Information for students

Enabling of individual teaching activities for final year students

According to the decision of the Government of the Czech Republic dated April 14, 2020, universities will be able to carry out individual activities for students in their final year of studies[1] from Monday, April 20, 2020, in groups of a maximum of 5 students. This may concern individual consultations, examinations and completion of theses. It is up to the Dean/Head of the Institute to decide which activities at the particular faculty/institute will be available to students.

The final year students will also have the opportunity to use libraries of limited scope to borrow and return book loans. The book loans will be prepared upon a request via the web form (see https://formulare.lib.vutbr.cz/vypujcky/). For the first half of these year, any penalties for the late returning will be forgiven. More detailed information can be found on the BUT Libraries Portal https://www.vutbr.cz/knihovny and on the pages of individual faculty libraries.

Information for foreign students studying in the Czech language

However, the above-mentioned enabling of teaching is difficult to implement for foreign students, the vast majority of whom are Slovak students. The obstacle can be not only on the side of the Czech Republic, but also in the home country of these students, when the local rules do not allow them to travel, or they are subject to quarantine requirements. The BUT management believes that the situation of these students will be resolved by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports soon. If, however, some form of restriction persists for them until the beginning of the next academic year, BUT will allow these students to enrol in non-completed subjects next academic year, considering these subjects as being first enrolled. The fulfilment of these subjects would then not be checked while advancing to the next academic year.

Distance learning

The courses are taught in a distance form where possible. For a number of courses at BUT this form of instruction fully replaces contact teaching, but it always depends on the particular subject of a particular faculty or institute. Teachers have already informed you about the form of teaching in your subject.

Subjects that cannot be taught fully in a distance form (e.g. laboratories, studios):

Completion of teaching for subjects that could not be taught fully in a distance form during the closure of universities will take place after the necessary extent of the operation of the universities is recovered. The specific schedule is set by the Dean of the Faculty/Head of the Institute. In justified cases, the faculty (institute) will allow students to complete these courses until the end of the fall semester of the 2020/2021 academic year. Follow the information at your faculties and institutes.

Special attention will be paid to the subjects of final years of study. It is our priority that the final year students can complete the missing subjects as soon as possible after the recovery of the university operation and subsequently take the state final examinations.

Obtaining credits

For the subjects, where all teaching takes place in a distance form and it is possible to fulfil all the conditions for obtaining credits in a distance form, you will be able to obtain credits at the original dates set by the academic year schedule. For the subjects, where some part of teaching will have to be completed or some of the credit requirements will have to be met only after the obstacles to personal instruction have been removed, you will be informed of the deadline for the credits by each teacher as soon as it is clear when the current limitations will end.

A timetable of the academic year, examination period

BUT management released the following update of the schedule of the 2019/2020 academic year:

• The examination period for the students, whose study plan does not include the state final examination this academic year is extended until September 30, 2020.
• The examination periods for final-year students and the dates for FSEs will be set by faculties/institutes in such a way as to minimize disruption to existing circumstances due to the coronavirus epidemic.
• In justified cases, students will be allowed to take exams in the subjects of the spring semester of the 2019/2020 academic year during the teaching period and the examination period of the fall semester of the 2020/2021 academic year. Specific conditions are set by the Dean of the Faculty/Head of the Institute.

Following the update of the schedule, the Deans and the Heads of university institutes specify the dates of examinations at individual faculties and university institutes. The Deans and the Heads of university institutes, in cooperation with the course guarantors, will also decide on the manner of each examination.

Each student will be able to use the first exam date only when they are able to arrive for the exam without any problems (this applies especially to students residing outside the Czech Republic). If a student completes courses from the spring semester in the fall semester, these courses will not be considered as “repeated” courses and the students will be able to use regular and resit dates.

Final theses

Dates and form of submission of final theses will be determined by individual faculties and departments of BUT to their students with regard to the nature of theses. So follow the information at your faculty or discuss it with your supervisor.

State Final Examination

Deans and Heads of university institutes decide on the dates of the state final examinations. Therefore, follow the information at your faculty (department). We also take into account the specific situation of students who do not have a permanent residence in the Czech Republic and who may, therefore, have difficulty completing their studies in time. Even for these students, a feasible variant of the completion of the study will be prepared taking into account objective external conditions.

Foreign study stays:

The students who have returned from their study stays earlier without completing their study abroad must solve their situation individually at their faculty or department. If a student fails to get enough credits to advance to the next year due to an early finishing of the study stay, they will be granted an exemption.

Advancing to the next year of study

The conditions for the advancing of students to the next year of study set by the BUT Study and Examination Regulations and the internal standards of the faculties and departments do not change in any way. The dates for checking the fulfilment of these conditions will be adjusted with regard to the development of the situation in the spring and summer months and with regard to the organization of exams on each individual BUT department. If it is objectively impossible to properly complete certain subjects, the fulfilment of these subjects at the end of the spring semester will not be checked - based on the decision of the F/S. This situation will also be taken into account in cases where students cannot obtain a sufficient number of credits.

Study fees

The Act “On special rules for education and decision-making at universities in 2020”, which was discussed by the Chamber of Deputies, states that the period from 1.3.2020 to 31.8.2020 will not be counted into the total study period for calculating fees. Under this Act, the students, who have not yet been charged, will have an 'extra' period of study for six months, when they will not be charged.

Study fees will continue to be charged for students for whom the fees have previously been charged under the statutory conditions. Each student has the option to request a reduction or waive of the charged fee within 30 days of receiving the decision on the fee obligation. If the current epidemiological situation has any objective impact on a specific fee obligation, this will be taken into account and the specific fee may be reduced or waived. When assessing any such application, the student's current social situation may also be taken into account, if the student applies for it and proves the situation.

Doctoral studies:

Doctoral studies have a specific regime based largely on individual interaction between a teacher and a doctoral student. Doctoral study examinations can be realized in a distance form, depending on the conditions of the particular study and the specific subject.

The state doctoral examinations may be postponed according to the decision of the faculty or department, provided that the doctoral student will not be “penalized” for the later passing of the state doctoral examinations.

Obligatory study stays of doctoral students will be solved individually, most often by postponing this obligation.

Scholarships:

The impacts of the current measures on granting doctoral scholarships, social scholarships and accommodation scholarships are now being negotiated with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. You will be informed of the specific conclusions.

The conditions for awarding the merit scholarship and assessing the impact of the current situation on these conditions are fully within the competence of individual faculties and BUT departments.

Halls of residence and refectories

Students are encouraged to follow the website (www.kam.vutbr.cz) for up-to-date information. Refectories operation is currently limited due to the development of the situation and government resolutions.

Accommodated students are obliged to observe hygiene and safety measures, they are prohibited from receiving visitors, they must only stay in rooms where they are staying and stay in common areas of the accommodation only for the necessary time with respiratory protective means (nose, mouth) such as a respirator, mask, mouthpiece assembly, scarf, shawl or other means to prevent droplet spread.

The significant and up-to-date information on accommodation is published on the university and Halls of Residence and Dining Services web sites. Halls of Residence and Dining Services is in contact with the students involved. Here, too, we ask students to follow the media and the website of the university and the Halls of Residence and Dining Services, as the information is updated with regard to the government decisions and the development of the situation.

BUT management and the director of Halls of Residence and Dining Services would like to thank all students for their cooperation and compliance with government regulations.

[1] applies to both Bachelor and Master degree study programs