Wonderful international environment and excellent modern facilities where almost everything can be arranged electronically. But there are many more reasons why Masaryk University (MUNI) is your next favourite place.
1. MUNI is the ideal size
A small university can have a great intimate atmosphere but is likely to be lacking in the necessary facilities and quality. A large university can be top-rate, but it is easy to get lost there and you can feel that such a colossus is kind of functioning around you. Masaryk University is somewhere in between, allowing it to combine the advantages of both. Some thirty thousand students spread across nine faculties create an environment in which you will feel at home – it will be easy to make friends, student associations operate there and in every field there will be someone to help you with anything. On the other hand it is large enough that for example the university has its own cinema and substantial sports facilities.
2. MUNI is international
Year after year it is steadily more evident – at Masaryk University and in fact throughout Brno almost everywhere you can communicate in English, as ever greater numbers of foreigners study and work here. There is certainly no danger that you will feel alone in a strange city, unable to communicate with anyone. Every year Masaryk University hosts about a thousand exchange students and a further 1500 or so foreign students study there long-term. The number of foreign teaching staff is also increasing. So it is highly likely that as well as getting to understand the Czech temperament you will also get to know people from many other countries.
3. MUNI is modern and well kept
Although Masaryk University has just celebrated its centenary, you would never realise it from its facilities. In recent years there has been major investment in the reconstruction of its historical buildings in the city centre as well as the construction of new ones. A chapter in its own right is the Bohunice Campus, where you can find the most up-to-date scientific equipment as well as comfortable facilities for students. What you will not encounter is antediluvian classrooms with creaking furniture.
4. MUNI is electronic
We live in the 21st century and Masaryk University looks the part. Everything that can be solved electronically is part of our Information System. And there really are not many things that cannot be solved electronically. If you are used to long queues and sorting out every little detail in person it will come as a great relief. Through the IS you will be able to communicate with all the teachers, and you will be able to find there the assigned tasks and required reading.
All of the university premises have a Wi-Fi signal and all you will need for entry to the libraries, computer classrooms and study rooms is your ISIC smartcard. Why complicate things when it can be done simply?
5. MUNI is connected
Although the individual faculties of Masaryk University are spread throughout Brno, they are well connected. Not only is it easy to get from one to another quickly and flexibly by public transport, but in many cases they can be reached on foot. As a student at MUNI you have access to all the premises and so if you want to use a study room of another faculty, nobody will stop you from doing so regularly. We also have cafeterias spread across the city so not even concern for meals will restrict you.
6. MUNI is part of a student city
Of course it is not just a matter of the atmosphere at the university itself – also crucial are its surroundings and the people in the city. In that respect Brno is unique, since together with the students of several other universities here you will be part of a huge student community, which has rightly won Brno the soubriquet of a student city. This is evident in every sphere of life from student discounts in many varied places and businesses, through student initiatives to improve life in the city, to the city’s parks which are regularly full of picnicking students. So it is no surprise that in recent years Brno has been rated among the top few in international evaluations of student cities.
7. MUNI is open and lively
You will best see it for yourself once you start to move through the university’s corridors. Here no idea is condemned to fail in advance, and everyone has the right to suggest the direction in which the university should go. We are open to changes and these often happen surprisingly quickly. The university, and mainly members of the academic community, actively speak on events, and students create projects which change society for the better. It would be hard to find a place where ideas and invention have as much support as they do at MUNI.
8. MUNI is full of student associations
It is probably logical that in such an open and active environment student associations, projects and initiatives spring up like mushrooms after the rain. There are some eighty official associations and they cover a wide range of interests. If you want to act in the theatre, learn to debate, sing in a choir, write articles or just meet up with other students in your field, then you can be sure that there is at least one association for you. Many of them operate in English and some are directly intended for foreign students. The best known is probably the Masaryk International Medical Students Association (MIMSA).