The project to build small modular reactors and service and development centres in the South Bohemia region will bring demand for hundreds of specialists. The University of South Bohemia is aware of the long-term shortage of graduates in technical fields. In cooperation with specialists and industry representatives, it plans to open new study programmes that respond to the current need on the labour market.
The USB Faculty of Economics has already accredited a new bachelor's programme "Economics in the Energy Sector", which will prepare students for careers in the energy sector from the next academic year. The programme deals with key issues of sustainability, renewable energy sources and effective management of energy projects, reflecting current trends in energy, environmental responsibility and Industry 4.0.
Another newly accredited bachelor's programme is "Sustainability Management". It was created in cooperation of six faculties of the University of South Bohemia and students will also study in the fields of biology, ecology and environment and economics from the next academic year.
In addition, USB plans to establish an interfaculty technically oriented field with the working title "Applied Engineering Technologies". It will be based on the so-called STEM approach, which integrates natural sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics.
"Many graduates of technical secondary schools leave the region for education and do not return. Our goal is to create attractive conditions for studying directly in České Budějovice to support their stay in the region and subsequent employment in the local labour market. We do not aspire to develop nuclear research at the University of South Bohemia. However, we want to keep technically oriented specialists here by offering studies. If we provide young people with quality technical education right here in the region, we will increase the chances that they will stay in the region to work and live after graduation," explains the Rector of the University of South Bohemia, Pavel Kozák.
The need for experts capable of responding effectively to technological and environmental challenges is also confirmed by representatives of the CEZ Group, which wants to build the first small modular reactor at Temelín in the first half of the 1930s. At the same time, a science and research park could be built on the land near the South Bohemian Airport in České Budějovice.
"The small modular reactor project in the Czech Republic represents a huge opportunity not only for the region or industry, but also for universities. It is not only for engineers, but also for future graduates of many other disciplines, from radiology and chemistry to economists. All of them can get involved not only after graduation, but also during their studies, for example in the form of qualification papers or possible internships and so on," says Silvana Jirotková, Director of the CEZ Group's SMR unit.
The University of South Bohemia and the CEZ Group invited representatives of secondary schools with a technical focus and experts from research and practice to discuss the future of nuclear energy in the South Bohemia Region. Cooperation between academia and industrial partners is crucial at a time when the emphasis is on decarbonisation and reliable energy supply. The University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice is already educating experts in science and technology (physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science) across its faculties. The university management believes that further investment in education in technical and engineering study programmes will bring long-term benefits not only to the region but also to the entire Czech economy.
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