The new academic year, which begins on 5 October, will be a special one for MU: on 1 July the university welcomed a new faculty, the Faculty of Pharmacy, which was transferred from the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences (UVPS) based on an agreement made with MU.
Thus, on 1 July, 800 students who had been enrolled at the UVPS Faculty of Pharmacy became students of MU’s Faculty of Pharmacy, including 175 who were accepted this year and have enrolled in their first year of studies in master’s programmes. Most of the faculty’s employees also made the move. Courses will continue to be taught at the UVPS campus on Palackého třída, as MU has rented classroom space here for five years.
“We have several jobs to do that we must get started with right away irrespective of the summer holidays. We must modify academic regulations to be in line with MU’s, learn to work with MU’s information systems, establish the faculty’s research goals, and create rational conditions for cooperating with other MU faculties and institutes. But I also want to ensure the staff’s well-being and establish good conditions for students because only employees and students who are happy can do their best work,” says Radka Opatřilová, the former dean of the UVPS Faculty of Pharmacy, who has been named interim dean of the MU Faculty of Pharmacy by rector Martin Bareš until a new faculty dean is elected by management.
Until then, Dean Opatřilová will manage the MU Faculty of Pharmacy with help from four vice-deans. Tünde Ambrus will serve as vice-dean for studies, Petra Bořilová Linhartová as vice-dean for research and doctoral studies, Peter Kollár as vice-dean for international relations and internationalisation, and Ondřej Zendulka as vice-dean for external relations, strategy, and development. Jan Mysliveček will serve as bursar and oversee the running of the faculty. Members of the new faculty’s academic senate and the new dean should be elected by the end of this year.
The rectors of MU and UVPS began holding talks about transferring the Faculty of Pharmacy in the autumn of last year. The transfer of an entire faculty from one university to another, an unprecedented move in the 21st-century history of Czech higher education, was first approved by the academic senates of both universities and subsequently by their boards of trustees.
In mid-June, MU obtained accreditation for two master’s pharmacy programmes and eight PhD pharmacy programmes from the National Accreditation Bureau. UVPS relinquished its accreditation for its former pharmacy programmes. In the future, the MU Faculty of Pharmacy will be based at the University Campus at Bohunice.
“The Faculty of Pharmacy will bloom only if it works in close cooperation with the Faculties of Medicine and Natural Sciences and with the university’s hospitals. Closely integrating these fields of study is important for the development of personalised medicine, which will lead to overall improvement of the health and quality of life of our population. In the near future, Czechia will be facing major demographic challenges stemming from an ageing population,” explains rector Martin Bareš.