Looking Back at the History of the Faculty of Informatics

Doc. Dr. rer. nat. RNDr. Mgr. Bc. Jan Křetínský, Ph.D.

Jan Křetínský receives the MUNI Award in Science and Humanities (MASH), which he will implement at the Faculty of Informatics of MU. He comes from the Technical University of Munich, where he works in the field of formal methods. As an FI MU graduate, the grant is, among other things, an opportunity for him to return to his home alma mater. A top expert in the field of theoretical computer science, he has long been involved in system verification and optimization of system reliability and availability.

Ross J. Anderson (United Kingdom)

Awarded an honorary doctorate of Masaryk University in computer science (proposal submitted by FI MU).

Professor of Security Engineering at the Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge, he is the author of the widely cited book "Security Engineering - A Guide to Building Trustworthy Distributed Systems", co-author of the Serpent cipher, which was a finalist in the Advanced Encryption Standard competition, as well as a number of other widely applied security subsystems. In addition to recognizing his undeniable scientific achievements, Masaryk University also acknowledged Anderson's long-standing friendship and collaboration with researchers from the Faculty of Informatics of MU.

More information about the award of the doctorate

Establishing of Donald Ervin Knuth Professor chair

A notable feature of the Faculty has been a distinguished Donald Ervin Knuth Professor chair, established after completion of the first round of Masaryk Award in Science and Humanities call issued by the University.

prof. Daniel Kráľ

Faculty of Informatics, MU is pleased to welcome a distinguished addition to their numbers. Daniel Kráľ, one of the world’s leading experts on graph theory, is the winner of the Muni Award in Science and Humanities grant competition. The funding of 5,000,000 CZK (€197,000) a year received for a five-year term has allowed Kráľ to move from his current position at the University of Warwick, UK to the Faculty of Informatics at MU, and to bring with him his project financed by the European Research Council (ERC).

Press release

prof. RNDr. Jaroslav Král, DrSc.

Prof. Jaroslav Král was awarded the honorary title of Professor Emeritus by FI MU.

Thomas A. Henzinger (Austria)

Mr. Henzinger was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Masaryk University in Informatics (proposal submitted by FI MU).

He studies formal methods for automatic verification of computer systems and has written several key papers on hybrid systems, temporal logic and game theory. Mr. Henzinger has been awarded a number of prizes and has signficantly influenced the direction of research in his field.

Ceremony to Open the New Building

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, a tour was given around new laboratories, computer rooms and lecture halls, followed by inspiring lectures given by successful graduates, and a poster contest prepared by FI doctoral students.

Construction Project for an Addition to the Existing FI Building Underway

The construction project was initiated by a corner stone ceremony. The new building will include CERIT, a science park, which will function as an important seat for companies that work closely with the faculty.

Prof. Ing. Ivo Serba, CSc.

Prof. Serba was awarded the honorary title of Professor Emeritus by FI MU.

Prof. Javier Esparza (Spain)

Prof. Esparza was awarded an Honourable Doctorate from Masaryk University in informatics (proposal submitted by FI MU).

Prof. RNDr. Miroslav Novotný, DrSc.

Prof. Novotný was awarded the honorary title of Professor Emeritus by FI MU.

More Than 2000 Students at the Faculty

In the 2007/2008 academic year, for the first time ever, more than 2000 students initiated their studies at FI. Since then, the total number of students has oscillated around 2500.

Faculty Received Its Insignia

The faculty insignia were created by Jaromír Gargulák, a sculptor and artistic caster. On the obverse, there is a portrait of Kurt Gödel, an important Brno native, with his signature. On the reverse, the faculty sign is depicted. The head of the sceptre refers to the symbol of fire as presented by Prométheus to humankind. Like fire did for people aeons ago so for us information technology has ushered in a new era.

Association of Industrial Partners

The association was founded to provide a platform for encounters between the industry and academics. Its objective lies in collaboration consisting in joint projects, a selection of bachelor and master theses, student internship support, etc.

Plagiarism Detection System

The need for systematic steps to be taken against plagiarism was first heavily discussed at MU before 2004 when all fulltext versions of final theses were published in the MU Information System (IS MU). It became clear that a dedicated system would be more practical and so the Plagiarism Detection System was launched in  2006. At first, it ran under the IS MU but gradually became used by other institutions, for instance as part of  Theses.cz.

Prof. Dines Bjørner (Denmark)

Prof. Bjørner was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Masaryk University in informatics (proposal submitted by FI MU).

Professor Bjørner is an internationally recognized leading figure in the field of informatics whose range is extraordinary, particularly in the use of formal methods for software creation. His prestige and influence on the development of European and Asian informatics is unique. Prior to 1989, he was one of the most significant pioneers and supporters of close contacts between international, Eastern European, particularly Czech, informatics.

New Lecture Halls Opened

The period of 2002–2003 saw a reconstruction of Building D which transformed it into a modern lecture site. All lecture halls were equipped with the state-of-the-art audio-visual technology allowing the use of the latest teaching methods, including video recording of lectures.

The First FI Film Festival

In 2000, the first year of the FI Film Festival took place.

Prof. Niklaus Wirth (Switzerland)

Prof. Wirth was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Masaryk University in informatics (proposal submitted by FI MU).

Prof. Wirth is a leading figure in European and international informatics. Among key areas of his focus is the development of methodology for structured programming. He also authored Pascal, a popular language used to date to teach programming, and published fifteen books including widely used monographs on programming methodology, which were translated in many languages, Czech and Slovak included.

Prof. Charles Bennett (United States)

Prof. Bennett was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Masaryk University in informatics (proposal submitted by FI MU).

Dr. Bennett is one of leading global experts in quantum computers, quantum cryptography and quantum information theory. His merit lies both in his personal achievements, as well as in his influence on the field. He is the spiritual father of quantum computing and communication. Currently, Prof. Bennet and R. Landauer, are among the leading international figures in the area of interaction between physics and informatics. Dr. Bennett may be considered a leading figure of contemporary international science as such.

Information System of Masaryk University

The MU Information System (IS MU) has always been developed at the Faculty of Informatics.

Its development was initiated in December 1998 and the first test applications were available to a limited group of users in January 1999. The Information System was officially launched into operation 1 March 1999. At that time, available applications allowed to collect data on publications and CVs, and the Course Catalogue. Since then, the Information System has become an integral part of MU operations offering unprecedented options. The system has received a number of prestigious awards and is used by other schools, as well.

More than 1000 students at the Faculty

Immediately after the faculty had been established, it provided education to almost 400 students. In the 1998/1999 academic year, i.e., four years after the faculty had been founded, the total number of students exceeded 1000. More specifically, there were 1056 students, of which 956 were enrolled in full-time study.

FI Theatre Group Performs for the First Time

The first play put up by proFIdivadlo, the FI student theatre group, was an improvisation grotesque freely based on Little Red Ridding Hood named Lambda Kalkulka. Since 2006, the theatre group has been working on the basis of an elective course open to all MU students entitled "Theatrical Performance".

Vernissage for the Tak Pište Book

Literary juvenilia by the FI Student Literary Laboratory expanded by works by Miloš Dokulil, Zbyněk Fišer, Petr Hrbáč, Zen Kaprál, Zdeněk Kožmín, Ludvík Kundera, Martin Reiner, Karel Škrabal, Jiří Veselský, Michal Viewegh and Jindřich Zogata which had not been published until then. Egon Bondy, the legendary patron of young fledgling authors, made an audio preface for this occasion.

The photograph depicts the opening ceremony for the book at which Ludvík Kundera was present.

Prof. Donald E. Knuth (United States)

Prof. Knuth was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Masaryk University in mathematical science (proposal submitted by FI MU).

The Rector and the MU Scientific Board, the Dean and the Scientific Board of the Faculty of Informatics in the MU auditorium at the Faculty of Law awarded prof. Donald Ervin Knuth, Professor Emeritus at Standford, an Honorary Doctorate in mathematical sciences.

Faculty Moves to Botanická St.

The Supreme Court of the CR acquired the entire building in 20 Burešova St. and the faculty, along with Institute of Computer Science, moved to its current address in the early 1996.

Faculty Established

Until 1994, informatics had been taught as part of the Faculty of Science curriculum at MU. The Faculty of Informatics became the very first independent Faculty of Informatics in the CR. In the early years of its existence it operated in the building which is the current seat of the Supreme Court, in Burešova Street. Prof. RNDr. Jiří Zlatuška, CSc. served as its first Dean.

Initial efforts to establish the FI date back to 1993, but only one year later was the process approved by the MU Academic Senate.