Jiří Zima will lead Charles University from next year. The academic senate elected him and he will replace Milena Králíčková, the first woman at the head of this prestigious institution.
Charles University (UK) will be led by analytical chemist Jiří Zima from February next year. The Academic Senate elected him in the second round of the election on Friday, ČT24 reported. With 40 votes, the former dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the UK defeated the previous rector, Milena Králíčková, who was the first woman in the university’s history to hold the post. Zima has yet to be appointed to the position by President Petr Pavel, reports TASR in Prague.
Five applicants were interested in the post of rector of the oldest Czech university, which is also the largest with 17 faculties and over 40,000 students. A supermajority of the votes of all 70 members of the academic senate was required for election. This did not happen in the first round, so a second one took place right away, in which Zima received 40 and Králíčková 27 votes.
Plans of the new rector
Analytical chemist Zima was the dean of the Faculty of Science at the Charles University from 2016 to 2024. After being elected rector, he stated that he wanted to focus on the transparency of the institution’s management or on investments in infrastructure and dormitories. He would also like to focus on improving psychological support for students.
Králíčková has been leading the university since February 2022, and in recent months it has faced criticism for delaying the construction of the new campus. The server iDNES.cz pointed out that UK will probably lose millions of crowns from European subsidies due to the delay of this project. The Czech media also reported on Thursday’s police intervention at the university and the initiation of criminal prosecution on suspicion of harming the interests of the EU in drawing subsidies for the construction of the campus.
Criticism of Králíčk’s leadership
In connection with the Králíčková campus, the Masaryk University in Brno recently threatened legal action, because the rector allegedly lied about the finances for the construction of the Brno University project. In the past months, she also solved problems at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Charles University, which is currently in receivership. She also faced criticism for the high rewards for the university management, which she justified by the high commitment in connection with the shooting at the Faculty of Arts of the UK in December 2023.
