Research Areas and Laboratories Faculty of Informatics Masaryk University MUNI FI MUNI FI Research Areas and Laboratories Faculty of Informatics Masaryk University 2 Tradition and Prestige Masaryk University is the second largest university in the Czech Republic. Its Faculty of Informatics (FI) was established in 1994 as the first independent Computer Science faculty in the country. The faculty’s high level of scholarship has earned it an excellent research rating in various applied and theoretical areas of Computer Science and information technology. Research Laboratories The faculty is home to a diverse group of research laboratories and centres where students at all levels participate in research under the guidance of skilled academics. Since 2018, moreover, the faculty hosts a prestigious grant from the European Research Council. Students acquire hands­‑on experience with leading­‑edge technologies and make contact with the latest findings from around the world. They have a natural opportunity to participate in research projects—even undergraduates at the faculty have published original research results in international journals. Study Comfort A substantial advantage is the faculty’s paperless, hassle­‑free study planning. The Information System of Masaryk University, developed and maintained by the Faculty of Informatics, streamlines every aspect of student coursework, from course selection to electronic and e­‑learning study materials, to exam sign­‑ups and grades. Our Information System has received numerous national and international awards and is used outside the university as well. Flexible Study The credit system at MU offers great freedom in selecting subjects and managing studies. Unlike students at some other informatics faculties, FI students may elect to take courses from other faculties at Masaryk University to complement their essential IT skills—with foreign language abilities, for example, or soft skills. FI students may also spend part of their study programme abroad. International Recognition of Coursework Courses taken at the Faculty of Informatics are recognized across Europe. A Diploma Supplement, provided to every successful student free of charge, guarantees recognition of your diploma abroad. The ETCS Label then permits you to receive credit for the courses you take at FI at any university in the EU. 3 Real Collaboration with Industry The Faculty of Informatics maintains industrial partnerships with more than 30 companies, giving students the chance to gain real­­‑life practice while they study. Companies offer students specialized seminars, internships, projects and support for diploma theses. Since 2014, the CERIT Science and Technology Park has been part of the faculty, supported by both experienced and emerging companies often founded by our students and graduates. Excellent Employment on the Labour Market Surveys show that 98% of our graduates have no difficulty finding a job in their field of study. Many start their IT careers while they are still in school. Compared to graduates of other faculties, FI graduates have the highest average starting salaries. Stimulating Student Life Brno is a lively university city—during the academic year, as much as 20% of the population consists of students. Masaryk University and the Faculty of Informatics operate a number of student and interest associations. 4 Map of FI MU Research Directions Adaptive Learning Research Group (Adaptive Learning) Laboratory of Dialogue Systems (LSD) Laboratory of Formal Methods, Logic and Algorithms (Formela) Laboratory of Service Systems (SeSLab) Human Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCILAB) Laboratory of Software Architectures and Information Systems (Lasaris) Design and Architecture of Digital Systems Laboratory (EmLab) Laboratory of Quantum Information Processing and Cryptography (QICZ) Laboratory for Parallel and Distributed Systems (Paradise) Systems Biology Laboratory (Sybila) Laboratory of Advanced Networking Technologies (Sitola) Laboratory of Electronic and Multimedia Applications (LEMMA) Knowledge Discovery Group (KD group) Natural Language Processing Centre (NLP) Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society (IRTIS) Laboratory of Data Intensive Systems and Applications (DISA) Studio of Graphic Design and Multimedia (AGD+M) Centre for Biomedical Image Analysis (CBIA) Centre for Research on Cryptography and Security (CRoCS) Visualization Laboratory (VisIt Lab) Laboratory of Discrete Methods and Algorithms (DIMEA) Cybersecurity Laboratory (KYPO) HardwareComputer systems organization Artificial intelligence Computing in life and medical sciences 5 Applied computing Security and Privacy Mathematics of computing Theory of computation NetworksInformation systems Human­‑centered Computing and HCI Software and its Engineering 6 Map of FI MU Research Directions Artificial intelligence Anomaly detection, Relational learning Popelínský (KD group), Nováček Computer vision Kozubek, Pavel Matula, Petr Matula, Svoboda, Ulman (CBIA) Control methods, Robotic planning Černá (Paradise) Distributed artificial intelligence Brázdil, Kučera, Řehák (Formela) Knowledge representation and reasoning Popelínský (KD group) Horák, Pala (NLP), Sojka (LEMMA/NLP), Nováček Machine learning approaches Horák, Pala (NLP), Popelínský (KD group), Brázdil (Formela), Sojka (LEMMA/MIR/NLP), Plhák, Šmahel (IRTIS), Nováček Multi-agent systems, Intelligent agents, Mobile agents Brázdil, Kučera, Novotný, Řehák (Formela), Ge (SeSLab) Kopeček, Plhák (LSD) Natural language processing Horák, Pala, Rychlý (NLP), Popelínský (KD group) Sojka (LEMMA/NLP) Planning and scheduling, Constraint programming Rudová (Sitola), Černá (Paradise) Planning under uncertainty Brázdil, Novotný (Formela) Search methodologies, metaheuristics Rudová (Sitola) Computer systems organization Architectures Bühnová, Ošlejšek, Pitner (Lasaris), Dohnal, Zezula (DISA) Dependable and fault-tolerant systems and networks Matěj, Přenosil (EmLab), Bühnová (Lasaris) Grid computing, Cloud computing Matyska (Sitola) Real-time systems, Embedded and cyber-physical systems Matěj, Přenosil (EmLab), Pitner (Lasaris), Ge (SeSLab) Sensor networks Matyáš, Švenda (CRoCS), Pitner (Lasaris), Ge (SeSLab) Computing in life and medical sciences Bioinfomatics Lexa Biomedical AI applications Nováček Biomedical imaging Kozubek, Maška, Pavel Matula, Petr Matula, Svoboda, Ulman (CBIA) Computational proteomics Byška, Kozlíková (VisIt Lab) Systems biology Brim, Šafránek (SYBILA) Hardware Design and architecture of digital systems Matěj, Přenosil (EmLab) Energy distribution, Smart grid Bühnová, Pitner, Rossi (Lasaris) Modelling of hardware structures Matěj (EmLab) Safety of hardware Matěj, Přenosil (EmLab), Pitner (Lasaris), Ge (SeSLab) Human-centered computing and HCI Collaborative and social computing Ge, Walletzký (SeSLab), Šmahel (IRTIS) HCI design and evaluation methods Pelánek (Adaptive Learning), Chmelík, Kriglstein (HCILAB) Impact of technology usage on individuals and society Šmahel (IRTIS) Interaction devices Chmelík (HCILAB), Přenosil (EmLab) Ubiquitous and mobile computing Matyáš, Švenda (CRoCS), Ge (SeSLab) User models Pelánek (Adaptive Learning) Virtual and mixed/augmented reality Chmelík, Kriglstein (HCILAB), Kozlíková (VisIt Lab) Visualization Byška, Furmanová, Kozlíková (VisIt Lab), Ošlejšek (Lasaris) Information systems Data management systems Dohnal, Zezula (DISA), Ge (SeSLab) Data mining Popelínský (KD group), Pelánek (Adaptive Learning) Bühnová, Rossi (Lasaris) Digital libraries and archives Sojka (LEMMA/MIR) Enterprise information systems Walletzký (SeSLab), Pitner (Lasaris) Information retrieval Dohnal, Zezula (DISA), Horák, Pala (NLP), Sojka (LEMMA/MIR) Information systems applications Dohnal, Zezula (DISA), Sojka (LEMMA/MIR) Web data description languages Horák, Pala, Rychlý (NLP) Web searching and information discovery, Web mining Horák, Pala, Rychlý (NLP), Zezula (DISA) Sojka (LEMMA/NLP/MIR) Mathematics of computing Discrete mathematics, Graph theory Obdržálek (Formela), Hliněný, Kráľ (DIMEA) Mathematical optimization, Integer programming Rudová (Sitola) 7 Networks Network monitoring Pitner (Lasaris), Čeleda (KYPO) Network performance evaluation Matyska (Sitola) Programmable networks Matyska (Sitola) Security and privacy Cryptography Matyáš, Sýs, Švenda (CRoCS), Bouda, Gruska, Reitzner (QICZ) Human and societal aspects of security and privacy Matyáš (CRoCS) Intrusion/anomaly detection and malware mitigation Čeleda (KYPO) Network security Čeleda (KYPO) Quantum communication and cryptography Bouda, Gruska, Reitzner (QICZ) Security in hardware Matyáš, Švenda (CRoCS), Matěj, Přenosil (EmLab) Security services Matyáš, Švenda (CRoCS), Pitner (Lasaris), Ge (SeSLab) Software and application security Matyáš, Švenda (CRoCS) Systems security Matyáš, Švenda (CRoCS), Bühnová, Ošlejšek, Pitner (Lasaris) Usable security Šmahel (IRTIS) Software and its engineering Formal methods – Model checking Barnat, Brim (Paradise), Strejček (Formela) Requirements analysis Rossi (Lasaris) Software architectures Bühnová (Lasaris) Software development methods Bühnová, Ošlejšek, Pitner, Rossi (Lasaris) Software system structures Dohnal, Zezula (DISA) Software verification and validation Barnat, Brim (Paradise), Novotný, Strejček (Formela) Theory of computation Algorithmic game theory Brázdil, Kučera, Řehák (Formela) Computational complexity, classes and reductions Obdržálek (Formela), Hliněný, Kráľ (DIMEA) Cryptography, Information theory Bouda (QICZ), Sýs (CRoCS) Design and analysis of algorithms Obdržálek, Řehák (Formela), Dohnal, Zezula (DISA) Rudová (Sitola), Hliněný, Kráľ (DIMEA), Barnat, Černá (Paradise) Formal languages and automata theory Blumensath, Křetínský, Řehák, Strejček (Formela) Higher order logic, Automated reasoning Horák (NLP) Logic and verification, Modal and temporal logics Kučera, Novotný, Řehák, Strejček (Formela) Logic, Finite model theory Blumensath, Kučera, Obdržálek (Formela) Hliněný (DIMEA) Machine learning theory Popelínský (KD group), Brázdil (Formela) Program analysis and verification Křetínský, Novotný, Strejček (Formela) Barnat, Brim, Černá, Ročkai (Paradise) Quantum computation theory Bouda, Gruska, Reitzner (QICZ) Randomness, geometry and discrete structures Bouda (QICZ), Brázdil, Kučera, Novotný, Řehák (Formela) Hliněný, Kráľ (DIMEA), Sýs (CRoCS) Applied computing Arts and humanities – Fine arts, Media arts Lukášová (AGD+M) Arts and humanities – Language translation Horák, Pala (NLP) Document management and text processing Horák, Pala (NLP) Sojka (LEMMA/MIR) Education – Computer-assisted instruction Pelánek (Adaptive Learning) Čeleda, Vykopal (KYPO) Education – Interactive learning environments Pelánek (Adaptive Learning) Čeleda, Vykopal (KYPO) Ošlejšek (Lasaris) Electronic commerce Walletzký (SeSLab) Enterprise architectures, Enterprise modeling Pitner (Lasaris) Ge (SeSLab) Operations research – Consumer products, Marketing Walletzký (SeSLab) Operations research – Decision analysis Walletzký (SeSLab) Operations research – Industry and manufacturing Rudová (Sitola) Operations research – Transportation Rudová (Sitola) Physics Matěj, Přenosil Social and professional topics Gruska, Zlatuška 8 Content Formal Methods Laboratory for Parallel and Distributed Systems (Paradise) 9 Laboratory of Formal Methods, Logic, and Algorithms (Formela) 10 Systems Biology Laboratory (Sybila) 11 Laboratory of Discrete Methods and Algorithms (Dimea) 12 Artificial Intelligence Knowledge Discovery Group (KD group) 13 Adaptive Learning Research Group (Adaptive Learning) 14 Natural Language Processing Centre (NLP) 15 Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society (IRTIS) 16 Computer Graphics and Image Processing Visualization Laboratory (VisIt Lab) 17 Centre for Biomedical Image Analysis (CBIA) 18 Human Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCILAB) 19 Studio of Graphic Design and Multimedia (AGD+M) 20 Security and Embedded Systems Centre for Research on Cryptography and Security (CRoCS) 21 Laboratory of Quantum Information Processing and Cryptography (QICZ) 22 Design and Architecture of Digital Systems Laboratory (EmLab) 23 Cybersecurity Laboratory (KYPO) 24 Large Scale Distributed Systems and Networks Laboratory of Advanced Networking Technologies (Sitola) 25 Data Management Laboratory of Data Intensive Systems and Applications (DISA) 26 Laboratory of Electronic and Multimedia Applications (LEMMA) 27 Enterprise Systems and Services Laboratory of Software Architectures and Information Systems (Lasaris) 28 Laboratory of Service Systems (SeSLab) 29 CERIT Science Park 30 Association of Industrial Partners 31 The ERC Consolidator Grant LADIST 32 9 Laboratory for Parallel and Distributed Systems Contact: prof. RNDr. Jiří Barnat, Ph.D. Website: paradise.fi.muni.cz The Laboratory for Parallel and Distributed Systems (ParaDiSe) targets intensified basic and applied research into concurrent, parallel, and distributed systems. The mainspring of research at ParaDiSe is the application of theories that underlie, or should in future underlie, the specification, modelling, analysis, and verification of these systems. The current focus is on techniques and tools for automated verification of large concurrent systems. 10 Laboratory of Formal Methods, Logic, and Algorithms Contact: prof. RNDr. Antonín Kučera, Ph.D. Website: formela.fi.muni.cz The Laboratory of Formal Methods, Logic and Algorithms (Formela) carries out scientific research in the areas of algorithm design and of applications of logic, game theory and discrete mathematics in computer science. Our researchers are members of the national Center of Excellence–Institute for Theoretical Computer Science, and they are collaborating with some leading experts and institutes in theoretical CS abroad. The laboratory warmly welcomes all students of bachelor, master and doctoral degrees who are interested in participating in our research seminars for students, and in joining our research projects and international collaboration. 11 Systems Biology Laboratory Contact: prof. RNDr. Luboš Brim, CSc. Website: sybila.fi.muni.cz The Systems Biology Laboratory (Sybila) offers a challenging, multi­‑disciplinary working environment for students who aspire to be at the forefront of modern computational biology. The long­‑term research goal is to develop and apply computational science and technology to enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the behaviour of living systems and to develop scalable methods and tools for the modelling and computerized analysis of large and complex biological systems. Recent advances in systems biology, scientific computing, and the mathematical modelling of biological processes have started to fundamentally impact the way we approach drug discovery, improve diagnosis and therapy, prevent various diseases, and produce emissions­‑neutral biofuels. 12 Laboratory of Discrete Methods and Algorithms Contact: prof. RNDr. Petr Hliněný, Ph.D. and prof. RNDr. Daniel Kráľ, Ph.D., DSc. Website: fi.muni.cz/research/laboratories/dimea.html The Laboratory of Discrete Methods and Algorithms (DIMEA) focuses on problems from discrete mathematics underpinning Computer Science and their applications to the design of discrete algorithms. Our research areas include in particular algorithmic, geometric, structural and topological graph theory, and analytic representations of large discrete structures. The members of the laboratory have an intensive network of collaborators (e.g., they coauthored papers with more than 150 researchers), and their research is supported by various national and international grant agencies. The laboratory welcomes all students of the bachelor, master and doctoral levels to participate in its research seminars and to join its research activities. 13 Knowledge Discovery Group Contact: doc. RNDr. Lubomír Popelínský, Ph.D. Website: fi.muni.cz/kd The main research areas of the Knowledge Discovery Group are anomaly detection and graph mining. The group also focuses on pre­‑processing methods for data mining, including deep learning and frequent patterns as new features, as well as on text mining—particularly text summarization and the detection of anomalous documents. Collaboration with industry and the public sector is emphasized. Members of the group teach most courses on machine learning and data mining, including natural language learning and text mining. 14 Adaptive Learning Research Group Contact: doc. Mgr. Radek Pelánek, Ph.D. Website: fi.muni.cz/adaptivelearning Adaptive learning systems are computer applications that adapt to the knowledge of individual students. Our research group deals with both the practical development of such systems and with the theoretical research that supports it. Example systems include Slepé Mapy (geography), Anatom (anatomy), Umíme Česky and Umíme Anglicky (language learning). Adaptive behaviour is based on mathematical models of knowledge and uses machine learning techniques. Participation in the activities of the research group may take many different forms, ranging from theoretical research into the properties of statistical models to the development of educational applications using JavaScript. The results of this work often have an immediate impact on thousands of users. 15 Natural Language Processing Centre Contact: doc. Mgr. Pavel Rychlý, Ph.D. Website: nlp.fi.muni.cz The Natural Language Processing Centre at the Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, conducts theoretical and applied research in the following areas: analysis of written texts at all levels—morphological, syntactic, and semantic; corpus management and lexical databases; semantic representation of natural language expressions; semantic web, ontologies, knowledge representation and reasoning; applications of machine learning techniques to text processing; dialog representation and management; synthesis and recognition of speech (spoken Czech). In addition to its research objectives, the NLP Centre targets training for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the interdisciplinary specialization of “language engineering“. 16 Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society Contact: prof. PhDr. David Šmahel, Ph.D. Website: irtis.muni.cz Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society (IRTIS) is a research team operating at the Faculty of Informatics and the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University. IRTIS studies information and communication technologies and their impact on individuals and society. We examine this area comprehensively from the informatics, psychological, sociological, communicational, and media studies perspectives. At the Faculty of Informatics, we focus, for example, on user security, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and machine learning applied to the processing of natural language and human behavior in the information technology environment. As part of the FUTURE project, we examine how mobile phones affect young people. We strive to design innovative methods and procedures using machine learning to answer specific questions about human behavior when using information technology. 17 Visualization Laboratory Contact: doc. RNDr. Barbora Kozlíková, Ph.D. Website: visitlab.fi.muni.cz Visit Lab focuses on fundamental and applied research in visualization, visual analysis, and computer graphics and their relation to virtual environments and graphic design. Currently, our research interests and projects are covering the fields of molecular visualization and security visualization, but we are open to collaborating on projects in other application areas as well. Our lab has strong connections with the visualization groups at TU Wien, University of Bergen, Ulm University, and University of Tübingen. Students of our lab will get insight into visualization, visual analysis and computer graphics on undergraduate, graduate, and, Ph.D. levels. 18 Centre for Biomedical Image Analysis Contact: prof. RNDr. Michal Kozubek, Ph.D. Website: cbia.fi.muni.cz The Centre for Biomedical Image Analysis (CBIA) is a well­‑established interdisciplinary research unit whose primary focus is on developing and benchmarking algorithms for the analysis and synthesis of cell microscopy image data. A secondary focus is the analysis of biomedical image data produced by other imaging instruments and the use of computers in optimizing and automating the image acquisition process. CBIA brings together experts not only from Computer Science, mathematics, and physics, but also from biology and medicine. Our ultimate goal is to describe the spatiotemporal behaviour of cells and how it changes in carcinogenesis, knowledge which is crucial for diagnostics and therapy. To this end, our main immediate goals centre on developing reliable, ideally automatic cell segmentati on, quantification, and tracking algorithms. 19 Human Computer Interaction Laboratory Contact: Mgr. Jiří Chmelík, Ph.D. Website: hci.fi.muni.cz The Human Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCI Lab) has been established to carry out broad research of human­‑machine interfaces, especially on its recently most popular aspects, including brain­‑computer interfaces and mixed reality environments. The research issues of this broad area divide conceptually into three areas including: algorithm, applications and evaluation. Algorithmically, team members develop a suite of powerful mathematical routines and data structures for immersive mixed reality environments, fast visualization, serious games, real­‑time simulations, motion tracking, sensor data filtering, and machine vision. The principles and the integrated tasks are tested in four core applications: digital cultural heritage, health monitoring, smart office environment and molecular visualization. On the evaluation side, user and perception studies are performed based on traditional techniques as well as psychological and physiological information such as biofeedback and neurofeedback. 20 Studio of Graphic Design and Multimedia Contact: MgA. Helena Lukášová, ArtD. Website: agdm.fi.muni.cz Studio of Graphic Design and Multimedia (AGD+M) offers the education in the field of graphic design and related disciplins. The main objective of the AGD+M are digital media which became more significant than printed media nowadays. Digital and printed media follow the same rules in creating graphic design, but overall digital technologies are opening a lot of new possibilities in communication with a consumer. Thus students assignments can be interpreted in new connotations and various approaches can be applied. Students knowledge of informatics and programming is a great advantage. AGD+M promotes the interdisciplinarity through such a themes as programming of generative design, creation an applications for interactive media, animation, video, 3D digital modeling and 3D printing, e-publishing, webdesign,font development, computer games, interactive information design. 21 Centre for Research on Cryptography and Security Contact: prof. RNDr. Vašek Matyáš, M.Sc., Ph.D. Website: crocs.fi.muni.cz CRoCS enables students to gain practical experience with current security and crypto solutions and technologies. The main areas of interest are user and data authentication based on various methodologies—cryptography, biometrics, the secure use of smartcards and crypto methods using smartcards, crypto methods in wireless sensor networks, and uses of crypto in creating and operating secure systems. Our goal is to create an environment that lets students gain hands­‑on experience with the available technical solutions and allows them to explore various types of attacks in lab courses or in their theses. CRoCS laboratory is open to students working within FI industrial partnership framework or on projects carried out in cooperation with governmental entities. 22 Laboratory of Quantum Information Processing and Cryptography Contact: prof. RNDr. Jozef Gruska, DrSc. Website: qicz.fi.muni.cz The Laboratory of Quantum Information Processing and Cryptography is a workshop focusing on information aspects of quantum information processing, especially on quantum cryptography, theory of information, quantum communication and algorithms. The laboratory is also involved in theoretical aspects of cryptography, particularly in solving problems regarding security by means of theory of information. 23 Design and Architecture of Digital Systems Laboratory Contact: prof. Ing. Václav Přenosil, CSc. Website: embedded.fi.muni.cz Our laboratory is outfitted with the software, hardware, and equipment used to develop digital systems. This provides students with the opportunity to learn how electronic systems are designed, including the use of development tools and resources. They gain knowledge specific to working with programmable structures. Laboratory activities provide a balanced grounding in theory, along with practical skills used in the design, implementation, analysis, testing, and operation of embedded systems. Integral to the student’s education is experience working on a project with a small team. The project explores experimental solutions and prototypes for practical problems of interest that are prompted by the faculty’s research or from collaborative activities with potential future employers. 24 Cybersecurity Laboratory Contact: doc. Ing. Pavel Čeleda, Ph.D. Website: cybersec.fi.muni.cz We are an expert research laboratory that specializes in a wide range of cybersecurity topics. For students at all levels (Bachelor, Master, and, Ph.D.), we offer the opportunity to explore the field of cybersecurity and gain valuable theoretical knowledge and practical skills. We connect theory with practice and educate future security professionals. Our research interest spans multiple areas: network security, network monitoring, training environments, and cybersecurity education. In these areas, we have broad experience from successful research projects and collaborations with academia, industry, and government partners. The research activities are performed in KYPO cyber range, a state of the art scientific computing facility for cybersecurity research and education. 25 Laboratory of Advanced Networking Technologies Contact: prof. RNDr. Luděk Matyska, CSc. Website: sitola.fi.muni.cz The Laboratory of Advanced Networking Technologies is a research laboratory specialising in advanced network protocols and applications requiring high‑speed networks. The laboratory is the result of a joint effort by the Faculty of Informatics, the Institute of Computer Science of Masaryk University, and CESNET, a non­‑profit organisation responsible for the national research and education network and its applications. The laboratory is equipped with state of the art visualisation facilities, including a 3D projection system, several 2D projection systems, and audio equipment, all interconnected by a network‑accessible programmable switcher. These facilities have enabled the lab to become the first Czech Access Grid point. 26 Laboratory of Data Intensive Systems and Applications Contact: prof. Ing. Pavel Zezula, CSc. Website: disa.fi.muni.cz In the Laboratory of Data Intensive Systems and Applications (DISA), we study and develop modern techniques for effective and efficient data management. We focus mainly on the problems of big data indexing and similarity­‑based searching. We develop techniques for the traditional client­‑server approach, as well as for modern distributed and cloud­‑computing infrastructures. The results are presented in several publicly available prototype applications that demonstrate various multimedia processing approaches. Laboratory members participate in national and international research projects, and we also cooperate with several industrial partners. The laboratory is open to students at any level, and we are always looking for new members willing to participate in a wide range of research and development tasks. 27 Laboratory of Electronic and Multimedia Applications Contact: doc. RNDr. Petr Sojka, Ph.D. Website: lemma.fi.muni.cz, mir.fi.muni.cz, gait.fi.muni.cz The Laboratory of Electronic and Multimedia Applications (LEMMA) develops applications and technologies for processing big collections of data (mostly documents for digital libraries), including the production and post­‑production of films. These new technologies are intended mainly (but not exclusively) for free‑to­‑use software. LEMMA is a playground where research is currently being done in three areas: • Information Retrieval: the representation, similarity and indexing of STEM documents for digital libraries and plagiarism detection • Machine learning methods for high­‑dimensional data—gait recognition • Multimedia production Research in the laboratory is highly multidisciplinary and application­‑driven. The laboratory cooperates with NLP Centre (text processing), DISA (gait and multimedia indexing), Sitola (video), AGD+M and HCI (animations, graphics, interaction design) laboratories. 28 Laboratory of Software Architectures and Information Systems Contact: doc. RNDr. Tomáš Pitner, Ph.D. Website: lasaris.fi.muni.cz The Laboratory of Software Architectures and Information Systems (Lasaris) primarily investigates software architectures and the security and reliability aspects of computer systems and critical infrastructures, namely smart grids. The lab explores the design and development of information systems and services, system implementation, and relevant software technologies, including enterprise and mobile platforms. The lab is very active in teaching and supervision of graduation theses. Students at all levels (Bachelor, Master, and, Ph.D.) are involved in most projects. Lasaris collaborates with CERIT Science Park, Czech Cybercrime Center of Excellence, and numerous industrial partners, as well as with renowned universities and research institutions abroad like the University of Vienna. 29 Laboratory of Service Systems Contact: Ing. Leonard Walletzký, Ph.D. Website: seslab.fi.muni.cz Nowadays, innovative solutions such as Smart City, Industry 4.0, Service Complexity, Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics or Digital Service are becoming more prominent in everyday life. The Laboratory of Service System (SesLab) conducts its research on new approaches, models, platforms related to these concepts. We also explore practical usage of modern technologies to be able to recommend the best practices in service design. We are an enthusiastic and growing team who attempts to tackle the research challenges from multidisciplinary domains named above. Our practical implementations include the design of information system applications with the specific focus on Enterprise Resource Planning systems provided as a service. In our research, we often focus on the communication to the users and customers of such systems. By using advanced managerial, marketing and operational research methods we aim to bring an optimized utility and value. 30 CERIT Science Park Creativity / Security / Partnership CERIT Science Park is a scientific and technical park and a business incubator of Masaryk University. The park is run by Faculty of Informatics and it is also located on its premises. The interconnection of the university and corporate environments at a single location brings into being a unique ecosystem, enabling: • Dynamic collaboration between the university and companies in key areas (mobile and data network security, the security of energy facilities and other critical infrastructure, institutional and public protection against cyber attacks, and other areas). • The rapid transfer of research and development outcomes from the university to practice. • An environment to be systematically built and supported that encourages creativity, innovation and unique IT. • Daily contact by students with the business environment while they study, giving them an advantage in the labour market and expanding the exchange of knowledge between the university and the corporate world. CERIT Science Park was launched in September 2014. The total space in the park available for use by the corporate sector is 2 200 m2 , with the capacity for up to 20 companies. 31 Association of Industrial Partners Contact: doc. Ing. RNDr. Barbora Bühnová, Ph.D. Website: fi.muni.cz/for­‑partners The Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University (FI MU) established the Association of Industrial Partners of FI MU (AIP) in 2007 to strengthen the cooperation between the university and the industry. Major AIP activities include: • Day with Industrial Partners: A regular all­‑day event popular with students as well as companies that facilitates direct contact between FI MU students and AIP companies. The companies present their activities and opportunities for student involvement, individual discussions then happen in booths. • Competition for talented students: A competition that targets students at the beginning of their bachelor studies. The finalists are offered positions as student researchers in FI MU labs with topics co­‑defined by industrial partners, and with scholarship support. • Cooperation on the supervision of final theses: More than 100 theses are yearly successfully defended in cooperation with industrial partners, which is an excellent indicator of the extent of the collaboration. • Participation of industry experts in teaching—from individual lectures and seminars to entire courses. • Ph.D. positions sponsored by companies: Co­‑supervision of doctoral students, supported with expertise as well as funding from both the university and the industrial partner. • Various other opportunities for students, including innovative and research projects, competitions, internships, job offers, student workshops, and conferences. 32 The ERC Consolidator Grant LADIST Contact: prof. RNDr. Daniel Kráľ, Ph.D., DSc. Website: fi.muni.cz/research/ladist The European Research Council (ERC) was set in 2007 to fund excellent scientists and their most creative ideas. The award of a grant from ERC is among the most prestigious funding a researcher can receive. The ERC Consolidator grant LADIST held by Dan Kráľ at the Faculty of Informatics aims at introducing new mathematical methods to analyze and approximate large graphs, mathematical objects representing large networks in Computer Science. A need for such methods comes from Computer Science applications, where the sizes of input structures are often enormous. The research supported by the grant has resulted in progress on many difficult problems in mathematics and Computer Science. For example, the recent joint work with Andrzej Grzesik (Kraków) and László Miklós Lovász (MIT) led to new substantial insights into the structure of large graphs appearing in extremal graph theory. Contacts Faculty of Informatics MU, Botanická 68a, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic Tel.: +420 549 491 810 E-mail: info@fi.muni.cz Website: fi.muni.cz Social websites Facebook: @FI.MUNI.cz Twitter: @FI_MUNI Instagram: @fi_muni Office for Studies E-mail: studijni@fi.muni.cz Tel.: +420 549 491 818 Office for Research E-mail: research@fi.muni.cz Tel.: +420 549 491 806 Study Catalogue website: fi.muni.cz/katalog Texts by Radek Ošlejšek and heads of research groups Editors: Petr Sojka, Tomáš Kučera, Monika Slezáková, Petra Kalábová, and Petr Kubíček Photographs by Marek Augustin, Petr Žemla, Martin Kopáček, Martina Morávková, Jan Tesařík Graphic design by Marcel Otruba 5th edition, 2022 Printed by Justprint.cz s.r.o., 28. října 341/184, 709 00 Ostrava-Mariánské Hory, CZ © 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 Masarykova univerzita