Annual report on activities of VSB-TUO for 2022 : Main part

Abstract

The past year, 2022, once again tested the strength and resilience of our university’s staff and students. After the two hard years of the pandemic, the consequences of the armed conflict in Ukraine hit us. I’m proud of the way we’ve been proactive and, above all, quick to help refugees, our students from the affected areas, but also to help universities in Ukraine. As they say, he who gives quickly gives twice. I’m glad that studies could return to normal, although the unprecedented increase in energy prices forced us to optimise the academic year’s schedule. In terms of the goals set out in the Strategic Plan, we are succeeding in increasing the number of students enrolled in the first year and the employability of our graduates on the labour market is excellent. This is shown by us winning first place in the School Recommended by Employers survey, winning the Best Teacher category in the Werner von Siemens Awards or winning two awards from the Czech National Agency for International Education and Research for successful international mobility. The quality and quantity of publication activity improved again, compared to one article in the fourth quartile we have 11 articles in the first quartile. We are successful in obtaining prestigious European projects and thus financial resources for quality research. Personally, I am looking forward to the outcome of the evaluation of our key REFRESH project, which we all put a lot of time and energy into preparing. I firmly believe that it will pay off and in 2023 we will get the biggest project in the university’s history. The year 2022 was a demanding one, full of challenges, but I am glad that together we are successfully improving our university. I would like to thank all the staff and students at our university for their work.