Magnificence, Spectabiles, Honorabiles,
esteemed members of the Academic Senate, Board of Trustees, and Scientific Board,
esteemed members of the academic community,
dear students, colleagues,
esteemed president of the regional council,
esteemed Bishop,
distinguished guests,
Allow me to welcome you all to the ceremonial opening of the 2025/2026 academic year, which we have once again combined with the announcement of the University Wine.
At the same time, as is now tradition, we will honour our colleagues with the Rector's Awards for Outstanding Teachers and Masaryk University medals.
The beginning of the academic year marks the start of another chapter, or subchapter, in the story of our university, and I am glad to be able to help shape the story of Masaryk University together with you. On many similar occasions, I have spoken about the fact that the university is an important and significant institution in contemporary society. It is on occasions such as today's that we should remember that Masaryk University has a rich history and that more than 100 years ago it emerged from an ethos that is inextricably linked to the Czechoslovak Republic and to the personality, thinking, and life's work of its first president.
I will only briefly comment on the current state of Czech higher education; it would be rather simplistic to point only to its insufficient funding, as is often done in the public sphere. This is by no means the only cause of the current situation, in which we are, at best, stagnating or not improving in a number of indicators compared to neighbouring countries (one example is ERC grants, where the Czech Republic's results have long been below the EU27 average). The higher education sector in our country suffers from great fragmentation, a lack of strategic vision, and legislative standards that are not in line with the 21st century. I also see a problem in the functioning of university interest groups, which are fragmented and often unclear as to whom exactly they represent and what interests they promote. This is reflected, for example, in the current calls for a new Higher Education Act, even though the representatives of Czech universities, i.e. ourselves, have had the opportunity – at least since 2019 – to have a fundamental say in the amendment to the Higher Education Act, which came into force on March 1 this year, and to push through structural changes. But we should have at least a basic level of agreement, and I dare say courage. We didn't, so let's not complain now. Let's hope we learn from this. Let's hope...
It should be added that, for example, university funding rules do not lead to the promotion of genuine, internationally visible excellence, and that the activities of the
National Accreditation Authority tend to "monitor" the lower ranks of the notional table (to use sports terminology) and focus on administrative and bureaucratic processes instead of addressing the structural changes and incentives that we see around us, even though we do not want to admit it. Of all the incentives, I will mention just one: the advent of AI will fundamentally “redraw the map" of the labour market, and it is not only universities that must deal with this enormous challenge as best and as quickly as possible. The hundreds of thousands of IT workers losing their jobs in the US should be a warning sign for us. A year or two ago, this would have been unimaginable.
What can we expect together at Masaryk University in the 2025/2026 academic year?
What can we look forward to, and what will we not be able to miss?
In terms of the budget, we are finalising further adjustments to the MU budget rules for 2026; as for the size of our own budget, I expect stagnation or only insignificant growth given the figures currently proposed for the public universities chapter. We are currently discussing an update to the internal wage regulations with the aim of increasing wage growth in order to be competitive on the labour market. This means we must focus even more intensely on the rational use of finances and human resources, which will entail further internal reorganisation of the rector's office and associated non-faculty economic centres, the merging of agendas, and further work in the area of personnel policy. I would like to take this rare opportunity to appeal to the deans to subject their faculties to similar consideration and to look for internal reserves and eliminate duplication. At the same time, I would appreciate suggestions for the possible rationalisation of centrally provided services by the RMU. On the other hand, in the area of personnel policy, I will encourage the strengthening of efforts to attract high-quality, excellent personalities, both in the field of education and in the field of science. It is clear to us that investing in individual grants, e.g., through GAMU, bears fruit - not only in the form of ERC grants.
In the 2025/2026 academic year, strategic investments in the development of Masaryk University will continue – in addition to MUNI BioPharmaHub, which will be completed by June 30, 2026, there will also be a comprehensive sports facility, which will be built on the Bohunice campus in the immediate vicinity of the Faculty of Sports Studies (to be completed in 2028), a major renovation of the Faculty of Informatics, and continued significant investment in housing for our students. I expect that at least conceptual work will begin on the Science and Technology Park (VTP), which will focus primarily on biotechnology and cooperation with the pharmaceutical industry.
We would like to use the National Investment Programme prepared by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports as a suitable financial tool for the new MU Archive.
I eagerly await the results of IEP 2025, the international evaluation panel, which will show us how far (or how little) individual faculties and university institutes have progressed over the last five years. The overall rating is crucial for MU, also in view of the science funding arrangements for the next five years. A follow-up Strategic Management Support Plan (PPSŘ) is being prepared, as the current one expires on December 31 this year.
Across faculties and university institutes, we will defend the HR Award, which is an essential tool for the development of human resources policy. Based on the ongoing discussion, we will proceed to revise catering services to bring them in line with the 21st century, while at the same time approaching them with due care and diligence. I admit that the current debates are not easy, but we can no longer delay our decision. We will gradually launch our recruitment campaign for the next academic year, when we can again expect a higher number of applications for the wide range of study programmes we offer at MU. I expect that our university will become even more attractive to high school students and that we will be able to better organise the admissions campaign, including a major overhaul of the university's website.
That's all I have to say about the expected events; of course, I haven't mentioned many of them due to time constraints.
As for the role and significance of the university as an institution, it is not and should not be merely a kind of “archive of knowledge”, but a living organism that can respond to dynamic changes in society and the world at large with prudence, foresight, and wisdom. This is not only because its task is to educate experts, but also responsible and critically thinking citizens who will be able to navigate a complex and changing world, and who may even be able to help their fellow citizens to better navigate it. I consider this to be particularly relevant in times of social and political crises or threats that could undermine the very foundations of the liberal and democratic order if we, as a society, are not sufficiently resilient and vigilant. In this respect, the role of universities is crucial.
Masaryk University is very aware of what it means to be affected by totalitarian regimes – the Nazi regime deported many of our academics and students to concentration camps and murdered them; the communist regime took away the university's name and faculties (not only the pharmaceutical faculty, but also the law faculty), created various forms of repression, suppressed freedom of speech and religion, and made it impossible to travel freely. The dynamic development of Masaryk University is fundamentally linked to the events of November 1989. Since 1990, our university has had the opportunity to develop and grow, not only in terms of the number of faculties and students, but also in terms of its budget, which amounts to almost CZK 14 billion.
We are the best university in the Czech Republic in terms of the number and volume of projects in various Horizon and Horizon Europe framework programmes, we are first in terms of internationalisation parameters, and we demonstrate exceptional abilities to plan and subsequently implement truly large-scale public contracts – I am referring not only to MUNI BioPharmaHub, the second largest investment in the history of MU.
I would also like to remind everyone that we are the only university in the Czech Republic that has borrowed money for its strategic development and has been repaying a loan to the European Investment Bank for over 20 years (the good news is that the final repayment will be made in June 2026).
The above – and many other things that I cannot mention due to time constraints – testify to the extraordinary ability that adorns Masaryk University: the art of reaching agreement despite the naturally diverse currents of opinion that are the essence of our critical thinking and critical debates. It testifies to an extraordinary ability to work for the benefit of a larger whole than a department, institute, clinic, division, or faculty.
An extraordinary ability to look beyond the boundaries of one's functional mandate.
The adjective “extraordinary” is actually inappropriate; I should replace it with words such as “common”, “automatic”, or “everyday”. That is, the common ability to work for the benefit of a larger whole than a department, institute, clinic, division, or faculty. The common ability to look beyond the boundaries of one's functional mandate.
In conclusion, I would like to recall a few words from my inaugural speech delivered on October 16, 2019:
“I believe that in light of both November anniversaries, we should remember that we are a very fortunate and privileged generation, because we live in times when we have freedom. Freedom to make our own decisions; freedom to say what we think; freedom to think and criticise; freedom to explore; freedom to travel. Neurologically speaking: freedom to “move”, whether on a physical, mental, or spiritual level.
At the same time, however, we should always remember that the freedom we have is not a given, and that we are jointly responsible for it and for maintaining it. It is therefore important to maintain a permanent “memory trace” of past events, even those not so distant in time. This is primarily so that they never happen again. And also so that we are able to appreciate the things we take for granted today – including the fact that, as a country, we are a full member of the European community of democratic states.
Less than two weeks ago, we witnessed the highly anticipated opening of the envelope containing TGM's last words: “People like to be stupid, but don't make it easy for them. Argue and debate with them.”
As a physician and rector, I would like to add Masaryk University's prescription: educate.
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests,
At the beginning of the new academic year, I would like to wish you all strength, enthusiasm, and all the best. May the coming academic year be full of inspiration, ideas, and continued good work, and improvements wherever we can improve. We can all be inspired, for example, by today's award winners, whose daily, often mundane work, about which TGM said, “work is what nobody wants to do,” is reflected in our development, our direction, and our future.
Allow me to officially declare the 2025/2026 academic year open!
Thank you for your attention.