The budget, unanimously approved at the 295th session of the MU Academic Senate, confirms the university’s long-term growth and its success in securing funding from research projects, grants and other external sources alongside government funding.
“Presenting the budget is one of the rector’s most important statutory obligations each year. This year, it was prepared in a situation where we had to wait longer than usual for the final funding parameters. I am all the more grateful for the hard work and flexibility of everyone involved – faculty and institute management, academic senates and colleagues across the university,” says MU Rector Martin Bareš.
The largest share of the budget is earmarked for the university’s operating budget covering education, research and day-to-day university operations, planned at CZK 10.44 billion for 2026. The capital budget, which finances renovations, major infrastructure upgrades and new construction projects, will reach CZK 4.2 billion.
At the same session, the MU Academic Senate also approved the 2025 Annual Report on MU Activities, an addendum to the MU Internal Quality Evaluation Report, the 2025 Annual Report on MU Financial Management, and the preliminary design for the Affordable Rental Housing investment project at the Bohunice University Campus.
Financial results confirm stable growth
Discussion of the 2026 budget was preceded by approval of the Masaryk University 2025 Annual Report on Financial Management, which closes the previous calendar year based on final audited figures and includes an independent auditor’s report. Presenting the report, MU Bursar David Póč noted that the university’s 2025 finances were shaped by growth in institutional support for educational activities, greater use of own resources, MU’s success in development projects including the National Recovery Plan and ongoing contributions to reserves. He added that during the past year MU continued to fulfil its strategic development priorities and strengthen the financial stability that is an essential foundation for future investment.
“The annual report shows that Masaryk University manages its finances soundly, works effectively with its own resources, successfully draws on development project funding and builds up reserves for further growth. That combination of responsible management and the ability to reinvest in the future is key for the university,” said MU Bursar David Póč.
External sources make up a significant share of income
The 2026 budget confirms that MU is one of those institutions that generates a significant share of its income through its own activity in research, project work and partnerships.
Institutional funding from the state budget accounts for roughly 40 per cent of planned operating revenue. The remaining 60 per cent comes from targeted research and education funds, grants, project financing, own revenues, supplementary activities and drawdowns from reserves. The largest single item remains the instructional funding from the government, which exceeds CZK 3 billion for 2026.
Higher revenues to offset rising costs
Planned operating revenues reach 10.44 billion crowns, a year-on-year increase of more than 400 million crowns. A significant portion of the additional funds goes to staffing, one of Masaryk University’s long-term strategic priorities.
The 2026 budget provides for a salary fund increase of approximately 165 million crowns from normative and own sources, continuing MU’s long-term effort to improve the financial conditions for its employees. A pay-scale rise from 1 July 2026 responds to labour market trends and improves the university’s competitive position compared to other employers in both academia and the private sector. The aim is to increase the guaranteed component of salaries, ensure more transparent remuneration and create better conditions for early-career researchers, assistant professors and experienced experts coming from abroad.
Alongside wage growth, planned costs also reflect higher spending on repairs, maintenance and asset depreciation, driven by the university’s extensive infrastructure and ongoing development.
Record investment in campus and infrastructure development
The capital budget of 4.2 billion crowns is the highest in the university’s history. Up roughly 12 per cent on last year, it shows that MU’s development is not focused on a single location but encompasses university-wide projects that affect students, staff and the wider public.
The main investments will go to strategic development projects, most notably the construction of the MUNI BioPharma Hub, the renovation of the Faculty of Informatics, and the development of the MUNI SPORT PARK complex. The latter represents a major investment in sports infrastructure that has long been missing from both Masaryk University and the city of Brno. The project includes a multi-purpose hall and outdoor areas with an athletics track and other facilities. The new venue will serve not only students and university staff but also sports clubs and the general public. MUNI SPORT PARK will also strengthen physical education teaching across the university, as the Faculty of Sports Studies provides sports classes for students across all ten faculties. The new complex will concentrate most classes and sports to the modern setting at the Bohunice University Campus, rather than scattering them across various venues around Brno. In this way the university is investing not only in buildings but also in healthy lifestyles, community life and cooperation with the city and sports clubs.
The nearly completed MUNI BioPharma Hub, which will become the new home of the MU Faculty of Pharmacy from the 2026/2027 academic year, will offer modern spaces for education, research and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The building will house more than two thousand students and dozens of staff from the Faculty of Pharmacy as well as the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine. The Hub will bring together teaching, research and doctoral study, creating conditions for world-class education and research in pharmacy, biomedicine and related fields – and will strengthen the Czech Republic’s long-term resilience in healthcare and biomedical innovation.
“The record capital budget of 4.2 billion crowns will allow us to press ahead with key projects that will create a better environment for study, research and for our staff to work in. We are also drawing increasingly on our own resources and the funds we have responsibly built up in previous years. This is not a one-off drawdown of reserves but a considered reinvestment in the university’s future,” added Rector Bareš.
Beyond major construction projects, the capital budget will also go towards modernising teaching and research facilities, equipment replacement and further developing university infrastructure.
The outlook for coming years remains positive
The medium-term operating budget outlook for MU through to 2028 anticipates continued gradual growth in both revenues and expenditure, with ongoing increases in educational activity funding, project financing and other own-source revenues. Total operating revenues could approach CZK 11.1 billon by 2028.
The outlook is based on currently known higher-education funding parameters, though it may be affected by forthcoming discussions on changes to the government funding system for higher education, the precise form of which remains unclear.
The 2026 budget confirms that Masaryk University continues on its long-term growth path. Alongside stable funding for educational activities, it is building ever more on research success, the ability to attract external funding and investments designed to strengthen its position among Europe’s leading universities.