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New academic year: awards and challenges

From achievements and successes in international rankings, to presenting awards to excellent faculty members and notable personalities linked to the development of the university, to reference to weaknesses and room for improvement – these were the key topics of the ceremony held for the opening of the 2024/2025 academic year.

Award recipients (from left) Petr Peňáz, Nikola Beneš, Ondřej Krajíček, Lubomír Kopeček, Barbora Hutňan Chattová, Jiří Hudeček, Václav Suchý, Jozef Csöllei and Jiří Herman with Rector Martin Bareš.

The programme, which included performance by the Indigo Quartet ensemble and the presentation of the university’s official wine and the students’ official wine, opened with speech by Rector Martin Bareš. Evaluating the university’s achievements during the previous academic year, he admitted that while he realizes that international rankings have its own limits, he is pleased to acknowledge that the university has managed to retain its place in the QS World University Rankings, and that it placed among top 500 universities in the ARWU ranking. He also pointed out that the ranking is based on key factors such as sustainability in the broadest sense of the term, internationalisation in science and education, publications and scientific performance per academic staff member.

“Our success in international rankings shows that our path is the correct one and that we have managed to implement internal mechanisms for successful growth and development, especially with respect to quality and excellence,” Bareš said. For this year, Bareš added, the university’s budget is at its record high at CZK 11.8 billion, and growing. He also noted that there still exists some room for improvement and that there are some weaknesses which require continuous improvement, including dropout rate, human resources or alumni relations.

“Every institution is represented, above all, by its people, their talent, abilities and energy. We must be able to manage that, otherwise we are not going to be able to move forward. It will slow us down and no plans and fancy presentations are going to save this,” Bareš added. Referring to Plato and Masaryk, he mentioned the care for the soul and education as the university’s key role. Following his speech was the presentation of medals to excellent faculty members and personalities who played a key role in the improving significance and reputation of the university, nationally and internationally.

The programme included performance by the Indigo Quartet ensemble.

The MU Rector’s Awards are presented to excellent faculty members for their teaching activity in three categories. Representing life science and medicine, Barbora Hutňan Chattová from the Department of Botany and Zoology of the Faculty of Science received her award this year; as did Lubomír Kopeček from the Faculty of Social Studies and Nikola Beneš from the Department of Computer Systems and Communications of the Faculty of Informatics.

The Silver Medals of MU were awarded to Jozef Csöllei, Jiří Herman, Jiří Hudeček, Ondřej Krajíček and Václav Suchý. The Gold Medal of MU was awarded to Petr Peňáz, founder and long-term director of the Support Centre for Students with Special Needs.

The university wine in the red wine category was Merlot OAK, late harvest 2022 from the winery Radek Foukal (pictured with diploma).

This year’s official university wine was presented as well. According to the secretary of the competition Markéta Pitrová, the board considered twenty samples of white wine and ten samples of red wine from twenty wineries. Riesling, VOC Bzenec 2022, from the Vinum Moravicum winery takes the title in the white wine category, while Merlot OAK, late harvest 2022, from Foukal winery has the honour in the red wine category.

The “Student university wine” for the academic year 2024/2025 was presented by the Chairman of the Students’ Chamber of the Academic Senate Dominik Levíček and the secretary of the competition Jaroslava Jamrichová. Twelve samples of white wine and six samples of red wine were considered for the title, which ultimately went to Irsai Oliver 2023 from Sing wine winery and Pinot noir VOC 2021 from Moravíno Valtice respectively.

Awarded teachers

Barbora Hutňan Chattová – Faculty of Science

Barbora Hutňan Chattová received her award for her courses Methods of field phycology, Ecology of algae and cyanobacteria, Plant phylogeny and diversity, Introduction to diatomology, as well as supervision or co-supervision of courses. Her students appreciate her attractive narration with real-life examples and enthusiasm and genuine interest in the topic. Her friendly attitude is a widely appreciated plus as well.

 Lubomír Kopeček – Faculty of Social Studies 

Professor Lubomír Kopeček (pictured in the centre) received his award for his work with students and positive feedback to his courses Theory of Stein Rokkan, Democracy, Autocracy and Ideology, Heads of State, Governments and Parliaments and Czech Politics After 1989, as well as successful supervision of bachelor and master theses. His students praise his knowledge of history and the form and structure of his lectures. They appreciate his ability to emphasise the key aspects and the wider contests of political events. They are also appreciative of his written feedback attached to grading.

Nikola Beneš – Faculty of Informatics

Nikola Beneš received his award for his courses C++ Programming, Foundations of Programming and Origins of Autonomous Agents, as well as supervision or co-supervision of courses. His students appreciate his ability to interact and to improve lessons with practical demonstrations. They also find the relations between the curricula of his courses with other courses quite beneficial, which guides them towards better understanding of the topics covered. They also praise his sense of humour and the natural ability to demonstrate respect and fair treatment.

The Silver Medal of MU

Jozef Csöllei – professor of pharmaceutical chemistry; Deputy Head of the Department of Chemical Drugs of the Faculty of Pharmacy, supervisor of doctoral programmes Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry

Jozef Csöllei’s activities in science and research are focused on the synthesis of biologically active compounds and the study of the relations between the structure and biological activity of substances affecting the cardiovascular system and the study of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. He is also an evaluator for the National Accreditation Bureau for Higher Education in the field of Pharmacy.

Jiří Herman – alumnus and long-term faculty member at the Faculty of Science, member of the Joint Programme Board for Teacher Training

Between 1997 and 2024 he was principal of the secondary school Gymnázium Brno, třída Kapitána Jaroše, which specialises in maths. He has been active in a variety of fields and areas in Brno: since 2018 he is member of the Brno City Assembly and, more recently, member of the board of the local volleyball club KP Brno. His silver medal is a form of recognition of his long-term efforts in the development of fields taught at MU.

Jiří Hudeček – alumnus of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, founder of Jihomoravské inovační centrum (South Moravian Innovation Centre, JIC)

As the head of JIC (until 2017) he aimed to steer the entire region towards technological development. He played a key role in JIC’s efforts in helping and assisting companies and students with original ideas, mostly in the field of IT and communication technologies, medicine or chemistry. He authored the MIC Minutes where, based on a project submitted by companies or students, he put together an evaluation board of experts. JIC became the most successful Czech project for the support of start-ups in the Czech Republic.

Ondřej Krajíček – alumnus and faculty member at the Faculty of Informatics; holder of several patents in the field of distributed systems, robotics and AI

Ondřej Krajíček has been at the Faculty of Informatics since the early 2000’s. He was or is supervisor of acclaimed theses, and was involved in the foundation of the Association of Industrial Partners. As Head of the Institute of Computer Science, he managed a team of developers that created the first university-wide system for the administration of identities and controlled access. Since graduation he has worked in the Y Soft company, currently as chief technology strategist and member of the board of directors. He is also vice-president of the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is an active member of the Y Soft Ventures team which supports start-up companies of other successful MU alumni.

Jana Musilová – professor of theoretical physics and mathematical physics of the Faculty of Science; former Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Science and Vice-Rector for Science and Research (2004–2011)

Jana Musilová has played a key role in the development of the entire system of teaching physics at MU. She was active in the transformation of the studies within the framework of the introduction of the Bologna process. More recently she was active in the preparation of a new field of study – Radiological Physics. As Deputy Chairwoman of the Science Council and member of the Academy Assembly of the Czech Academy of Sciences she has long fostered relations between the Czech Academy of Sciences and Czech universities.

Václav Suchý – professor of pharmacognosy of the Faculty of Pharmacy; former Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy (1994–2000) and Rector of the University of Veterinary Sciences Brno (2000–2006)

His activities in science and research encompass a broad variety of issues, including the isolation and identification of a variety of plant substances. He has also specialised in the study of tissue structures in higher plants as systems of pharmaceutical importance. He supervises theses and teaches courses Propaedeutic of Scientific Work and Farmacognosy. He has always tried to implement state-of-the art knowledge and trends in teaching. In 2016 he received the Eduard Skarnitzl Medal for his lifetime achievements in the development of pharmacy in the area of science, research and education. In 2022 he received the Brno City Award in the field of medicine and pharmacy. He received his silver medal in recognition of his efforts which improve the reputation of the university and play a long-term role in the development of the fields taught at MU.

Leoš Tržil – director of the South Moravian Directorate of the Police of the Czech Republic, former head of traffic enforcement division of the Police of the Czech Republic HQ

Following his studies at the secondary school of transportation in Přerov he joined, in 1993, the local police in Lednice. He has since worked at the traffic enforcement departments in Břeclav, Podivín, Brno and Prague. He ultimately studied and graduated from the Brno University of Technology. Since 2013 he has been active, in his capacity of police director, in pointing out frequent misinformation on social media. Tržil cooperates with MU in introducing measures ensuring improved safety of students and employees. He is an avid cyclist and was involved in the building of the first bike lane in the Czech Republic.

Gold medal of MU

Petr Peňáz – founder and long-term director of the Support Centre for Students with Special Needs (Teiresiás) (2003–2023)

Between 1990 and 1998 he was faculty member at the Department of Classical Studies of the Faculty of Arts and then at the Department of Information Technologies of the Faculty of Informatics. His teaching includes courses Elements of Style, Formal Structure of Natural Language or Classical Greek for Students with Visual Impairment. He was principal investigator of several projects funded by the EU, the Ministry of Education or MU; most of them focused on the support and development of services for students with special needs at the university level as well as lower tiers of education. His Gold Medal of MU recognises his long-term efforts in the development of tertiary education.