National University Ranking: Research Excellence of the Faculty of Information Technology Confirmed

Last year, the second comprehensive evaluation of research organizations in the higher education sector took place. A new phase of evaluating research organizations in the Czech Republic was launched in 2017, replacing the previous system, which had been viewed unfavorably. Evaluations currently take place in five-year cycles. Universities are evaluated in Modules 3–5 according to the VŠ2025+ Methodology, based on self-assessment reports, on-site evaluations by the International Evaluation Panel, and subject-area evaluations of individual university departments. The social impact of their research (Module 3), the quality, organization, and relevance of this research (Module 4), and the strategies and concepts for the next five-year period (Module 5) are assessed. The evaluation is a closely watched process, as its results directly influence the level of funding for individual universities. There are two key conclusions from the current National Evaluation: BUT has newly received the highest rating of A. And the Faculty of Information Technology performed excellently in Module 3, which evaluates individual university units, receiving the same A rating. FIT is a center of exceptionally high-quality and effective research and development and rightfully stands out among similarly focused faculties in the Czech Republic.

Thorough preparation paid off

The Brno University of Technology and its constituent units prepared for the National Evaluation with great diligence. In 2023–2024, the university conducted a two-round internal evaluation of its scientific and creative activities. Essentially, this served as rigorous “training” for the nationwide evaluation. The first round involved evaluating research according to key FORD fields, comparing it with European universities, and conducting self-evaluations of the faculties. The second phase took the form of a “peer review” involving an international evaluation panel—45 evaluators from 25 countries participated, visiting individual faculties and institutes in person. The result was a comprehensive overview of research at individual BUT faculties.

How did FIT fare in this internal evaluation? The faculty achieved the best results of all evaluated BUT faculties. A total of 43 university departments were evaluated on a scale from A1 (excellent) to C (unsatisfactory). Only 3 departments received an A1 rating—and two of them are at FIT: the Department of Computer Graphics and Multimedia and the Department of Computer Systems. The other two evaluated departments—the Department of Information Systems and the Department of Intelligent Systems—received an A2 rating, indicating an above-average international level of their research activities. Prof. Pavel Zemčík, Vice Dean for Creative Activities and International Affairs at FIT VUT, briefly assessed the significance of the evaluation for the faculty: “For one thing, we had absolutely no problem, so to speak, filling in the evaluation criteria for international scientific results, awards, recognition from the professional community, and the like. At the same time, the result itself confirmed that we have very balanced departments—at FIT, there is no disparity in this regard as there is at other institutions.”

Indeed, the evaluation processes confirmed the rare balance of high quality across the faculty’s departments and, at the same time, the highest international level of the two mentioned above. In their case, the international panel commended an outstanding department with high-quality research and teaching staff, a large number of doctoral students, state-of-the-art research infrastructure, successful commercialization of research results, etc. And these conclusions were also confirmed by last year’s survey.

Second National Evaluation

The preparation in the form of an internal evaluation paid off for BUT. Last year’s nationwide evaluation of university-type research institutions was a demanding process involving the universities themselves through self-evaluation, as well as an 11-member International Evaluation Panel led by Petr Noskievič, former vice-rector of VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava. The panel visited the Brno University of Technology in June of last year. This time, the evaluation focused on the university as a whole, though this does not mean that the performance of individual faculties and departments has lost its significance. During their four-day visit, the panel members visited the faculties and individual departments of BUT, where they discussed with researchers, academics, and students in doctoral and master’s programs. The goal was to gain deeper insight into the social impact of research, how it is managed, support for excellence, the internal motivation of staff, and conditions for study and research. The outcome of the MEP visit was an evaluation report, which forms the basis for BUT’s classification in the highest Category A. This result is valid for the next five-year period. “I am very pleased that we were able to prepare very well for the evaluation and pull together, both at the university-wide level and across all faculties and departments. A number of measures we implemented in the previous period also contributed to the successful evaluation. Among the most significant was the two-stage internal research evaluation in 2023 and 2024, led by the International Scientific Council, which provided us with highly relevant feedback,” stated Martin Weiter, BUT Vice-Rector for Research and Technology Transfer, regarding the evaluation process.

What did the evaluations reveal about FIT? Cutting-edge research and technology transfer, recognition from the community

Positive conclusions dominate the evaluation reports. The main one is the confirmation of the excellent level of research at the Faculty of Information Technology. The faculty is developing research areas in which our experts achieve world-class standards. What do these include? Machine speech and image processing, computer network security, knowledge technologies, evolutionary hardware design, automated analysis and verification, computer vision and photography, and high-performance or embedded computing systems.

Our scientists and researchers participate in major European and American (DARPA and IARPA) projects. Two topics dominate their work: artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. During the 2019–2023 period, the evaluation identified 67 grant-funded research projects in which FIT served as the principal investigator. Selecting 10 representative projects for the evaluation reports was challenging. From the aforementioned period, let us at least mention the project Efficient Finite Automata for Automated Reasoning (Assoc. Prof. Lukáš Holík) and 5G-ERA - 5G-Enhanced Robot Autonomy (Prof. Pavel Zemčík). Among more recent projects, we should mention our participation in the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (Prof. Jan Čerrnocký) or Dr. Vojtěch Mrázek’s project on evolutionary design of electronic circuits and advanced machine learning methods for improving chip design (EvoML-EDA). Many research projects have a significant societal impact. A team led by Prof. Jiří Jaroš helped develop a groundbreaking diagnostic technology: the optical 3D photoacoustic scanner. A great deal of research activity is focused on national security and cybersecurity: Among others, we can mention COW: Countering privacy-enhancing challenges of cryptocurrencies, OSINT and wireless by Dr. Vladimír Veselý, which contributes to the fight against criminal abuse of the privacy features inherently offered by cryptocurrencies, illegal online marketplaces, or wireless devices.

The research activities of our experts are very often recognized by the scientific community in the form of awards, membership on journal panels and editorial boards, conference committees, or even honorary doctorates. Among the dozens of major achievements of the past five years, let us mention at least the 2020 IEEE James L. Flanagan Speech and Audio Processing Award for Prof. Hynek Heřmanský, as well as the organization of the most prestigious conferences and workshops in the field, such as Evostar 2023, Interspeech 2021, and last year’s JSALT 2025. Our doctoral students are also recognized: Again, just one example among many—last year, Filip Macák received the Josef Hlávka Award. Our researchers lecture at leading global institutions (to name a few: Purdue University—Prof. Martin Čadík, ETH Zurich—Prof. Jiří Jaroš, University of Alberta—Prof. Lukáš Sekanina), and in return, top international researchers from universities and industry (Google Research, Oracle Labs, Academia Sinica, etc.) regularly visit the faculty.

A separate category in which FIT is exceptionally strong and distinguishes itself from other Czech faculties is the transfer of scientific results into practice: Since its inception, the Faculty has purposefully focused on contract research, licensing, and, more generally, collaboration with industry and the public sector. W