PRESS RELEASE

On Tuesday, October 26, 2021, the Academic Senate of the Brno University of Technology elected a candidate for the position of Rector for the term of office from February 2022 to January 2026. The winner of the election is the current quaestor of the university, Ladislav Janíček, who also works as an associate professor at the Institute of Aviation, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, BUT. In today's election, 24 of the total number of 27 senators voted for him.

"Technical education should, in my view, become a societal priority. I see the field of education as the primary mission of the university. I would like to use not only the opportunities provided by institutional accreditation, which we managed to obtain as the first technical university in the country, but above all the unique combination of technical, economic and art faculties offered by the Brno University of Technology," Ladislav Janíček said at the pre-election meeting. He will replace the current Rector Petr Štěpánek in the management of the largest Czech University of Technology since February next year.

In his election programme, Janíček mentions, for example, the strengthening of the internationalization of Brno University of Technology, the support of critical thinking and creativity, or the development of joint degree and double degree programmes in cooperation with foreign universities. "I would like to work for a higher number of professional programmes. I believe that studying at BUT offers students a competitive advantage. The connection between our university and industry is quite obvious, we are one of the best in terms of the volume of contract research," Janíček emphasized practice-oriented education and collaborative research. His challenger in today's election was the Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology Pavel Zemčík.

Among the questions Janíček wants to address after the occupation of the position, is also the support of scientific publishing activities, the expansion of knowledge transfers from university laboratories towards practice or the higher representation of BUT in key representations not only in the field of science and research. "I would like to initiate the establishment of the Association of Technical Universities, because technical education should become one of the social priorities of the Czech Republic. We already feel the lack of technical experts in certain areas," Janíček advised. The future rector must be appointed by the president.

Who is doc. Ing. Ladislav Janíček Ph.D., MBA, LL.M.?

Associate Professor Ladislav Janíček is a graduate of BUT and studies at the British Nottingham Trent University. For thirty-one years he has been teaching at the Institute of Aviation, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, BUT, he also lectures at the Faculty of Economics and Administration of Masaryk University. In the past, he served as Quaestor or Vice-Rector of Masaryk University, and is currently the Quaestor of the Brno University of Technology. His hobbies include music, travelling and sport shooting. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Leoš Janáček Foundation and the Czech Antarctic Foundation. He is married and has three children.