Technical University of Ostrava

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Technical University of Ostrava
logo
founding 1849
Sponsorship state
place Ostrava ,
Czech Republic
Rector Václav Snášel
Students 14,571 (2016)
Employee 1,404
(thereof academic staff: 406) (2016)
including professors 111 (2016)
Website www.vsb.cz

The Technical University of Ostrava (full German name: VSB - Technical University of Ostrava , Czech Vysoká škola báňská - Technická univerzita Ostrava , in short: VŠB - TU Ostrava or VSB-TUO ) was founded in 1849 as of Mining educational institution founded in 1865 for mining academy and 1904 to technical college charged. Today it is an important engineering university in the Czech Republic, especially in modern mining, metallurgy and engineering as well as in environmental and nanotechnology.

history

The development of today's Technical University of Ostrava is closely linked to the development of mining , an important branch of industry in Austria-Hungary .

Mining training in Bohemia 1716–1772

Silver mines in the mountain town of St. Joachimsthal raised the town to prosperity. The boom faded noticeably because there was a significant shortage of skilled workers after the Thirty Years' War . This unsatisfactory situation caused Emperor Charles VI. to found and finance a mountain school that was opened in 1716. The further development of mining and metallurgy , together with the improvement of state administration within the Austrian monarchy, consolidated this decision and now produced well-qualified personnel. These successes eventually led to a scientific faculty that opened at Charles University in Prague in 1763. This also created the basis for the first university course in mining science in Bohemia.

The separation of the theoretical, scientific studies of a university from the mining industry, which had previously been closely linked, turned out to be disadvantageous. Therefore, the university course was discontinued by its director Johann Thaddäus Anton Peithner von Lichtenfels in 1772 and relocated to the Schemnitzer Bergakademie founded in 1770 in what was then Hungary. This meant the end of scientific teaching in mining in Bohemia for 77 years.

Příbram Mining Academy (1849–1939)

With the beginning of the industrial revolution and the subsequent development of the mining and metallurgy industries , a new academy in Příbram was envisaged. The relevance of the university foundation can be seen from the fact that it took 19 years to make decisions about its establishment. Above all, one must consider the difficulties that arose from obtaining the necessary technical equipment and personnel with the appropriate qualifications and experience. In the end, the decision-making process was accelerated by the political events of 1848, as the academy in Schemnitz became inaccessible to Bohemian and other non-Hungarian students. That is why Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in 1849 that a vocational mining school should be set up in Příbram for the northern countries and another in Leoben for the southern countries of the empire.

The Příbram site was chosen because the high concentration of the mines, the good technical level of mining, the iron ore resources and the nearby ironworks provided good conditions for practical instruction and training. Furthermore, graduates could easily find employment. The school in Příbram developed under difficult conditions. It had to defend its right to exist because it was not supported as much as the school in Leoben, although in the late 19th century the productive profit in Bohemia was four times as high as in Leoben.

The lack of well-trained professionals and mine workers resulted in a growing number of tragic mine accidents. In 1892 alone, 320 miners died in an accident. Due to this accumulation of mine accidents and forced by the mine owners, the responsible authorities had to give more support to the mining educational institution in Příbram, which was elevated to a mining academy in 1862. Also because of the stabilizing number of students at the academy, the academy was elevated to a coal and steel university with all the rights of such in 1904.

In the years that followed, leading up to the first conflicts, there were frequent discussions about moving the school to Prague (as requested by Czech professors) or to Vienna (as requested by German professors). Only in 1918 with the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia did this uncertainty end for the time being. Nevertheless, efforts continued to move the school to Prague. This met with resistance from professors, the mining industry and mining engineers. The arguments for a relocation were the higher prosperity, the better conditions for the development of the school, the currently limited technical equipment and the better conditions for international contacts. According to those in favor of moving, these are very limited compared to the technical schools in Prague and Brno .

Despite these quarrels, the number of students in Příbram had risen to five hundred. The school and its professors gained increasing European recognition through their work. Many of these professors were involved in founding the school in Ostrava and laid the foundations for the Vysoká škola báňská.

After the beginning of the Second World War , the school was closed in November 1939 without celebrating the 19th anniversary.

Communist time

Audimax of the TUO

The President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Edvard Beneš , published Decree No. 69 on September 8, 1945, which ended development at the Příbram site and relocated the school to Ostrava . This ordinance ended years of efforts by representatives in the mining industry to locate a college in the center of a widespread region of mining, chemistry and heavy industry. At the same time, a new era began in the history of the university.

After 1945, the Ostrava mining region stood for the key raw materials iron, steel and chemical products made from coal and coke for the processing industry. Before the war, 88% of Ostrava's coal needs were produced. The ironworks produced more than 50% of the pig iron, 40% of the crude steel, 40% of the rolled stock and employed 38% of the workers in this field from the Czech countries. The necessary qualifications for the staff have been maintained at a high level by the industries, with nationwide campaigns to recruit skilled workers. An extensive development of production techniques with a high technical standard and competitiveness ensured good economic development. With the implementation of the decree on nationalization of October 20, 1945, all industrial companies with more than 500 employees were nationalized. This was the trigger for very large social changes, including corporate management. A new principle was to ensure the development of personnel in quantitative and qualitative terms by the companies themselves. This should ensure the development of the key industries in the long term. This initiated the post-war development of the university in Ostrava. A discussion was initiated in Ostrava that dealt with the requirements for running the school up to and including the establishment of a large university campus.

In February 1948, the communist regime, which was particularly orthodox-proletarian in the Ostrava region, made important decisions about the fate of the inhabitants, the city and its development. The concept of developing the Ostrava region as the "Forge of Europe" meant that new opportunities were seen for metallurgical production and, consequently, for the production of coal, coke and energy.

These decisions led to an increased influx of workers into the Ostrava region. The settlement was also promoted by the state immigration propaganda with the promise of higher wages. Over the years, the number of inhabitants in Ostrava grew from 180,000 inhabitants in 1947, over 216,000 inhabitants in 1950, 252,000 inhabitants in 1960 to around 330,000 inhabitants (2004). This made Ostrava the center of an industrial conurbation with 1.3 million inhabitants. Almost 60% of the working population started to work in industry. The history of the university is also the history of the city and the region.

In 1964 the government decided to build the long-discussed university campus in Ostrava-Poruba. Gradual liberalization of the university was initiated in August 1968. However, the new developments in 1969 were influenced by the normalization movement, which increased the influence of the communist party so that many professors, teachers and researchers as well as students had to leave school. Others were forbidden to teach and also to publish their scientific work. Despite everything, a number of professors tried to lessen the interference from the political authorities. To a certain extent, this was achieved to such an extent that normal academic teaching was possible in 1973. The developments in electrical engineering were taken into account and in 1977 the faculty for mechanical engineering was expanded to include electrical engineering. In the same year the Faculty of Economics was expanded and additional professors were appointed. The school grew and in 1980 it was found that 10 times more students were enrolled than in 1945, in 23 different subjects. In particular, close links were established with industry, which linked science and industry to the benefit of both sides. However, the international contacts were limited only to the countries of the CMEA . New institutes of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences were built on the campus and new buildings for other departments were built.

From 1989

The Velvet Revolution of 1989 and the end of “real socialism” gave the university a boost. Concepts were implemented that should secure the future development of the university. A modern technical university was created based on the historical roots of “coal and iron”. Since 1996 the FC VSK VŠB TU Ostrava has been active as the university's futsal club. As a result of the Bologna Declaration in 2001, the university introduced modern degrees and implemented an ECTS system . There are both face-to-face courses and an increasing number of distance learning options. It is usually taught in the Czech language. However, programs are increasingly being offered in English.

In 2008 a business incubator was founded for around 35 start-ups. There is also a technology center. An IT excellence center ( IT4Innovations ) for supercomputer applications, parallel processing and dynamic simulation of material behavior and environmental processes has developed as a research focus , which is pursuing ambitious expansion plans.

Faculties

  • Faculty of Mining and Geology
  • Faculty of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
  • Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
  • Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • Faculty of Economics
  • Faculty of Civil Engineering
  • Faculty of Safety Engineering
  • Cross-faculty study programs: nanotechnology , mechatronics .

Partner universities

After the door to the world opened in 1989, the technical university became a new partner in many countries. These include well-known universities such as the Vienna University of Technology , Delft University of Technology , Carnegie Mellon University and National Chiao Tung University .

A scientific exchange takes place u. a. with the following German universities and colleges:

Well-known professors and graduates

  • Karel Heyrowský (1802–1863), professor of mining, mining equipment, mining standards from 1849 to 1863
  • Josef Theurer (1862–1928), professor of mathematics and physics from 1895 to 1926, first chancellor of the Vysoká škola báňská in Příbram (1904) and rector from 1903 to 1927
  • František Čechura (1887–1974), professor of mining standards, rector of TUO from 1945 to 1950
  • František Mařík (1884–1966), professor of conveyor systems
  • Alois Řiman (1896–1966), founder of mine planning
  • Richard Doležal (1921–2005), professor of process engineering and steam boiler engineering at the Ostrava Mining Academy, TH Prague, TU Braunschweig, University of Stuttgart
  • Petr Šnapka (* 1943), Professor of Economics and Management, Dean IDMS
  • Tomáš Čermák (* 1943), engineer and rector of the TUO (1990 to 1997, 2003 to 2010)
  • Václav Roubíček (1944–2010), professor of fire safety at the TUO, rector 1997 to 2003; Member of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic 2003–2008

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.vsb.cz/personCards/personCard.jsp?lang=en&person=sna57
  2. ↑ Das Akademisches Deutschland , Volume 1, Berlin 1930, p. 615
  3. ↑ Professor Vaclav Roubicek, 1944–2010: “Our hearts are open for you” (PDF; 145 kB), accessed on February 20, 2011