Women in IT or inspiring women at FI
The Faculty of Informatics (FI) strives to motivate and inspire all "IT women" - women in academic positions, women researchers, women students, women in leadership positions, and women in all non-academic and non-scientific positions. Meet the inspiring women at FI who work in all our departments, the Centre for Education, Research and Innovation in Information and Communication Technologies and the Centre for Computing, as well as the women speakers at the Computer Science Colloquium.
Assoc. Ing. RNDr. Barbora Bühnová, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Industrial 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 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 GACR 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 Computer Systems and Communications
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.
Mgr. Kristýna Pekárková
2nd year PhD student
Department of Programming Theory
Thanks to the DIMEA lab, I got involved in research at FI during my undergraduate studies - first by participating in seminars and lectures and later by collaborating on papers with lab members and co-authors from abroad. This led to my decision to continue my research in theoretical computer science not only at the master's level, but also later at the doctoral level. Being able to get involved in research relatively early on made it easier for me to get a feel for how it works. It also gave me the opportunity to gain many contacts at universities and research institutions abroad. This helped me a lot at the beginning of my PhD studies, and I think that the support of the faculty and the individual labs in getting students involved in research activities and in participating in international research visits, lectures and conferences is very important. I am very happy to be studying at a faculty that creates and supports an environment for this collaboration.
Mgr. Dana Kozlová
ICT Specialist
Computer Technology Centre
I joined the Faculty of Informatics, more precisely the Information System team at MU, in 2008, when I was still a library student. I started as a user support and I always enjoyed my work, as it combines everything I like - communication with people, problem solving, giving practical advice and information technology. Later I became the coordinator of the IS-technician team and started to participate more in the development of the IS. I like that every day brings new challenges and the opportunity to learn something new. Developments in IT have taken a frantic pace, but this has created new opportunities to make our users' daily work and responsibilities easier and our vision of an "e-university" is becoming clearer. I really appreciate my colleagues and the fact that I get to meet intelligent and inspiring people at work. For many of us, working for IS is a "matter of the heart" and we are doing our best to ensure that it continues to develop and remains (dare I immodestly say) the best learning system in the country.
Mgr. Kamila Urban, PhD.
Lecturer at the FI MU Informatics Colloquium
Researcher, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University / Institute of Psychology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, v. v. i.
I came to the Faculty of Informatics thanks to an invitation to lecture at the Informatics Colloquium on metacognition and effective learning and teaching. Since I have been doing research on metacognition for several years, i.e. whether students are aware of their learning strengths and weaknesses, whether they plan their problem-solving procedure, whether they accurately monitor their understanding and whether they are able to evaluate their learning performance, I was approached to give a talk on this topic at the Department of Computer Science, but from the perspective of how teachers could develop metacognition in their students. Students in the computer science department have to solve a number of problem problems that require, in addition to domain-specific knowledge, well-developed metacognition in order to solve the problems correctly. I am always happy to offer teachers ideas on how to develop metacognition in their students, because the students will then gain not only knowledge but also skills that will help them in their future learning outside of school.
Employee benefits at the Faculty of Computer Science 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 supported, 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. As of April 2023, the employee benefits offer has been extended to include psychological counselling and accompanying and child Multisportcards. However, there is still room for improvement, you can send us your suggestions at
persICuR3jacX@fijuGPInYfk.muni5HRJyGnM5.cz
.
Articles
FI IT Colloquium with inspiring women in IT
The goal of the colloquia organized by FI is to present current research in various areas of computer science to a wide audience within the faculty. More information about the colloquia can be found
HERE.
On May 9, 2023, a colloquium was held with
Mgr. Kamila Urban, PhD. from Charles University on the topic "Metacognition within self-regulated learning".
On 14.3.2023 a colloquium with
doc. Jana Tůmová, working at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
On 20.9.2022 a colloquium with
Dr. Maria Luján Ganuza from Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina on Lossless Multidimensional Visualization: an introductory talk was held. More information can be found
HERE.
FI webinar on the growing role of diversity in IT
In an increasingly technology-driven world, digital innovation and creativity can hardly be fully exploited if it is generated by only a small part of the population. In this context, the question often arises - why do girls choose particular interests, study programmes and careers as an alternative to computer science or information technology? What are the motivators and benefits of these alternatives that IT lacks? Our webinar focuses on the growing role of diversity in IT, including some findings from recent studies on the topic. We'll discuss effective strategies for making IT more inclusive and open to diverse talent. And we'll share lessons learned about getting more girls involved in IT, including insights and strategies specifically related to academia.
A recording of the webinar with Assoc. Ing. RNDr. Barbara Bühn, Ph.D., Vice Dean of FI, can be viewed
HERE.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science 11 February 2023
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was declared by the UN General Assembly at the end of 2015. It is intended to commemorate the crucial role of women and girls in science and to promote their involvement in research activities.
It is said that there are as many women in IT as there are men. This is not the case at FI, e.g. 29% of PhD students are women. In the first year of the PhD programme,
Mgr. Lucia Hradecká, winner of the
"Brno Ph.D. Talent 2022" (a scholarship program of the City of Brno for the 25 best talents among PhD students who convince the expert committee of the excellence of their results and the quality of their proposed scientific project).
Handbook Maternity, paternity and parental leave in a nutshell
In December 2022, an updated MU handbook Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave in a Nutshell was published.
The handbook aims to provide MU parents with comprehensive information in one place, guiding them from pregnancy, through maternity leave, then parental leave, as well as paternity leave, to returning back to work.
You can download the handbook
HERE.
In this context, we would like to add that MU cooperates with the Elánek mini-nursery (in the MU building on Komenský nám. and on the Bohunice campus), where MU employees can place their children. More information can be found on the
ELÁNK website.
Courses Gender Equality in the Institution and Gender Equality Plans I and II
Want to learn more about gender equality? The National Contact Centre - Gender and Science of the Institute of Sociology of the CAS offers courses on gender equality, which are designed as e-learning, publicly available training for interested women and men from universities and research organisations in the Czech Republic.
You can register for the course
HERE.
Monitoring Report on the Status of Women in Science
In December 2022, the National Contact Centre - Gender and Science of the Institute of Sociology of the CAS published the Monitoring Report on the Representation of Women in Science and Research for 2020. In it, it maps the position of women in science and innovation in the Czech Republic. The report has been published annually since 2005.
You can download the Monitoring Report
HERE.
Inspiring women in FI
We want to motivate and inspire women who are considering a career in IT. We are therefore preparing medallions on "what I enjoy and find fulfilling about science at FI" and "what I enjoy about working in IT at FI" with inspiring women at our faculty, in all four departments, CERIT and the Centre for Computing. We will be adding to these medallions on an ongoing basis.
Many thanks to all the female colleagues and PhD students involved for their cooperation.
MU Gender Equality Plan
MU implements a variety of measures to promote gender equality as part of the University's strategic commitment to the principles of transparency, equality and accountability, while at the same time balancing the work and personal lives of all its employees and students. It fulfils this commitment at the level of its units and through the activities of the University as a whole. All this is done on the basis of the
MU Gender Equality Plan for the period 2022-2024.
CAREER RESTART Grant Scheme
Since 2020, the MU Grant Agency has been implementing the CAREER RESTART grant scheme, which aims to create conditions for the integration of female and male researchers into research teams at MU after a career break, for example due to parental leave. The CAREER RESTART grants will facilitate and accelerate the return of young talented scientists to productive scientific careers and thus increase the percentage of their representation in independent/senior research positions. Detailed information can be found
HERE.