ZČU opened a new research and education complex for 1.36 billion CZK

Source plzen.cz

Plzeň - Today, the University of West Bohemia (UWB) opened its largest scientific center focused on cybernetics, mathematics and physics in Plzeň. The European Centre of Excellence NTIS (New Technologies for the Information Society) along with new teaching facilities at the Faculty of Applied Sciences came with equipment costing 1.355 billion crowns, almost 80 percent of which was provided by the European program Research and Development for Innovations. For UWB, this is an opportunity to rank among the European leaders in research and development, said Rector Ilona Mauritzová to ČTK. It is one of four new research and development capacities of the university; two have already been completed.
    The construction of the building with interconnected wings alone cost 533 million crowns. Nearly 500 employees, including 270 researchers, will work in the 23,000 square meter facility. The total expenses for the NTIS project amount to approximately one billion crowns, with a European grant of 758 million crowns. The costs of the Centre for Technical and Natural Science Education and Research amount to 355 million crowns, with an EU grant of 306 million crowns. The complex, which includes parking for 155 cars, is one of the largest investments of the university.
    "The European Centre of Excellence NTIS is the flagship of research at the Faculty of Applied Sciences. It opens up opportunities for broad international cooperation. Research finds concrete applications in industrial enterprises not only throughout the Czech Republic but also abroad," said the rector.
    The area is part of the university campus in Borská Pole. In the larger six-story wing of NTIS, 270 scientists and researchers focusing on cybernetics, information and communication technologies, mechanics experts, physicists, mathematicians, and geomatics specialists will work. They will fully commence activities in January 2015, when all equipment and technologies will be in place.
    All offices, classrooms, and laboratories of the faculty moved into the second four-story wing of the building, the Centre for Technical and Natural Science Education and Research, this summer, and from this academic year, it will be used by students and teachers. According to the director of the center, Pavel Novák, the new building will feature modern conference rooms with a total capacity of up to 400 people for students and the public.
    Researchers at NTIS are working in five cooperating programs. These include automatic control of machines and processes, information technology, research and development of new intelligent materials, research and development of new thin-film materials and plasma sources, mathematical modeling, and processing and application of spatial data. These researchers, for example, collaborate with the European Space Agency and are involved in building the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
    The Faculty of Applied Sciences, with 1,300 students, is the most scientifically successful of the nine faculties at UWB. It was founded in 1990. "For the first time, we are moving into a building that has been built specifically for us," said Dean Miroslav Lávička. He aims to increase the volume of contractual research and international grants, as well as attract more foreign students, scientists, and researchers.