2012 ANNUAL REPORT of the Faculty of Civil Engineering Bratislava © Faculty of Civil Engineering, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, 2013 Authorized contributions from the departments Introduction translation by Dagmar Špildová, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Languages Language consultant: Debra Gambrill JD, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Languages Editor: Jozef Urbánek Layout: Ivan Pokrývka TABLE OF CONTENT Introduction .....................................................................................................5 Bodies of The Faculty ........................................................................................8 Departments Department of Concrete Structures and Bridges ..................................................14 Department of Transportation Engineering .........................................................19 Department of Theoretical Geodesy ...................................................................24 Department of Surveying ..................................................................................30 Department of Geotechnics ..............................................................................34 Department of Land and Water Resources Management ........................................38 Department of Hydraulic Engineering .................................................................46 Department of Building Construction ..................................................................51 Department of Steel and Timber Structures .........................................................56 Department of Mapping and Land Consolidation ..................................................60 Department of Mathematics and Descriptive Geometry .........................................62 Department of Physics .....................................................................................71 Department of Structural Mechanics ..................................................................73 Department of Material Engineering ...................................................................79 Department of Building Technology ....................................................................82 Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering ........................................89 Department of Building Services .......................................................................93 Department of Architecture ............................................................................ 102 Institute For Forensic Engineering ...................................................................106 Department of Languages ..............................................................................108 Department of Physical Education ................................................................... 110 Department of Humanities ..............................................................................111 Contacts ..................................................................................................... 114 INTRODUCTION The activities of the Faculty are governed by Act No. 131/2002 Coll., of bachelor studies. The reason for the decline is that some students cannot on universities, by the Statute of STU, the Statute of the Faculty of Civil cope with the study requirements and tend to give up their studies during the Engineering of STU and other principal documents of the Faculty, including fi rst year. In the past academic year the number of students decreased by 16% the Long-Term Development Goals of the Faculty. An essential and inherent after their fi rst year of study (the fi gures were 14% and 18% in the previous part of the process of evaluating the Faculty includes reassessing whether the two years). Faculty’s current administration is meeting the primary tasks and aims which There is also a continuing problem for students to pass the last year of were incorporated in the document “The Long-Term Development Goals of the their bachelor studies successfully. Out of the total number of 855 students Faculty of Civil Engineering of STU in Bratislava from 2011 to 2015,” which in the fi nal year, only 517 students (60%) achieved their bachelor degree in assessed the goals intended for the year 2012. 2012, compared with 59% in 2011 and 49.5% in 2010. At the engineering level a stable 85% to 90% of the students complete their studies successfully. The roots of the establishment of the Faculty of Civil Engineering as a part In the recent past we have managed to stabilize the number of foreign of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava reach as far back as the students interested in studies at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. This is especially year 1937. The fi rst academic year was opened in 1938. Since its founding noticeable in the Civil Engineering study program, which conducts full-scale the Faculty has educated more than 75,000 civil engineers in full-time studies. instruction in the English language. The instruction is currently proceeding The present Faculty of Civil Engineering belongs among the largest faculties at both the bachelor and master’s levels of Civil Engineering studies. We are in Slovakia; it has 21 departments, an Institute for Forensic Engineering, pleased that the number of foreign students is rising again. In the academic a Center of Information Technologies, and a Library and Information Center; year 2012/2013, the Faculty registered a total of 92 foreign students (apart together, they constitute a signifi cant educational and scientifi c-research from Czech students) in all the study programs as of October 31st. institution. The main tasks of the Faculty are to guarantee an independent scientifi c and research environment and provide a good standard of education Providing a high-quality education is the primary function of universities. based on proven traditions, as well as disseminate the newest information The Faculty’s management is fully aware that the quality of teaching extensively from all over the world. These tasks are handled by 482 Faculty’s employees, depends upon the quality of the control and supervision of this process on all including 43 professors, 67 associate professors, 143 senior and junior levels. In the previous period we started a new system for the evaluation and lecturers, and 65 researchers. control of the quality of the Faculty’s teaching. The principal documents for The current period of the Faculty’s development can be characterized as the system were prepared, discussed and approved by the Faculty boards. a period of searching for genuine quality. In order to meet this aim the Faculty’s The system is generating improvements in the monitoring of the quality of management is focusing on innovative mechanisms for improving the quality the teaching process and is creating effi cient feedback. An integral part of the of its education, research and expert activities. The fi rst favorable results from system is supporting the activities and competencies of the guarantors of the this intensifi ed focus were noticed in the year 2012. study programs. In accordance with the Bologna Declaration, studies at the Faculty of Civil In accordance with the Law on Universities, evaluations of the teaching Engineering have three levels that implement a credit system for assessment. process belong among the main rights of students. Not only does the At present, there are 2465 students studying for a bachelor’s degree, 1160 Presidium of the FCE, STU, perceive evaluations of the teaching process to be students studying for an engineering master’s degree and 328 students, a student right, but it also sees such evaluations as a source of information on studying for their doctoral degree. In the academic year 2011/2012, there was the strong and weak aspects of the teaching process and services provided for a standard structure for the study programs, but the offer of study programs the students as well as a means of enhancing their quality. was changed at the bachelor level for the academic year 2012/2013. The study program of Environmental Engineering was replaced by the study In the academic year 2011/2012, evaluations of the teaching process via program of Constructions for the Creation and Protection of the Environment. the Academic Information System took place for the fi fth time. The survey was The 2011/2012 entrance examinations for the bachelor and engineering made available to the students towards the end of the semester and during the studies took place in compliance with rules that were passed a few years ago. examination periods in December and January for the winter semester and in In comparison to the previous academic year, we noticed a slight rise in the May and June for the summer semester. Considering the Faculty’s experience number of students enrolled in the fi rst year of bachelor studies. The ratio of from previous years, these terms seem to be the best times to conduct the bachelor students and students at the engineering level has gradually been survey. The Presidium of the Faculty organized an information campaign in changing in favor of the number of students in the engineering study programs. cooperation with the Student Association of FCE, by which it explained the We have once again noticed a long-lasting trend of a substantial decrease importance of the survey for enhancing the quality of the teaching process. in the number of students who were expected