Dear students and colleagues,
allow me to greet you at the beginning of the winter semester of 2021/22 and wish you all a successful start to the new academic year at our Alma mater.
The last year was marked by measures taken to reduce the risks associated with COVID-19, which increased the demands for the preparation of teaching and research and imposed significant restrictions on study for students. I would like to thank all academics for their efforts to meet the requirements set by the government of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the National Accreditation Office for Higher Education and which also resulted from the specifics of our University and the uniqueness of its operations. I greatly appreciate the responsibility of academics, staff and students, with which they respect the necessary disease control measures, and that, despite all these measures, they managed to successfully complete the practical teaching.
Even in the new academic year, our University will aim to further strengthen the University's veterinary focus. Its major activities will lie in the implementation of the modified curriculum of the Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology degree programmes, building upon changes made to international standards for veterinary education and the implementation of recommendations for meeting new international standards for veterinary education in university veterinary studies. By preparing for international evaluation and accreditation, our University is deepening the level of veterinary education of students in Europe (with the standard comparable to veterinary universities in the US). In the next period, the University will aim to further strengthen clinical teaching, research and professional activities, seek spatial resolution for public health teaching and teaching focused on the protection and welfare of animals, develop activities to expand the University's instrumentation potential, take significant steps for the economic stabilisation of the University, seek to increase the level of staffing of activities at the University, and enhance the sense of belonging of staff and students to the University. The Centre for Study and Career Guidance will develop information support for university applicants, information support for students during their studies and will address study-related issues, as well as increase the level of career advice for students finishing their studies and recent graduates. In lifelong learning, the University is finalising the portfolio of training designed for veterinarians in practice. The University of Veterinary Sciences Brno offers specialisation training for veterinarians active in clinical veterinary medicine, which has been stipulated by a decree on the organisation of training for veterinarians active in clinical veterinary medicine.
Dear students and colleagues, I believe that together we will have a good start to the new academic year and that the 2021/22 academic year will prove to be another successful year for our University, that students will find the university an environment to further extend their knowledge and provide the potential to acquire deeper understanding, experience and skills, and that with the support of the University, the students will increase the potential of their education. I further believe that the academic staff will find, even under restricted conditions, enthusiasm for and interest in educating their students, that faculties, institutes, clinics and other workplaces will be able to achieve their mission of providing education, conducting research, as well as carrying out professional and other academic activities to improve the standards and quality of our unique University.
prof. MVDr. Alois Nečas, Ph.D., MBA
Rector of the University
Brno, 16th September 2021