New campus christened in Brno-Bohunice

Masaryk University (MU) inaugurated a new campus in Brno-Bohunice Sept. 23 after six years of construction at a cost of more than 5 billion Kč ($269.4 million).

The new buildings will house the science, medical and sports studies faculties, which had previously been scattered throughout the Moravian metropolis. About 5,000 students and 1,000 scientific researchers will utilize its 24 pavilions, library, classrooms, auditorium and sports hall. A footbridge connects the grounds with Bohunice Hospital.

The university spent 393 million Kč of its own money and took out a 1.8 billion Kč loan for the campus, said MU Treasurer Ladislav Janíček.

The Education Ministry contributed 2.7 billion Kč to the project with the help of a 25-year loan from European Investment Bank. The City of Brno contributed 297 million Kč.

Brno Mayor Roman Onderka proudly described the project as "the biggest investment in an educational institution in Central Europe in recent years."

"Completion of the Bohunice campus ranks Brno among European university cities. Historical buildings have their magic, but also their limits," he told The Prague Post. "For modern science, research and education, adequate facilities providing the latest technologies are essential, and this is what the campus offers."

University Rector Petr Fiala said plans for a similar project date back to the days of the First Republic. The school was named after Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the country's first president.

"An academic quarter construction plan originated back in 1919, when Masaryk University was established. It was supposed to take 10 years, but our predecessors only managed to build the Law Faculty in the years between the two World Wars. The rest remained a dream," Fiala said at the inauguration ceremony.

Construction on the current project started in 2003. The first completed building on the new campus opened in 2005, winning the Building of the Year Prize from the South Moravian Regional Authority. Another of the campus' buildings won the same award in 2007, and Sept. 23 marked the official opening of the entire campus.

"The fact that we are here today in front of the campus is indeed a small miracle," Fiala said.

Despite its size and unique features, critics say the project has two major drawbacks: accessibility by public transport and accommodation for students.

Brno City Hall intends to build the dormitories by the end of next year and approved a necessary change in the land-use plan Sept. 7, enabling the construction of a tramline to the periphery of Bohunice, where the campus is situated, in the next two to three years.

Some students, however, share little of the officials' enthusiasm.

Jana Pustinová, a medical student who has been using parts of the premises for the past three years, complains about the insufficiency of some facilities.

"The situation with the university dining halls is just catastrophic," she said. "There is one main hall with a capacity of 200 people, then two small cafeterias and one little café. I guess the numbers speak for themselves - 6,000 students can simply never fit."

Pustinová also criticized the project for being more of a scientific research center rather than a student-oriented campus.

"There are no students clubs there, no students' lounges. In the library, you cannot open the windows. It's all steel and glass, which is modern nowadays, I guess, but hardly cozy," she said.

Eliška Sychrová, a biology student, pointed out what she considers the biggest shortfall of the campus.

"It was a great idea to create one big campus, but I guess it is just too megalomaniacal and user-unfriendly," she said. "In the end, it is misconceived in my view."

But despite the criticism, both students agreed that when it comes to technological equipment, the new campus is a "top scientific center" that offers great conditions for research.

Klára Jiřičná can be reached at
kjiricna@praguepost.com