University of Ostrava

University of Ostrava

Ostravská univerzita v Ostravě
Latin: Universitas Ostraviensis
Type	Public
Established	1991
Rector	Professor Jiří Močkoř
Administrative staff	592
Students	9,480
Doctoral students	260
Location	Ostrava, Czech Republic 49°50′17.61″N 18°17′26.57″E / 49.8382250°N 18.2907139°ECoordinates: 49°50′17.61″N 18°17′26.57″E / 49.8382250°N 18.2907139°E
Campus	Urban
Website	http://www.osu.eu/

The University of Ostrava (Czech Ostravská univerzita v Ostravě) is situated in the city of Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Founded in 1991, it is the youngest public university in Ostrava. It consists of six faculties and two institutes providing university education.

History

The University of Ostrava was founded on 28 September 1991. Its origins can be traced back to 1953, when a training college for future primary school teachers was opened in the nearby town of Opava. In 1959, all teacher training within the region was streamlined into a single institution – the newly established Pedagogical Institute in Ostrava. Five years later, the institute was awarded university status and became an independent Faculty of Education, offering four-year degree courses to future primary school teachers. The range of degrees was later extended to include a five-year programme for future teachers of higher year groups.^[1] Gradually, other faculties, departments and research centres joined the University of Ostrava, shaping it slowly into its present form and shifting the focus from teachers to research and innovation in general.

In January 2012, it began to merge with the VSB - Technical University of Ostrava with the aim of becoming the third largest university in the Czech Republic and to achieve the status of a research univerzity. The merger should have been completed by 2015, the name of the new university is still to be determined.^[2]

Faculty of Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine was established in 2010. Its history is closely connected with the Medical-Social Faculty of the University of Ostrava, which was founded in 1993. In 2008 the Medical-Social Faculty was divided into two faculties: the Faculty of Social Studies and the Faculty of Health Studies. The Faculty of Health Studies was transformed into the Medical Faculty on 1 September 2010.^[3][4]

Rectors

Festive opening session of academia

rector's name	term of office	appointed by
prof. RNDr. Jiří Močkoř, DrSc.	1995–2001	Václav Havel[5]
doc. Ing. Petr Pánek, CSc.	2001–2004	Václav Havel[5]
doc. RNDr. Vladimír Baar, CSc.	2004–2007	Václav Klaus[6]
prof. RNDr. Jiří Močkoř, DrSc.	2007 – 2015	Václav Klaus[6]
prof. MUDr. Jan Lata, CSc.	2015 – dosud	Miloš Zeman

References

1. "History of the University of Ostrava".
2. Ostravská univerzita se sloučí s báňskou, Lidovky.cz, 12. ledna 2012
3. Historický úspěch: Ostrava má svou lékařskou fakultu
4. V Ostravě budou studovat medici, první nastoupí na podzim
5. http://old.hrad.cz/president/Havel/politika/rektori.html
6. https://web.archive.org/web/20100416132634/http://www.hrad.cz/cms/cz/prezident_cr/jmen_rektori.shtml. Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)