Articles and annual reports of the FI Association of Industrial Partners
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Annual Report SPP FI MU 2024
Vlastislav Dohnal, Dorota Jůvová, 5. 3. 2025
The Association of Industrial Partners of the Faculty of Informatics of Masaryk University (SPP FI MU) connects students, teachers and companies with the aim of supporting innovation and development in the field of information technologies. It offers cooperation between talented students and top experts and provides space for the application of the latest knowledge in practice.
In 2024, we collaborated with 30 companies in three categories of cooperation (Strategic Partner, Partner and SME Partner).
Final Theses
One of the indicators of the level of cooperation in the SPP FI MU partnership is the number of successfully defended final theses in cooperation with companies. This time, students in cooperation with companies involved in the SPP managed to successfully defend 108 bachelor's and diploma theses from the announced final theses. The collection of three defended diploma theses made it possible to create a simulator of a large Notino warehouse, which is further expanded with other elements, including the visualization of the warehouse itself. In cooperation with Progress, students work on topics related to R&D projects that are being solved in the company. This helps the company fulfill its obligations in the given projects and at the same time allows students to collaborate on research.
Dean's Award for the final thesis
The following students received the Dean's Award for their final thesis prepared in collaboration with the company:
| Name: | Awarded theses: | Company: |
| Martin Bartoš | Adaptive Authentication in Keycloak | Red Hat Czech |
| Tomáš Glozar | Extending bpftrace with user-defined functions | Red Hat Czech |
| Jiří Novotný | Automating Performance Testing and Infrastructure Deployment for Debezium | Red Hat Czech |
| Adrián Piaček | Process Optimization and Deployment for Release Scheduling and Resource Management in a Large Company | Red Hat Czech |
| Marek Skácelík | Reflection Reduction for GraphQL Typesafe Client for Quarkus | Red Hat Czech |
| Jakub Roháček | Sketch Grammar for Japanese | Lexical Computing |
| Tomáš Psota | Safety Widget | Monet+ |
| Marek Mišík | Embedded Remote Procedure Call Code Generation Tool | NXP |
| Emma Sommerová | Data Warehouse Model for Cedant Reinsurance Processes | Adacta Software |
| Milan Slovák | Automation of the Testing Process in the Production of High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph Modules | Edhouse |
| Attila Zsíros | Automatic virtual soccer camera | Goal Sport technology |
Competition for talented FI students
A regular activity of the SPP is the Competition for Talented FI Students. The competition is intended for students in the second and fourth semesters of bachelor's studies and takes place at the turn of March and April. Finalists can obtain positions as researchers in FI laboratories, which can be supported by a scholarship. In 2024, the companies Lexical Computing, Red Hat Czech, Monet+, Y Soft and Progress participated in the competition. Sixteen participants made it to the finals, and six students secured a position in the laboratory.
Participation in teaching
Most companies participated in the teaching in 2024. There were a total of 39 courses. The most active in this regard are Lexical Computing, Red Hat Czech, Oracle and Kyndryl. In the spring semester, Red Hat Czech offered a course called The IT Job Market. Its aim was to introduce students to career opportunities in IT and ways to best prepare for them during their studies. Representatives of companies from SPP were also invited to these lectures, among others.
Offer of internships for students
Internships play an increasingly important role in the field of cooperation. A total of 101 internships were provided for students by SPP companies within the framework of study programs. The most active in this area are Red Hat Czech, SAP, Oracle, AT&T and NXP. Internships are a mandatory part of these four study programs: RSSS (Mgr.), Software Engineering (Mgr.), Programming (Bc.) and Cybersecurity (Bc.)
Sponsored PhD positions
Last year, ten doctoral students were regularly supported by InvaSys, Lexical Computing, Red Hat Czech, Monet+ and Wereldo.
Days with Industrial Partners
In both the spring and autumn terms, the Faculty of Informatics held Days with Industrial Partners (SPP Day). The spring SPP Day was traditionally divided into several thematic blocks, in which representatives of companies and students took turns as speakers. The blocks dedicated to a two-minute presentation of companies with follow-up and an invitation to the stands became popular. At the stands, students had the opportunity to meet company representatives and thus obtain the necessary information about the companies. At the autumn SPP Day, only company stands were represented. The SPP Day was directly followed by the Conference on the 30th Anniversary of the Faculty of Informatics at MU, which was financially supported by the companies Lexical Computing, Red Hat Czech and Y Soft, and their representatives also participated in the program as speakers.
Interesting projects
In cooperation with Red Hat Czech, the CHESS project (Cyber-security Excellence Hub in Estonia and South Moravia) continues within the HORIZON program. Progress continues to cooperate on the SECURIAN project for streamlining cybersecurity incident analysis. VF is involved in several projects. Within the framework of TAČR, it is a Digital Spectrometer for Characterizing an Unknown Neutron Field, it also implements the grant of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic Methods for Remote Monitoring of Ionizing Radiation Levels with Energy Resolution of Sources RadMet and also the MPO project ToF neutron spectrometer ToF. Monet+ is preparing the PolJust project with a focus on forensic analysis and support of legislative processes (OP JAK) and the HORIZON project with one of the areas focused on analytical tools for smart cards.
Research groups
An important part of the FI MU Industrial Partners Association are the FI research teams and laboratories:- CRoCS (Centre for Research on Cryptography and Security)
- Research Lab Software Architectures and Information Systems (LaSArIS)
- Centre for Biomedical Image Analysis (CBIA)
- Design and Architecture of Digital Systems Laboratory (EmLab)
- Natural Language Processing Centre (NLP)
- Research laboratory Sitola
- Adaptive Learning Research Group
- Cybersecurity Laboratory (CYBERSEC)
- Laboratory of Service Systems
Publication activities
Several publications have also been created in collaboration with partners:
Other activities
Strategic partner Red Hat Czech expanded its cooperation with the faculty by signing a five-year contract. In addition, it financed the creation of a "chill-out zone" in the FI library and presented research (sec-certs) at the ICCC 2024 conference.
AT&T, Kyndryl, and Newsmatics supported the AI 4 Talents event, which FI MU, in cooperation with FIT BUT, organized for the third consecutive year for high school students interested in AI issues at the VIDA science center.
The opening party for first-year bachelor's students in the preparatory week (as part of Jump into FI) was sponsored by partners InQool, Edhouse and SeaComp
The NXP CUP, a competition organized by NXP in autonomous driving of model cars, was very successful. Two teams from the faculty advanced to the finals of the competition in Hamburg, and one of the teams even won silver. NXP also showed its cars at the Faculty of Informatics as part of the 2024 Researchers' Night.
Kyndryl organized the Smart City competition in connection with the PA181 Services - System, Modeling and Execution course, which is a nationwide project where students demonstrate their knowledge in the field of cloud technologies and use publicly available data and databases from state organizations.
Oracle organized an open day and a Summer Camp for students at its premises. Summer Camp is a week-long intensive workshop/mentoring for students who have the opportunity to learn more about agile development and work together on developing a real application under the supervision of developers.
Red Hat Czech, Honeywell, InQool, Monet+, Seacomp participated in the January FI Open Day.
The partners of the FI Film Festival, held annually in May and focused on short student films, were Kentico and Novanta.
Monet+ financially supported the purchase of measuring equipment for performing sampling analysis (LEIA-Solo board, Chipwhisperer Lite).
We thank everyone who actively participates in the cooperation and continues to support the activities of the Association of Industrial Partners of FI MU.
Special thanks for many years of cooperation, not only in SPP, go to Bára Bühnová, who sadly left us forever at the end of 2024.
Annual Report 2023 Article
Barbora Bühnová, Dorota Jůvová, 27. 2. 2024
The Association of Industrial Partners at the Faculty of Informatics of Masaryk University (SPP FI MU) actively supports innovative cooperation between students, academics and companies in the field of information technology.
In 2023, the association cooperated with 31 companies in three categories (Strategic Partner, Partner and SME Partner). The Association of Industrial Partners FI MU (SPP FI MU) connects modern scientific methods with the practical experience of companies, provides support in the field of research, teaching and doctoral programs. You can find more detailed information about SPP activities in this article.
Final Theses
One of the indicators of the degree of cooperation in the SPP FI MU partnership is the number of successfully defended theses in cooperation with companies. Last year, students in cooperation with companies involved in SPP managed to successfully defend 81 bachelor's and diploma theses.
Dean's Award for the final thesis
These students won the dean's prize for the final work developed in cooperation with companies:
| Name: | Awarded theses: | Company: |
| Adam Považanec | Data Loss Prevention in Linux Workstation Environment | Safetica |
| Filip Nováček | Unite client for Visual Studio Code | Honeywell |
| Jakub Janků | Schnorr Multi-Signatures for Secure Devices with Restricted Interfaces | Monet+ |
| Jiří Odehnal | Automated security policy for Fedora workstations | Red Hat Czech |
| Lukáš Zaoral | Automatic Performance Profiler for Security Analysis of Cryptographic Smart Cards | Monet+ |
| Oldřich Pecák | High resolution 2D gamma scan by shifting a single pixel detector | VF |
| Ondrej Klinovský | Detect Anomalies in Linux Kernel Logs | Red Hat Czech |
| Radoslav Sabol | Propaganda Detection using Stylometric Text Analysis | Lexical Computing |
Competition for talented FI students
A popular SPP activity is the Competition for talented FI students. The competition is intended for second and third-semester undergraduate students and is held in March/April. Finalists can obtain research positions in FI laboratories, which can be supported by scholarships. In 2023, Konica Minolta, Lexical Computing, Red Hat Czech, Monet+, Y Soft, NXP Semiconductors, Progress and We Can. Seventeen participants made it to the finals and 10 students won the position of researchers in the laboratories.
Interesting projects
Cooperation on the TAČR AHISTO project with Lexical Computing continues. In cooperation with Red Hat Czech, the CHESS (Cyber-security Excellence Hub in Estonia and South Moravia) project within the HORIZON programme continues. Progress is involved in the joint project SECURIAN. VF is involved in several projects within TAČR, has recently received a grant from the Ministry of Interior of the CR (2024-2026) and is starting to implement a grant related to knowledge transfer. Monet+ is preparing an EU project (2024) focusing on security tools.
Days with Industrial Partners
In the spring and autumn terms, the Faculty of Informatics held Days with Industrial Partners (SPP Day). Their program was divided into several thematic blocks, in which representatives of companies and students took turns as speakers. We also included blocks dedicated to 2-minute presentations by companies with follow-up and invitations to booths where students and visitors had the opportunity to meet company representatives. It was these presentations as well as the company booths that were of most interest to the students.
Participation in teaching
More than half of the companies are regularly involved in teaching. In 2023, there were 32 courses with partner involvement. The most active in this respect are Red Hat Czech, Lexical Computing, Oracle, Kyndryl and Techniserv. Red Hat Czech is particularly specific in terms of teaching, running entire courses through a significant part of the semester. Monet+ is preparing a course on Mobile security.
Offer of internships for students
There is also a high level of cooperation in the area of internships. A total of 97 internship places linked to study programmes were secured for students by SPP companies. Among the most active in this area are Red Hat Czech, Monet+, Techniserv, InQool, Kentico Software and BiQ Bluesoft. Internships are a compulsory part of 4 study programmes: RSSS (Mgr.), Software Engineering (Mgr.), Programming (Bc.) and Cybersecurity (Bc.)
Sponsored PhD positions
In 2023, companies regularly supported 13 PhD students. Support was provided to PhD students by all strategic partners InvaSys, Konica Minolta, Lexical Computing and Red Hat Czech, in addition to Monet+ and Wereldo. Václav Sobotka, a PhD student sponsored by Wereldo, received a commendation from the PhD study board in autumn 2023 for his achievements during his PhD studies, which are realized with Wereldo.
Research groups
An important part of the Association of Industrial Partners, without which the cooperation would not be possible and they deserve a big "thank you" for it are FI research groups and laboratories:
- CRoCS (Centre for Research on Cryptography and Security)
- Formela – The Laboratory of Formal Methods, Logic and Algorithms
- Research Lab Software Architectures and Information Systems (LaSArIS)
- Centre for Biomedical Image Analysis (CBIA)
- Design and Architecture of Digital Systems Laboratory (EmLab)
- Natural Language Processing Centre (NLP)
- Research laboratory Sitola
- Adaptive Learning Research Group
- Cybersecurity Laboratory (CYBERSEC)
Publication activities
As part of the joint research, the results are also published and offered to the international professional community. During the year, a journal article, The landscape of computational thinking problems for practice and assessment (ACM Transactions on Computing Education), was published, drawing on a collaboration with Umíme to. In addition, there is an ongoing collaboration with Umíme to on a publication describing the recommender algorithm used in Umíme to (UMUAI journal). In collaboration with Wereldo, two papers have been published at international conferences (CORE B ranking), one of which is co-authored by Wereldo's Michal Gabonay. This paper also publishes the algorithms used in the solver the company uses for daily truck traffic planning. The articles are Real-world Pickup and Delivery Problem with Transfers and Real-World Vehicle Routing using Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search. The cooperation with Wereldo was also mentioned in an article for FINMAG. .
Other activities
The FI Film Festival was supported by Kentico and Novanta, and the FI Open Days included Honeywell, Kentico, SeaComp and Tescan. In cooperation with Petr Svenda, Red Hat Czech supported students developing open source tools for research in IT security. Oracle prepared a one-week intensive workshop/mentoring for 10 students in its premises under the name of Summer Camp. The students had the opportunity to learn more about agile development and work together to develop a real application under the supervision of developers. Kyndryl participated in the Researchers' Night with the Mysterious Information from the IT World quiz. In addition, students were able to participate in a special Smart cities project directly at Kyndryl and try their hand at designing projects with access to Kyndryl's clouds and participate in a competition where the prize was a workshop on Project Management (PA181 Services - Systems, Modeling and Execution). Several companies supported the AI4Talents event for high school students focused on AI organized by FI MU in cooperation with FIT VUT, namely AT&T, Honeywell, Kyndryl and Notino. Students also had the opportunity this year to participate in a competition hosted by NXP in autonomous driving of car models. Extraordinary lectures by experts were held at VF.
Our great thanks to all those who are involved in the cooperation and continue to support activities in the Association of Industrial Partners FI MU.
