The project is intended to help the university adapt to new forms of learning and the changing needs of the labour market. Photo credit: MENDELU.
Brno, Nov 8 (BD) – Students at Mendel University in Brno will soon be able to study the fields of brewing, nursery science, and the circular economy. The university has received CZK 98.5 million from the Ministry of Education as part of the National Renewal Plan to create new study programs and support the digitisation of educational activities.
Within the Innovative MENDELU project, the university has received support for four professionally oriented and one progressive study program. “The programs will be sponsored by individual faculties, but there will be inter-faculty overlap, and the involvement of both practitioners and foreign experts,” said Martin Klimánek, Vice-Rector for Strategy, Sustainability, and Purposeful Activities, who is leading the project.
As part of new professionally oriented study programs, MENDELU will offer brewing and malting at the Faculty of Agronomy; nursery science and tree breeding at the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology; sustainability and the circular economy at the Faculty of Operational Economics; and nursery science at the Faculty of Horticulture. The vocationally-oriented programs will see more extensive work experience for students as opposed to the traditional academically oriented programs.
One progressive degree program will also be offered: biomaterials in the faculty of forestry and wood technology. The Ministry of Education has pre-defined the focus of the programs to be considered progressive. These fields and sectors include landscape planning, circular economy, biotechnology, and energy self-sufficiency.
The individual programs will open gradually. Some of them are expected to be open for applications as early as next year. A large part of the funding will be spent on the purchase of machinery, equipment, and classroom equipment. “Important investments include a shock temperature chamber, a calorimeter used to determine the rate of heat release, and a helium pycnometer used to determine the density of liquid substances,” Klimánek said.
The project also supports other areas of education. It will expand the possibilities of online learning, and the digitalization of study agendas, and it will also offer courses aimed at expanding skills or retraining. “The university will create new courses focused on skills enhancement for aspiring academics, retraining in the preparation of professional courses focused on education, and management of continuing education,” the vice chancellor said.
