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Why miss out on an opportunity to study abroad when it's right there? That was exactly the mindset of Veronika Molnárová, a student at the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT), who spent a semester at Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania. “I always planned to go on Erasmus during my studies and didn't want to waste the opportunity,” she explains.

After completing most of her mandatory courses, Veronika decided it was the perfect time for a little “study-related vacation.” While she was initially drawn to Nordic countries, her final choice was influenced by a combination of affordability, recommendations from friends, and positive feedback from former students. “Lithuania might not be the most common choice, but that’s exactly what appealed to me—trying something different,” she adds.

FIT provided her with all the necessary information about the program, making the application process smooth. However, after arriving, she faced some minor confusion regarding accommodation. “We found out that other Erasmus students had similar issues, so it was more of an organizational misunderstanding on the part of the Lithuanian university,” she explains. Otherwise, she was pleasantly surprised by both the environment and the people.

According to her, the teaching style differed only slightly from her studies back home. “Some courses were entirely online, which is no longer common here after COVID. Overall, the studies felt more flexible, with a greater emphasis on independence. It was easy to get used to all the differences,” she says.

Although the host university didn't organize many special events, the international students managed to bond on their own. They spent their free time playing games, doing sports, cooking, or simply chatting. “We spent our free time together—whether traveling or just talking about life,” Veronika recalls.

She says the experience primarily brought her greater independence and self-confidence. “When you don't even have the security of a shared language, you have to manage on your own and take care of everything you need,” she says.

At the same time, Erasmus sparked a desire in her to travel more. “During that semester, we managed to travel through Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. Many classmates even visited other European countries. Although I don’t travel as intensely now, I would definitely love to return to some of my favorite places or discover new ones,” she adds.

When asked how she would describe her stay in one sentence, she answers without hesitation: “An unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.” And her message to those still considering Erasmus? “Every Erasmus is different, but based on my experience and many other positive ones, I believe that if you have the chance to go, you should take it. It will bring you a wealth of experience, memories, and friends from all corners of the world—people that fate would otherwise never have brought into your path.”

On Friday, February 27, 2026, Ing. Vojtěch Mrázek, Ph.D., gave a habilitation lecture entitled „Energy-efficient neural networks for embedded systems“ at the faculty.

Evolutionary optimization of neural network accelerators – the topic of Mrázek's habilitation thesis neatly summarizes his scientific journey to date. Neural networks are, of course, the stars of mathematical models used in the field of information technology. Today, we are able to run a limited neural network even on portable devices, mobile phones, various IoT components, etc. However, even this limited performance has its requirements for computing capacity and energy resources. Hand in hand with the development of artificial intelligence, hardware must also evolve so that it is capable of implementing NN even in small portable devices. This is precisely where the scientific challenge lies, one that Vojtěch Mrázek has been successfully tackling for several years: Identifying and designing the parameters of the NN accelerator (memory organization, setting the size and structure of computing units, and the method of calculation) is far from a straightforward task. "Of course, we are able to identify the ideal combination of neural network and hardware solution. But the real goal is always a compromise between energy consumption and computing power," says Mrázek, describing the desired final state. The topic of his habilitation lecture focused precisely on ways to incorporate neural network inference computation into an embedded system.

How did Mrázek's scientific interest develop? How does he perceive his professional future and the habilitation itself? You can read about it here.

Are you studying for a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree, and is your research related to digital innovation with an impact on the health and lives of an aging population? Then you may be very interested in the first year of the renowned CLARA Young Innovator Award competition.

The thematic focus of the competition is quite broad, with the organizers listing the following areas of application: monitoring of human cognitive and physical health, tools for aging research, software solutions for protein detection and design, etc. The unifying element should always be a real impact on people.

Projects can be at various stages of development and can be the work of individuals or teams of up to four people. Participating experts should be under 35 years of age.

The jury will include leading Czech and international experts in the field of artificial intelligence research, such as Dr. Josef Šivic (CIIRC CTU) and Jean Marie Bouteiller (University of Southern California). Those who succeed can look forward to an attractive financial reward (€2,000), as well as expert mentoring, assistance with project implementation, and support in submitting contributions to leading scientific and technological conferences. It is this emphasis on further project development and building a network of important contacts that distinguishes the new award from similar activities.

The competition is organized by the interdisciplinary center of excellence CLARA, whose important partner is the International Clinical Research Center, a joint project of St. Anne's University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University.

And most importantly, you can nominate your project until March 15, 2026. More information can be found here.