On Tuesday, the building of the CIIRC CTU institute will be officially opened

Prague - On Tuesday, the new building of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) of the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) in Prague will be ceremoniously opened, with construction costs amounting to approximately 1.5 billion crowns. Among others, President Miloš Zeman and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (ČSSD) are expected to attend the ceremony. The educational and research center aims to translate scientific and technological knowledge into practice. It should support the digitization of industry, which is one of the current priorities of the government.

"The CIIRC will one day become an excellent institution that will propel ČVUT into the top 100 best universities in the world," said ČTK rector of ČVUT Petr Konvalinka. Almost all faculties of the university are engaged in informatics, robotics, and cybernetics, so the institute is intended to function as a central workplace for cutting-edge science, where academics and students from various fields can find support.

ČVUT sought funding for this project from European subsidies from the operational program Research and Development for Innovations; however, due to the complexity of the project and tight deadlines, the government ultimately provided a grant from the state budget. As a result, the construction cost the state one billion crowns, while ČVUT contributed approximately 400 million crowns.

Some academics from various faculties were dissatisfied with the project's financing method. They accused Konvalinka of depleting the school's financial reserves. Therefore, during this week's meeting of the academic senate, they attempted to remove him from the rector position. However, the senate ultimately rejected the proposal.

The CIIRC was established in July 2013 and is led by the former head of the Department of Cybernetics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of ČVUT, Vladimír Mařík. Its employees have so far worked in temporary spaces in various buildings of ČVUT. Some were located in spaces on Karlovo náměstí, others on Zikova street, and also on Evropská street.

According to CIIRC secretary Ondřej Velek, about 140 people are now moving into the new building, and the entire rector's office of ČVUT is expected to relocate there in May. By the end of 2017, around 200 people should work in the building. The full capacity, which amounts to 350 employees, is expected to be reached within five years, according to the secretary. CIIRC aims to attract new employees, including scientists from abroad.

"We will try to attract foreigners and also Czech individuals who are successful and working at foreign institutions to return to the Czech Republic," Velek stated. The building's infrastructure can accommodate up to 1650 people, so a significant number of students is also anticipated.

Construction of the building began in November 2014 and was carried out by a consortium of companies HOCHTIEF CZ and VCES. The five-story building of the original Technical Canteen on Jugoslávských partyzánů street was converted into a seven-story building, with the construction expanding its footprint. The new building features seven above-ground floors and three underground floors with an automated parking system for 188 cars.

The modern low-energy building has a unique facade composed of a transparent insulating membrane film on a steel structure combined with an inner glass facade. The space between this double facade serves as a solar collector. Another pride of the construction is, according to ČVUT, the computer-controlled parking system, which has five transfer boxes, three transport elevators, and two turntables. The car retrieval times should range from 90 to 190 seconds.