Microelectronics, Telecommunication and Information Security. These are the three fields that the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Brno has rated as important. Last year, more than thirty people from Russia and Belarus read them. However, after sanctions were introduced, their influence was limited by management.
“We stopped their studies and sometimes transferred them to another course,” noted Vladimir Obrecht, dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology.
This year, twenty applicants from these countries registered to study. But they could not choose specific fields. Faculty also monitor the topics of final theses for current students. “This can be very sensitive in doctoral studies. Here, we are very careful not to allow Russian students or students from dangerous countries to access critical infrastructure,” the dean added.
Doctoral courses
More than 550 students from Russia and Belarus applied to CTU. In the end, 179 of them signed. “They are very interested in our IT fields, namely open information and the second project, which is network information technologies,” explained Radovan Jakovenko, vice-dean of the FEL of the Czech Technical University.
At the undergraduate level, these departments are also accessible to students from countries where they are admitted. However, in postgraduate studies, most of the focus is considered critical. Individual cases were also handled by the Office of Financial Analysis, which last year provided universities with a mechanism for sanctions. “Obviously thanks to this formal assistance, the FAÚ has registered only a limited number of inquiries regarding Russian and Belarusian students this year,” said Mikaela Lagronova, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Finance.
Some faculties have a list of important subjects. Students are then required to sign an affidavit stating that they will not participate.
