News

On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, in the Great Hall of Prague's Karolinum, President Petr Pavel, in the presence of Minister of Education Robert Plaga, presented appointment decrees to 69 new professors. The decree was also received by the new professor of the Faculty of Information Technology in the field of Computer Science and Informatics, Martin Čadík (Department of Computer Graphics and Multimedia). Čadík has been working at our faculty since 2013; two years later, he became an associate professor, and now, after ten years, he has added the highest scientific and pedagogical title. He is the head of the research group CPhoto@FIT, whose research is based on image processing methods, computer vision, graphics, physics, visual perception, and other fields.

Martin Čadík's main area of interest is geolocation, i.e., the use of geographical or topographical models of the planet's surface to process digital photographs with the aim of adding a new layer of information that enhances the original image. Typically, this involves determining the position or orientation of the camera. In doing so, he combines his scientific interests with his personal interests. "I enjoy mountains and nature, and I often do research with outdoor photos. And they are often my own photos." Together with his colleagues, he uses machine learning techniques, which, as he himself points out, are now commonly referred to as AI. Historically, these techniques have been closely related to the field of computer vision. "From today's perspective, we can say that we have always been involved in AI computer vision. Currently, however, the term is used very broadly."

Martin Čadík sees his new professorship as a commitment and mentions the importance of educating future talent: "It is not only a scientific but also a pedagogical title. I feel a strong commitment to passing on my experience to students and doctoral candidates."

We warmly congratulate Martin Čadík on his professorship! You can read more about his professional focus, future challenges, and perception of the title of professor in the press release.

On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, another annual presentation of the best bachelor's theses by students of Brno University of Technology 8 from BUT took place at the BUT Rector's Office. And this year, our faculty also had its representative at the gala evening. Lucie Klímová impressed with her work in the demanding field of bioinformatics.

Lucie Klímová presented her bachelor's thesis "Automated Techniques in DNA Analysis," supervised by Associate Professor Lukáš Holík. According to the author, she enjoys professional challenges, and this thesis certainly meets that criterion. Bioinformatics attracts few students due to its demanding nature. The basis of her bachelor's thesis is the application of finite automata to the search for LTR retrotransposons, i.e., repetitive DNA sequences in the genome. Their detection can aid in the research of specific DNA sequences and is a commonly used procedure in contemporary genetics. "We started with the TE-greedy-nester tool, which is used to search for transposons, and I identified a subalgorithm in it that took up the most time when the program was run, roughly 80% of the process. And we decided to redesign it with the aim of saving a significant amount of time," says Lucie, defining the intention of her bachelor's thesis in the most general terms. The principle on which Lucie based her research was the idea that genome sequences should generally be representable by a finite automaton. Among her research achievements, the author can credit the fact that the resulting finite automaton allows searching for transposon structural domains up to ten times faster than the commonly used BlastX tool. The author herself adds that the topic offers a number of future challenges.

We would like to thank Lucie for representing our faculty so well. If you would like to learn more about her research work, please refer to our report.

A major European project with an ambitious goal is approaching its final phase: to transform the European technology scene by creating an open, high-performance, and secure microchip design capacity ecosystem built around the RISC-V microchip architecture. This could reduce Europe's dependence on non-European microchip suppliers. The ISOLDE project has been running since May 2023 and is currently scheduled to end in May 2026. Funded under the Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU), a public-private partnership within the pan-European Horizon Europe program, the project brings together a consortium of 37 partners and 2 associated partners from leading European research institutions and industries. Institutions and organizations from nine European countries are represented. These include FIT VUT, represented by the principal investigator for FIT, Prof. Pavel Zemčík, and Ing. Václav Šimek.

RISC-V is an open microchip architecture (processor instruction set) that allows for free customization and sharing of designs. The project's roots date back to the University of California, Berkeley, and the year 2010. The RISC-V architecture allows for the wide use of microchips based on it in embedded systems, mobile phones, automotive, or even IoT devices. Thanks to the open-source nature of the outputs, European companies will be able to develop and improve chips without licensing restrictions, which supports innovation and independence from proprietary technologies.

FIT VUT contributes to the project as part of a Czech consortium that also includes the Czech branch of NXP (which deals with control algorithms) and Codasip (modification of hardware architecture in cooperation with experts from FIT). The consortium focuses on development in the automotive application area, specifically on the functionality and control of various types of engines and motors used, for example, in cars (window lowering, power steering, etc.). Currently, processors based on ARM core variants are predominantly used in the automotive sector, but this is a licensed solution. The aim is therefore to develop our own solution based on RISC-V architecture, which will be open-source. Work is underway to modify the instruction set and, consequently, the hardware solution of the architecture so that motor control algorithms (such as FOC and MPC) can be executed efficiently within the given RISC-V architecture (in terms of the required chip area, power consumption, and execution speed). The end result should be a practical technology demonstrator, e.g., in the form of a development board with FGPA. The RISC-V design will be described in SystemVerilog at the RTF level, adds Václav Šimek. He himself points out that the project also has a specific impact on studies at the faculty: Currently, three bachelor's theses and one master's thesis are being prepared in connection with it.

The goal of the ISOLDE project is to advance the proposed high-performance processors and IP blocks based on the RISC-V architecture to TRL 8 technological readiness level by the time the project is completed. Approximately two years after completion, the first components are expected to be integrated into industrial products. To ensure long-term sustainability and availability, ISOLDE is initiating the creation of an open-source ecosystem for development, verification, and maintenance. Currently, the project has developed methodologies that enable the smooth integration of open-source and proprietary IP blocks and ensure effective interoperability, as well as the first implementations of demonstration solutions across key sectors such as aerospace, automotive, and IoT. In the final phase of the project, efforts will focus on production-ready designs, prototypes based on FPGA technologies, expanded industrial collaboration, and preparation for the deployment of the developed solutions. The progress of the project shows that Europe can take on a key role in the field of open computing innovation.