The extraordinary success of Professor Jiří Jaroš is also a testament to the quality of teaching at FIT BUT

This is undoubtedly a significant milestone for Professor Jiří Jaroš – and at the same time proof of the high standard of teaching at the Faculty of Information Technology. This is how one could briefly describe the significance of the Award of the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports for Outstanding Educational Activities at a University, which Jaroš, together with three other personalities, received from the hands of Minister of Education Mikuláš Bek on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague. The award is given to university employees for exceptional and innovative pedagogical achievements. Its aim is to highlight the importance of high-quality educational activities at universities and to highlight examples of good practice and innovation in the field of education.

Not just a top scientist

Jiří Jaroš has been working for many years in the fields of high-performance computing, research and development software, parallel and distributed algorithms, and numerical simulation. Since 2016, he has led the Supercomputer Technologies research group at the Faculty of Information Technology. His field of research is photoacoustic imaging and enabling its practical applications, currently especially in personalized medicine. Last year, the success of his research team was published in the form of a groundbreaking diagnostic technology, the optical 3D photoacoustic scanner. Jaroš is the co-founder of the k-Wave project, which has become the de facto standard software in the field of personalized medicine with nearly 25,000 registered users from around the world.

No less significant, however, is Jaroš's role in educating IT students. Jiří Jaroš is an innovative educator who continuously enriches his courses with the latest findings from research and practice. He is not afraid to introduce new methods into his teaching and motivates his students by involving them in international projects. It was he who advocated for FIT students to have access to the supercomputing technologies of the IT4Innovations center in Ostrava. He sees this as opening doors to the future: "At the Faculty of Information Technology, our students have the opportunity to work with technologies that will not enter common practice for another ten years. They learn to run large-scale programs and analyze their performance and energy consumption. In this way, they acquire skills that are highly valued in the job market. They apply this experience in their diploma theses and research projects, where they achieve truly exceptional results. As a result, they enter the workforce not only with in-depth knowledge, but also with real-world experience working with state-of-the-art computing systems, which gives them a significant competitive advantage." It should be added that his name is currently associated with the important Czech AI Factory project, where he is responsible for training activities (for students and commercial entities) and the creation of a related student hub directly at FIT.

Rewards and challenges of a successful teacher

Jaroš's teaching skills and contributions were recognized in March of this year with the Werner von Siemens Award. In an interview on the occasion of receiving the award, he briefly defined his teaching style as a kind of theatrical performance: "Since I was a child, I've been a bit of a showman, an extrovert who always needed to be the center of attention. And that logically reflected in my approach to teaching. I try to make it not just a lecture, but more like a small theatrical performance. But the basis is, of course, preparation. I carefully rehearse each lecture, go through video recordings from previous years, add the latest findings, and fine-tune the details so that everything fits together nicely. Basically, I build a story—with an introduction, a plot, a resolution, and a moral."

Finding inner motivation as a teacher after years of working in a university environment may not be easy. Jaroš mentions that the greatest reward for him is when his students return with a smile after starting their careers and confirm that the knowledge and experience they gained during their studies are truly meaningful to them. "There is always room for improvement, and it is necessary to look for new ways. My goal is primarily to engage students, awaken their interest in the subject matter, and motivate them to actively participate. My dream is teaching that is interactive and based on dialogue between students and teachers. I want lectures to be lively debates, so that students come to class expecting to try something new and at the same time are theoretically prepared to solve specific tasks." According to him, the icing on the cake is an independent project, thanks to which students acquire practical skills and demonstrate that they have truly mastered the material.

Of course, the practice of university teaching also involves overcoming obstacles. Some of these are related to the times and may not have been such a significant problem in the past. Jiří Jaroš feels that students today often perceive personal participation in class as less beneficial. They can easily watch lectures online, find most of the information they need on the internet, and artificial intelligence often provides them with advice with incredible accuracy. "However, university is not just about education—it is primarily about meeting people, sharing experiences, and building relationships. It is in this area that I see great potential. We need to bring students back to lecture halls, seminar rooms, but also to courtyards, cafes, and university clubs. In short, to places where a real academic community is created," concludes Professor Jaroš, an award-winning university teacher, on his view of his profession.

FIT VUT is a good choice for anyone interested in studying information technology. This is also thanks to the excellent teaching of Jiří Jaroš, as evidenced by the Minister of Education Award. Thank you and congratulations!