Women in IT

Women in IT or inspiring women at FI

The Faculty of Informatics (FI) strives to motivate and inspire all "IT women" - female students, female researchers, women in academic positions, women in leadership positions, and women in all non-academic and non-scientific positions. Meet inspiring women at FI, their stories and projects.

Assoc. Ing. RNDr. Barbora Bühnová, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Industry Relations, Associate Professor

Department of Computer Systems and Communications

At FI, I really appreciate the environment and support for cutting-edge research. Among the support that is crucial for me and my team is the opportunity to travel and collaborate with experts from all over the world. It gives me the opportunity to be part of an international research community and to actively participate in the organization of leading conferences in my field, which are software architectures and trust aspects in complex autonomous systems. Another valuable element for me at FI is the freedom in the direction of research, which is important for maintaining the relevance of research both in relation to current scientific knowledge and in relation to the needs of practice, with which we are in close contact thanks to the FI MU Industrial Partners Association, which I have the opportunity to lead. Thanks to this freedom, in recent years I have also had the opportunity to participate in several scientific studies to promote girls' interest in computer science (in cooperation with Czechitas), a topic that I now often present at international conferences, although it is aside from my main research.

Assoc. RNDr. Barbora Kozlíková, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Department of Visual Informatics

I "grew up" at FI: I started my undergraduate studies here in 2001, and although I left for industry for a while after my PhD, I was happy to return and start my academic career here. I really appreciate the friendly working environment and the inspiration that comes from colleagues and students, which drives me forward. My position now means a lot of responsibility, but also a lot of fun and freedom in my research interests. Every day is different and full of new challenges. I am very grateful for the opportunity to start my own research group in visualization and for all the support I and my students receive. Recent research topics in our group include the exciting project "The SMC5/6 complex in nucleome organization", supported by the Ministry of Education, and more recently a project supported by the GA Czech Republic, which aims to design new visual interactive representations of chromatin fibers to help understand the complex arrangement of DNA strands in our cells. We hope that our proposed outputs will support biochemists in their research tasks.

Priv.-Doz. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Simone Kriglstein
Associate Professor

Department of Visual Informatics

My position at FI allows me to combine my two passions as a Human-Computer Interaction researcher: Design and Games. I really appreciate at FI the opportunity and freedom to contribute to different projects in the field of Human-Computer Interaction and Games User Research. In particular, I enjoy working with students, PhD students, young researchers and colleagues on exciting research questions and topics which allows me to pursue my research in the area of Games User Research at FI. I would especially like to emphasize the helpful and collegial environment at FI, which supported me and my research from the very beginning. I'm also very passionate about mentorship to support students in their academic career journey. At FI there is, for example, the possibility to get a PhD scholarship, which is a great initiative for PhD students to get started and develop their own PhD projects.
Photo: Natalie Denk

RNDr. Karolína Dočkalová Burská
Specialist Worker

Centre for Education, Research and Innovation in Information and Communication Technologies

I see the main benefit of my studies and research position in the possibility of self-realization. It is common practice at FI to collaborate on diverse projects across disciplines and outside the country. I am working on visual analytics for cybersecurity education and I am also finishing my PhD in this area. I enjoy pursuing work that is meaningful to me, can take me somewhere and where I can develop and find my own paths. And if you want to get out of your social bubble and are not afraid to step out of your comfort zone, there are plenty of opportunities in workshops, internships or conferences thanks to the chance to travel to these international meetings and have fun with people who are passionate about their field and can contribute to opening up new perspectives and opportunities. Last but not least, I can also help to guide other students, whether through teaching or thesis supervision, to find what they enjoy and help them find meaningful employment.

Mgr. Jana Blahošová
Mgr. Michaela Lebedíková
Researcher

Department of Machine Learning and Data Processing

At FI, we work as social scientists in an interdisciplinary team looking at the impact of technology on user well-being. We are currently part of the GAČR EXPRO project Modeling the future: Understanding the impact of technology on adolescent's well-being (more about what we specifically do at FI HERE). In this project we have the opportunity to combine our expertise as social scientists with our colleagues as computer scientists, which is what we value most about our work. For example, together we developed a unique mobile app designed to collect objective data from adolescents' phones, which our participants then downloaded to their phones from Google Play. We also find the collaboration in the field of machine learning fascinating. We developed annotation manuals based on social science findings and trained annotators who then searched for occurrences of risky behaviors and social support in the adolescents' conversations. Our informatics colleagues then trained machine learning models on this data that have the potential to detect these phenomena in everyday conversation.

RNDr. Katarína Furmanová, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Department of Visual Informatics

I did my entire undergraduate studies at FI and after a post-doctoral position abroad, I was happy to come back here. As a student, what I valued most about FI was the opportunity to choose from a wide range of courses and to get involved in practical and research projects during my studies, which ultimately led me to stay in academia. Opportunities to travel, gain experience from abroad, and establish collaborations with other research groups also played a role. I am glad that FI supports these activities. It is also important for me because I am doing research in biomedical visualisation, which requires collaboration with experts from other fields. This brings with it some challenges but at the same time I am constantly learning something new and educating myself in other areas. This is what I really enjoy about my job and I am grateful to be able to work in an environment that allows me to further develop myself in this way and share my experiences with students.

Hind Bangui PhD
Research Associate - Postdoc

Department of Visual Informatics

At FI, I work as a Researcher. My primary research interests include Artificial Intelligence, Human-Computer Interaction, and Smart Environments. FI gives me a valuable opportunity to join a good and flexible international research community. Also, FI supports me in overcoming challenges and advancing progress in my research by helping me participate in international scientific events and meet scientists around the world whose work fits into my research. These valuable opportunities make FI an inspiration to me and to any woman scientist who wants to step out of her comfort zone.

Mgr. Lucia Hradecká
Winner of Brno Ph.D. talent 2022, student of the 1st year of the PhD programme

Department of Visual Informatics

I have been involved in research activities at FI since the beginning of my Master's studies. Thanks to this, I got an idea of what kind of research is done at FI and the desire to continue it after my Master's degree. My PhD studies at FI give me opportunities that I would hardly find in the private sector: flexibility and freedom in my research, support for research stays abroad and the possibility to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects with other groups. At FI I also have the opportunity to work in a team of curious people who like to push their horizons and in a supportive atmosphere. In addition, the faculty encourages the dissemination of research awareness among individual researchers or groups through lectures and discussions, which allows me to broaden my horizons beyond my research area. Overall, this allows me to arrange my work schedule in a way that suits me best: finding the right balance of research and learning, exploring in depth and expanding my general overview, and to some extent, who and what I will collaborate with.

Iris Kico
6th year PhD student

Department of Machine Learning and Data Processing

As a PhD student at FI, I appreciate the opportunity to work in a supportive environment where I have freedom in my research that combines different research areas, like human-computer interaction, data analysis, and machine learning. During my PhD studies, I have had the chance to use high-end equipment for experiments. However, more importantly, I have met and worked with many great colleagues and scientists. I have participated in and contributed to several projects where I had an opportunity to travel, present my work at international conferences, and broaden my knowledge. Another great thing about FI is that the PhD students are financially supported, and their work is well recognized. I am grateful to be a part of this great community where I have always felt seen and welcome.

Employee benefits at the Faculty of Informatics MU

We support the harmonization of work, personal and family life of FI employees. FI has flexible working hours and occasional home office work, part-time work is encouraged, and employees can place their children in the Elanek children's group in the MU building on Komenský náměstí. Obligations, advice and useful links on maternity, paternity and parental leave are available in interactive form on the MU Employee Portal or in the Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave Handbook (available only after logging in).

We also strive to improve employee wellbeing. From April 2023, the range of employee Multisport cards is extended to include companion and child cards. However, there is still room for improvement, you can send us your suggestions at pers@fi.muni.cz.

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