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For many experts, putting research results into practice is a key goal of their efforts. And rightly so. The most authoritative expert spoke about technology transfer at several public events this week. Associate Professor Jan Kořenek, head of the Accelerated Network Technologies Research Group, described his experiences from long-term cooperation with the CESNET association in the field of cybersecurity for high-speed networks (e.g., the topic of probes operating on external CESNET network links for incident detection). He also presented the case of the extremely successful university spin-off DynaNIC Semiconductors, which has its roots at FIT BUT. This technology company focuses on the development of advanced network solutions based on the use of FPGA technologies, which significantly accelerate network traffic processing by transferring demanding network operations from the processor to programmable network cards with data transfer rates of up to 400 Gb/s. DynaNIC thus offers a possible answer to the challenges associated with the rapid development of AI and the increase in the volume of data transmitted. Last year and this year, the company not only attracted repeated interest from investors, but also won the prestigious Disrupt Awards competition.

Kořenek presented these results of linking academic research and industrial practice at three events held last week in Prague for professionals and the general public. At least one of them brought another great success.

On Monday, October 20, he presented the topic "Czech Network Security Research" at the seventh annual Czechia-Taiwan Technology Days. He described the entire innovation ecosystem of cooperation between universities, CESNET as a unique testing environment, and technology transfer to spin-off companies and technology firms. He also described research outputs linked to universities, not only those from FIT BUT.

Just one day later, he presented the technology startup and BUT spin-off DynaNIC at the ECSO (European Cybersecurity Organisation) Cyber Investor Days 2025. And the result was definitely worth it: based on the presentation, DynaNIC, together with Logmanager, was selected among the finalists of the ECSO European Cybersecurity STARtup Award. The final of the competition is scheduled to take place next year in Brussels. The event has been held since 2020 and focuses on the most promising European startups in the field of cybersecurity with the aim of providing them with opportunities to gain visibility, attract investment, and establish business contacts at the European level.

Finally, on Wednesday, Jan Kořenek took part in a major international investment conference called the Engaged Investments Conference, specifically its panel discussion focused on technology transfer. He was joined by representatives of investment funds David Photien, Miloš Sochor, and Anssi Uimonen in the block "How to Access Deeptech Startups: Venture Capital and Technology Transfer." The conference was attended by 300 investors and people interested in venture capital in Central Europe, with a focus on deep tech, AI, and critical infrastructure.

Technology transfer is an important role of universities. We would like to thank Jan Kořenek for doing his utmost in this regard.

Thanks to the efforts of the Security@FIT research group, and specifically Kamil Malinka, FIT students have been given the opportunity to participate in the CyberHeroes Academy project free of charge. This project has been successfully implemented for some time by the Slovak company Binary Confidence in cooperation with educational institutions in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The event is intended for young talents in the field of IT and cyber security, but does not require any prior in-depth professional knowledge.

The main goal of the project is to offer students real-life experience with cyber defense and attacks in a safe, simulated environment. The organizers aim to increase general cyber vigilance and awareness in society.

How does it all work? The project runs in several phases:

1. Participant registration: students register using the form on the CyberHeroes Academy website. 
2. Qualification phase for registered participants, which takes place online. Qualification can be completed from October 29, 2025, to November 18, 2025 (00:00). Participants earn points for completing tasks. Successful participants then advance to the finals.
3. The finals themselves will take place directly at FIT: three days of competition between teams of attackers and defenders, led by experts, with catering provided on site. When? November 25–27, 2025, starting at 9:00 a.m. each day. The event will also include accompanying lectures on topics such as security incident analysis and cyber threat simulation. The winning team will receive interesting technological prizes. The most valuable player will then have the opportunity to advance to the academy finals with the prospect of an internship at Binary Confidence.

Take advantage of the opportunity to try your hand at defending against cyber attacks in a simulated environment that is both challenging and safe.

Every year, the international IT SPY competition selects the best theses in the field of computer science and information technology from leading Czech and Slovak universities. Last academic year alone, 1,400 theses of this type were defended in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is therefore no surprise that interest in participating in this year's 16th edition of the event has grown again.

Theses from our faculty traditionally participate in the final round and rank among the top entries in the competition. The deadline for applications was September 12 this year, and this week, a panel of experts selected eight theses to advance to the finals of the competition. Our faculty also has a representative in the finals. It is David Mihola, currently a doctoral student at the Institute of Computer Graphics and Multimedia, with his thesis "Smart Camera for Tracking Objects of Interest." David summarized his work for us as follows: „My thesis shows that even on a small, battery-powered device, it is now possible to solve demanding artificial intelligence tasks – specifically, vehicle detection and license plate reading. This paves the way not only for independently functioning smart sensors, but also for devices to become part of larger systems, such as smart city infrastructure.“

The final projects are evaluated by a professional jury composed of representatives from academia (Ing. Radek Kočí, Ph.D., is a member of the jury on behalf of FIT) and the IT industry. The title of Best IT Thesis of 2025 and other awards will be announced at a gala evening on November 19 in Prague.

The overall winner of the IT SPY competition will receive a prize of €2,000 from Profinit, which they can use, for example, to further develop their thesis project. The supervisor of the winning thesis will receive €200 as a thank you for the good preparation of their student. Other nominated theses will be included in the gallery of the best theses.

Yesterday, October 16, 2025, online voting in the Public Choice Award category began on the competition website. You can vote until November 17. Support David Mihola this way too!

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