasons of a serious nature, he/she must immediately notify the Merrill coordinators at the PU Office for Mobility in writing. The written notification is submitted in Czech (to Vice-Rector for International Relations) and English (to the US institution) and must be signed by the student.
- Following the completion of the mobility, the student is obliged to submit a certified list of courses taken at the US institution to the PU Office for Mobility.
- There is no legal right to participation in the programme. No appeal against admission or non-admission is permitted. Reasons for rejection of admission shall not be communicated to the applicants. The selection committee reserves the right to make changes.
List of HEIs under the Merrill programme
For detailed information about the institutions and overview of study programmes, please refer to the HEI catalogues available at the UP Office for Mobility or relevant websites.
- Moravian College - cooperation 2023/2024 available
- COE College Cedar Rapids - cooperation 2023/2024 available
- Fordham University- new cooperation 2020/2021 (only for students from the Fac. of Theology under specific conditions)
- University of North Texas - further cooperation being negotiated
- Mount Mercy University - cooperation temporarily suspended
Who is Charles Merrill?
Charles Merrill (born 1920) is an American philanthropist, who has made a great mark on the history of Palacký University. In 1991 the University awarded him an honorary doctorate for pedagogical sciences in an acknowledgement of his lifetime achievement in education. Mr Merrill’s concept of education has always clearly aimed at fostering intellectual curiosity in young people, respecting cultural differences and cultural plurality of the world, and cultivating democratic thinking and sentiment in support of human rights. He describes his rich experience with a successful and unique private school he founded in Boston, and directed for 25 years, in the book The Walled Garden (1982).
Charles Merrill studied history. After graduating from Harvard College he served in the army on the Italian front until the end of World War II. He became interested in the Czech Republic and the historically troubled Central Europe region already in 1938 thanks to the Munich Crisis. Immediately after the war Charles Merrill taught under the Fulbright Programme in Austria and often visited Czechoslovakia and Poland, even after both the countries were sealed into isolation by the Iron Curtain.
He welcomed the fall of Communist totalitarian regimes by founding his “Czech and Polish education project”, which gave rise to the “Merrill scholarship” programme. Thanks to it, nearly 150 students of Palacký University have travelled out over the past ten years, since 1990, to spend an entire study year at institutions of higher education in the United States and Latin America.
Charles Merrill has documented his relationship to Central Europe and the related personal experiences in his book The Journey (1996). Some of his other works include the novel Emily’s Year (1991) and a book dedicated to the political and ethical aspects of foundation philanthropy, The Checkbook (1986).
Merrill’s brother James (1926-1995) was one of the leading poets of his generation. The publications of both the men can be found at the University library.
Text by Josef Jařab, 2000
Commemorating Mr. Merrill
A Message from the Artist
May-June 2003, University of Massachusetts Boston
"As one comes closer to the end of the trail, one asks what is left. What has one accomplished? What might others remember or never know? I was married to Mary Klohr Merrill for 58 years. I helped raise five children and was an on-looker for eight grandchildren, which I suppose is one claim to immortality. I had an established education at a New England boarding school and The World's Greatest University. During the war, My War (we've had lots), I served in both the Canadian (a nicer uniform and my commitment to the international struggle against fascism) and American armies. As an entry-level employee of the 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th (Texan) Division, was slightly wounded D-day morning, September 9, 1943, the landing in Italy, by a German shell splinter. Good deeds? That same morning looking after a badly wounded German soldier.
I helped an older friend start a boys boarding school in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, some years later took my family to live in Paris while (like all Americans) I wrote a novel that would let me be an international literary figure .. It didn't. What to do? With money inherited from a wealthy father I started Commonwealth School in Boston, which I managed as teacher and headmaster for 23 years. It was the most important job I ever held and demanded every bit of skill and endurance I possessed. Culture and civilization, responsibility, decency, independence, joy-what is possible to share with young people? Respect for hard work well done. To learn to be a good citizen.
In February of 1969 I ran away from Commonwealth for a semester. Mary and I would drive through Yugoslavia to spend three months with my two younger sons at my brother's house in Athens. I left a couple of weeks before they were free and used that rime to drive around Poland, a country that had fascinated me ever since my first visit in July 1939. How do you spend two weeks of winter evenings in Polish hotels? I would paint. In Zurich I purchased a cheap set of supplies: colors, paper, brushes. That's all that's needed. The end result you see on these walls of the UMass Boston Harbor Art Gallery. Who were my teachers? Klee, Malevich, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Kupka. Ben Nicholson, no colorist but with lean, graceful lines I admired, the only English speaker. Oddly, no Americans. With better therapy I might have become less dependent on a ruler. Favorite colors: red, orange, yellow, indigo. Since my job was dependent upon words and people, I was grateful for the silence and solitude of painting. A few works I sold, but what is a painting worth? I preferred giving them away, to friends and family, to hang in schoolrooms and libraries."
Charles Merrill
Commemorating the 2nd anniversary of Charles Merrill, Jr. death on November 29, 2019 we keep our wonderful memories of him and continue activities of the „Merrill program“ while announcing a new call for UP students in 2020/2021.
The legacy of Mr. Merrill at Palacký University lives on and „Merrill students“ always remain grateful for his support.
Recent memories of the Merrill programme Alumni
Merrill's program provided me with an incredible opportunity.
he school system in the U.S. is quite different from ours, but I still gained a lot of experience. I study physics and visited Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The professors at Coe offered me a personal approach and were willing to help me make the most of my stay. I had the opportunity to participate in research in the physics department, as well as engage in self-study and discuss new findings with my professor. I have many great memories from time I spent at the Czech and Slovak National Museum, where I had the opportunity to work as a volunteer. Being in the US taught me that I can enjoy exploring new places on my own and that I can have big dreams and work hard to achieve my goals. Throughout these moments, it was important not to be afraid and to take advantage of every opportunity.
Eliška Postavová, AY 2023/2024
I remember the moment when all the papers, forms, and contracts were lying in front of me waiting to be processed. A thought ran through my head asking if it all was even worth it, after all, I was studying to pass my state exams to get my bachelor’s degree that spring and all the free time was precious. However, after going through this experience, I cannot thank my past self enough for deciding to endure and handle the inconvenience of the initial administrative process. The reward was an experience that has shaped me into the person I have become and has provided many positive experiences and impressions for my continued personal and career growth. Moravian University is full of incredibly friendly people who are interested and concerned about your well-being as well as the well-being of the community, so they won't leave you in the lurch. The friends you make there will last you a lifetime, even if it was heartbreaking to say goodbye to them - after all, you spent every day together, sharing the good and the bad and gradually discovering all that America has to offer. There was so much, whether it was positive experiences, food, events, or trips, we weren't bored for a minute. In conclusion, I can say that you leave a piece of yourself behind and arrive as someone else, which can feel a little scary and intimidating, but it's a great part of life and the opportunity to develop in this particular way shouldn't be avoided just because you're scared to leave your comfortable life and the established routines you have here, because trust me, it's worth it.
Linda Sehnalová, AY 2023/2024
I remember the moment I learned that I had been selected for a semester-long study abroad program at Moravian University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA.
I knew that this was going to be a great opportunity for me, which would open the door to a new world with many new possibilities. But it went beyond my expectations. Now, after spending a semester there, I have rich memories of Moravian University imprinted on my mind. Those memories are full of happy moments of everyday life on campus spent with new friends and exploring new parts of the world. Moreover, it had been a continuous process of learning and gaining new experiences. They say that a semester goes fast, but this time with all the experiences, it went fast in a snap of a finger. Within four months, I found a piece of home at Moravian University thanks to the people around me. It was a unique experience, and it is hard to sum up so many happy moments in words. It was something unforgettable, to step out of my comfort zone, to face culture shock and all the changes, but also because of all that, the semester became one big adventure that I will never forget.
Minh Tam Le, AY 2023/2024