The growth of the space sector in Brno is hindered by a lack of experts. Therefore, BUT is doubling its capacity for space education

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication Technologies of BUT has decided to increase the number of students admitted to the Master's program Space Applications from the current 20 to double that number starting from the next academic year. This is in response to the critical shortage of qualified workers essential for the development of local companies in the space industry.

The space industry in South Moravia has been rapidly developing in recent years, and the Brno region can now be considered the center of this industrial sector in the Czech Republic. According to an expert estimate by the local association of companies, Brno Space Cluster, space companies in the region employ 410 specialists and generate 1 billion CZK annually. With the growing global demand for space technologies, these companies have tremendous potential for further development and international expansion. However, they are facing a critical shortage of employees, which could hinder this growth.

“Currently, there are over 55 job vacancies in South Moravian space companies, which have hired approximately 120 new specialists in the last 3 years, about 40 annually. For these companies to fully utilize their potential and continue growing, they would need to hire at least 100 new qualified employees each year over the next 5 years. However, there is a shortage of such employees on the market,” says Václav Havlíček, manager of Brno Space Cluster.

For these reasons, the leadership of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication Technologies, where the only program in the Czech Republic focused entirely on the space industry is currently taught, has decided to increase the intake from 20 students to 40. “Education, research, and development in space technologies and applications are one of the main strategic areas of the Brno University of Technology. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication Technologies has been associated with this field for several decades, particularly in the development of satellites and satellite communication systems. This is where, several years ago, the unique and still the only complete Master's program in Space Applications in the Czech Republic was created. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is also involved in its implementation. In addition, this faculty offers another Master's program titled Aeronautical and Space Engineering, focusing on the design of space structures and mechanical technologies for space systems or the mechanics of space flight. The growth of educational capacities in space applications at VUT is a key step for Brno to maintain and strengthen its position as a space innovation hub. The expansion of the Space Applications program, which is entirely in English, will allow the university to attract talented students from both the Czech Republic and abroad, providing them with top-tier and prestigious education with direct connections to practice in the Brno region,” says Ladislav Janíček, Rector of BUT.

“It is now common for students to gain paid internships with Brno-based space companies during their studies. We also collaborate with the German Aerospace Center and the European Space Agency, whose experts come to lecture,” says Tomáš Götthans, guarantor of the Space Applications program. Valuable practical skills are also developed by students in the university's student team YSpace, which recently succeeded in gaining ESA support to launch its own satellite with the first Czech space bio-mission, CIMER, focusing on studying cyanobacteria in microgravity. Thanks to this close connection between theory and practice, graduates of the program leave the university as fully qualified engineers with a guaranteed well-paid job in the region.

Applications for the Space Applications program can be submitted until March 31. For more information, visit the website https://spaceapps.cz/.

More information can be found in the press release.