The Czech technical universities are in a high demand among foreign applicants for several reasons.

Firstly, technical professions are the most high-demand on the labor market in the Czech Republic and around the globe; secondly, salary rate differs significantly. Thus, a beginner programmer will be paid 35-45 thousand CZK from the very beginning, while a marketing manager may count on the monthly salary of not more than 30 thousand CZK.

Studying at the technical universities of the Czech Republic is characterized by the emphasis placed on the knowledge application rather than only strong theoretical background. This gives the graduates confidence in their relevance. Knowledge of English language widens the work search area after graduation.

Let's see which technical university of the Czech Republic to choose, what programs are the most promising and what the admission procedure consists of.

Technical universities in the Czech Republic are short of students

These days, due to the intensive communication development in the field of so-called Industry 4.0 and the Internet, plants and factories are seriously short of qualified technical and engineering staff that is required to provide development, implementation and sustainability of the modern technical devices.

If the applicants were motivated only by the rational arguments, all of them applied for the technical programs. In fact, only 22% of the applicants apply for the technical programs in the Czech Republic, whereas those applying to Economics equal to 40%, and to the liberal programs - 32%.

There is no competition with technical universities due to the low interest of applicants and the large number of available places. This means that even the most prestigious Czech technical university in Prague, ČVUT (CTU), accepts everyone who achieves the minimum passing score. According to statistics, every second applicant is accepted.

"Question: – I doubt if I need to get specifically technical education. I think I am closer to a humanitarian by nature. Answer: – Study program in the technical universities in the Czech Republic is quire flexible. If you suddenly discover after the first year that a technical profession is not your cup of tea, you will be able to apply to other university again. As the knowledge evaluation in the Czech universities is conducted in accordance with the united European system (the system of so-called credits), you can agree in the Study department to count some subjects during the transition."

Technical universities in the Czech Republic

You can get high-quality technical education in the Czech Republic at many universities:

• Czech Technical University in Prague (Czech. České vysoké učení technické v Praze, ČVUT)

• Brno University of Technology (Czech. Vysoké učení technické v Brně)

• The Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and the Faculty of Natural Science at Charles University in Prague (Czech. Univerzita Karlova v Praze)

• Technical University of Ostrava (Czech. Vysoká škola báňská – Technická univerzita Ostrava)

• Masaryk University (Czech. Masarykova Univerzita)

• University of Chemistry and Technology (Czech. Vysoká škola chemicko-technologická v Praze)

• The Technical University of Liberec (Technická univerzita v Liberci)

What is needed to know and do during the admission to a technical program

You need to be motivated for studying and have interest in the specialty. It is important to be good at Maths and Physics. If you apply to the Informatics, programming skills would be an advantage (but are not required).

To sum up, in order to be admitted to a technical university, you have to:

• Nostrificate the documents on previous education.

• Have an excellent background in technical subjects, Maths and Physics, and be sincerely interested in them.

• Know English language: it is a basic communication language in conferences and seminars, anyway. Highly technical literature may be in English.

• A certificate of command of Czech language at the B2 level is required during the admission.

Entrance exam to technical universities Bachelor's programs consists of a Math test, that to the Master's programs includes a specialty test at the level of a Bachelor's degree graduate. Czech Technical University in Prague holds summer IT-schools for girls, the purpose of which is to attract a bigger number of female students to the technical programs

ČVUT (CTU) is the main technical university in the Czech Republic

Czech Technical University in Prague is second to none in all technical ratings. You can study at the following faculties there: of Civil Engineering; of Mechanical Engineering; of Electrical Engineering; of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering; of Transportation Sciences; of Information Technology.

What technical specialization to choose?

Applicants are mostly interested in IT-programs among all technical specializations. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University offers several interesting specializations under the programme Open Informatics. For instance, they study computer games, computer graphics or computer-based safety.

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is a promising choice. The Czech Republic is an industrial country; its economics, employment and standard of life depend greatly on the industry sector. The industry is built on the cars and engineering. In these terms, studying at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is education with long-term outlook.

Up-to-date multidisciplinary programs are robotica, Industry 4.0 and things internet.

Inter-faculty Master's programmes are the trend of recent years. For instance, "Clever buildings" is a joint programme of the ČVUT (CTU) Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Civil Engineering. Or "Aeronautics and Space" is a programme offered by the ČVUT (CTU) Faculty of Electrical Engineering and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

Admission to a university without entrance exams?

Due to the fact that many Czech technical departments are short of the students, admission procedure may be conducted without any entrance exams. For instance, it can be applied to the ČVUT (CTU) Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering in Prague where students obtain unique technical education.

"Nuclear studies" in ČVUT (CTU) is one of a few departments in the world that has its own toroidal chamber with magnet coils and fission nuclear reactor. In addition, there are modern lasers, chemical and nanotechnology-based laboratories, its own computer-based systems for high-precise calculation and a new quantum technology case studies. This is an extremely advanced faculty that admits every applicant (however, a foreign applicant must provide a certificate confirming command of Czech language at the B2 level).

It is obvious that admission is the only easy thing there. Studying, especially in the beginning, is very difficult, that is why the Faculty does its best to assist students: they implemented a tutor system, i.e. a system when students of the following years help freshmen in learning new topics.

Is a traditional university worth it?

Not only technical universities but also traditional ones, most particularly, Charles University in Prague or Masaryk University in Brno, provide technical education in the Czech Republic. You will be offered wide university education there.

An emphasis during studying is placed on the deep theoretical knowledge. The students are versed in the main technical subjects and see multidisciplinary relations that allow them to practically solve new and unknown problems.

the 40th in the world in terms of involvement of the students in the research

University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, according to the most respected rating in the world QS World University Ranking, is the 40th in the category "individual support during studying" and "involvement of students in the research". Students fully participate in specific research projects implemented together with industrial companies or international partners of the University.

University of Chemistry and Technology is also distinct in its international atmosphere: there are many students and academicians from abroad.

Other important point for students is that all programmes at the university are interconnected. If you made a tiny mistake when chose the Bachelor's programme and want to change specialization at the Master's degree, you can easily do it.

The graduates from University of Chemistry and Technology have a unique employment perspective, both in academic and applied areas.

Structure of the education in a Czech technical university

Honestly, studying in technical programs is difficult, and if you are uninterested in it, it is extremely difficult. Technical subjects are based on strict rules and precise results. Possibility to adjust the curriculum as they want is an important point for students. At the same time, first-year students, as a rule, study common base subjects in the Czech technical universities, and later choose a narrow specialization. This allows students to choose specialization in the field they are good at.

Master's programs in many respects meet the students' professional interests. The majority of the students write their graduation papers while working in factories or research institutes, so they can choose to study subjects that they directly need for their research.

Professor Petr Pata, the Dean of the ČVUT (CTU) Faculty of Electrical Engineering, says that students are given an opportunity to become a part of the developers teams during studying: they can get a paid position while studying at the University.

Bright students may account for internships abroad: Czech technical universities have relations with foreign research teams as well.

Anastasia Orlova, student of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Czech Technical University in Prague:

"I really like the university itself. I had an enormous desire to be admitted and to study when I applied. I am really interested in the program and everything connected to it (Nastya is studying civil engineering, in Czech "stavební inženýrství" - ed. note). When I had already been studying, I came against some difficulties. Some professors are totally dyed-in-the-wool, but you usually get used to it during the first year of studying and try to seek common ground. There is no talk about cheating at our university or, God forbid, bribing.

My first year of studying was really hard for me as I had not had such technical focus at school. My Czech student peers, unlike me, clearly knew where they were applying and had a good technical background.

The way our professors present a material cannot be compared with our universities (Nastya is from Ukraine - ed. note). I speak quite fluent Czech but sometimes it can be difficult to understand a material as the terminology is purely technical. From time to time I spend more time on understanding rather than acquiring material, yet it is a sort of a challenge and, if you really want it, you can cut it.

A lot depends on the specialization. For instance, there is a lot of pure theory and calculation in mine, while specializations connected with transportation and roads include more practice-oriented projects. However, studying there is more difficult. If a person has never been connected to Maths, Physics or some technical issues, in my opinion, they will have more difficulties in absorbing new knowledge there. If you are not a stranger to Maths and logic, studying will be interesting for you. I do recommend to study hard, learn geometry, drawing, mechanics, and maths to everyone thinking about applying because these are the keystone of our university".