Cisco and Czech Technical University Agree to Partner in Cybersecurity Research

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – September 19, 2013 – Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) and Cisco have agreed to establish a collaborative research program to address emerging new challenges in cybersecurity. To do this, the program will utilize CTU’s strengths in machine learning, artificial intelligence and computer science. The program allows the university to present research proposals and apply for research funds worth nearly €500,000 over a five-year period. The agreement builds on a long-term cooperation that was in place between CTU and Prague-based company Cognitive Security, acquired by Cisco in February 2013.

“At CTU, we place high value on partnering with the private sector to ensure our teaching and research is relevant for the industry and our graduates are competitive on the world stage. By working with Cisco, CTU gains access to a huge “real world laboratory”, which allows us to bring computer science research expertise to help protect networks from next-generation cybersecurity threats,” said Prof. Ing. Pavel Ripka, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

“This relationship with CTU around cybersecurity is one of the first of a new kind of research partnerships that Cisco is trying to forge with leading research universities around the world. Given the importance of cybersecurity, we need to find the best brains on the planet who understand the problem and join forces with them to address this space jointly. We really value the world-class computer science work at CTU and are looking forward to a long and mutually-beneficial relationship,” said Michal Pěchouček, director of Engineering and Threat Defence at Cisco and professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at CTU.

The program will initially focus on research in the fields of machine learning, data analytics and game theory in the context of cybersecurity, as well as cloud and mobile computing. Thanks to the newly created partnership, gifted students in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at CTU can apply for internships with the Cisco International Internship Program during their studies and spend a year working alongside Cisco engineers in the United States to gain valuable experience that will help them in their careers. The first two students already started their internship at Cisco headquarters in California.

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About CTU

CTU (www.cvut.cz) is the oldest nonmilitary technical university in Central Europe, with 300 years of tradition, excellent research results, a great number of specialised labs and vast study resources. The university is divided into eight faculties, each focused on one particular field of engineering. Faculty of Electrical Engineering (www.fel cvut.cz) is leading the research in Computer Science and Engineering at CTU.