Professor Igor Ivan was elected as new rector of VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava

After being officially appointed by the President of the Republic, he will take over the post from 1 September 2025 and will lead the University until 31 August 2029. After 8 years, computer scientist Professor Václav Snášel will replace him in the leadership of VŠB-TUO.

In the election, which involved 38 members of the Academic Senate, there were 4 candidates to choose from. In addition to Professor Ivan, the Dean of the Faculty of Material-Technology Professor Kamila Janovská, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics Professor Jan Platoš and Associate Professor Vít Vondrák, Director of the National Supercomputing Centre IT4Innovations, also applied for the leadership post. Between the nominations of the candidates and the election itself, there were several meetings and debates with the academic community and other employees, including a large public debate a week before the election.

In addition to their CV, the candidates had to submit their election programme, in which they presented the main ideas of where they wanted the university to go in the future. VŠB-TUO is one of the major technical universities in the Czech Republic, and the only technical university in the region. It has seven faculties and two higher education institutes: the Centre of Energy and Environmental Technologies and the National Supercomputing Centre IT4Innovations. The university employs around 2,500 staff and educates over 13,000 students.

The Academic Senate, composed of representatives of all faculties of the university, is a key body of academic self-government. Its members today selected the 36th rector of the university, which was originally founded in Příbram in 1849. Now after the election, the Senate will hand over the result to the Minister of Education, who will then forward the nomination proposal to the President of the Republic. A ceremony for the inauguration of the new rector is also scheduled for September 2025, at which the vice-rectors for individual areas should also be inaugurated.

Professor Ivan won the most votes in the first round of voting, as he won an absolute majority of votes. "Thank you for the trust and support shown. I am aware of the responsibility that this post brings," he said after the results were published. He also thanked the former dean of the Hornicko-geological faculty Professor Slivka, the current rector Professor Snášel and the current dean of the Hornicko-geological faculty Professor Staňková, the personalities who shaped it managerially.

Prof. Ing. Igor Ivan, Ph.D.

Prof. Igor Ivan is a native of Ostrava and a patriot who values his city, region and alma mater. In his professional career he is devoted to geoinformatics, acts as a guarantor of the study programme, introduced a number of new subjects, led dozens of final papers and participated in the modernization of the laboratories of the department where he works: Department of Geoinformatics of the Mining-Geology Faculty of VŠB-TUO. In research he focuses on the application of spatial analyses in transport and crime and for a long time he cooperates with, for example, the Police Presidium.

His interest in managerial work deepened during the leadership of the department. Gradually he accepted responsibility at the university level – first as a vice-dean, later as a vice-rector. He has been in the position of vice-rector for strategy and cooperation for 6 years and is in charge of the agenda concerning the cooperation and strategy of the university with its partners. In this role he participated in the preparation of strategic documents and led key projects such as REFRESH or U!REKA SHIFT, which moved the university in the field of science, research and international cooperation.