Grant projects remain an important part of the research activities of the School: in 1998, there were 29 grants, of which three were outside the state and school budget. Nine grants were financed from abroad, the largest number – three grants – by the Open Society Fund. Among the grants financed from Czech sources there was one grant from the University Development Fund of the Ministry of Education and seven grants from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic. The departments and research institutes of the School share quite evenly the work on the grant projects, focusing on specific research topics and establishing their research profiles. The project of ”Children and Youth Research Laboratory”, projects supporting the new field of human geography and projects dealing with the problems of minorities and of nationalism were all of major importance. The work of school members also included expert consulting; in 1998 six were requested by central authorities of the Czech Republic.

Along with research, the members of the School also participated in administration tasks. In 1998, six members worked on expert committees of grant agencies (two abroad), 21 were members of committees of scholarly and research associations (three abroad), including the honorary membership of Prof. Librová on the board of the Society for Permanently Sustainable Living, Prof. Mo?ný’s membership of the European Society for Arts and Sciences in the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies, and Assoc. Prof. Keller’s membership of the committee of the Slovak Sociological Association in Bratislava. Six members of the School assisted in the organisation and programme on committees of international congresses; Assoc. Prof. Sirovátka chaired a congress held in Lublin, Poland in October, 1998. Traditionally, members of the departments also edit scholarly almanacs (in 1998, six members of the school) and work on the editorial boards of professional journals (also six members).

The School also held several conferences and conventions: the Department of Political Science, together with the International Institute of Political Science of Masaryk University, organised the conference ”NATO and Central Europe” in May 1998; the Department of Social Policy and Social Work held a colloquium ”The Comparison of Czech and Slovak Social Policies” in December 1998.

Within its academic profile, the School also insists on maintaining the distinction between the three types of degree programmes, leading to the degrees of bachelor (Bc.), master (Mgr.) and doktor (Dr.). In Bc. programmes, the school intends to maintain the requirement that the students study a combination of two subjects (in some cases a subject may be chosen from those offered by the Faculty of Arts), while the Mgr. programmes are single–subject only. The number of students applying to study at the school indicate that interest in social studies continues to increase.

The education programme of the School includes international contacts, exchange of students and co–operation with universities abroad. In autumn 1998, the school held a one–semester course for fourteen select students from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London. The course consisted of a series of lectures focusing on the study of Central European countries, their life and problems. In co–operation with the Faculty of Arts, courses in Czech language were also provided for these students.

All the departments of the school have a long tradition of international contacts. In 1998, the co–operation continued based on agreements with universities in Nottingham, Surrey, Bristol and Guildford in England; Stirling in Scotland; and Pennsylvania State University in the USA, as well as the student exchange programme with the university in Lillehammer, Norway. Further agreements were signed with the Catholic University in Tilburg, Norway (concerning the exchange of three students and lectures of Czech teachers in Tilburg) and with universities in Roskilde (Denmark) and Leuven (Belgium). Other contacts were also made with both universities and research institutions.

The School received a number of distinguished scholars from abroad, coming for short or longer visits and also giving lectures. These were particularly scholars from Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands and the USA.

Members of the School made numerous trips and visits and gave lectures abroad; e.g. Assoc. Prof. Macek: San Diego, Bern; Assoc. Prof. Rabušic: Williamsburg, Dubrovnik; Assoc. Prof. Mareš: Tilburg; Dr. Marada: Brussels, Berlin, Trnava, New York; Dr. Nováček: Toronto; Dr. Szaló: Dubrovnik, Budapest; Dr. Vašeňka: Budapest, Lublin. Assoc. Prof. Kostroň obtained a Fulbright fellowship to work as a visiting scholar at the State University of New York at Albany, USA.