Svatopluk Kapounek, the current Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at Mendel University in Brno (PEF MENDELU), will continue to lead the faculty for another term. The Faculty’s Academic Senate re-elected him today for the 2027–2031 term. Over the next four years, he intends to continue developing the faculty towards his long-term vision of establishing it as a Central European centre for education and research in business economics and management, supported by information technologies.
“I congratulate Associate Professor Kapounek on his re-election and wish him every success in achieving the vision and goals he set out in his candidacy. The university faces many changes in the coming years, particularly in budgeting, academic career development and the use of modern information technologies. I believe that by working together with the faculty under his leadership, we will be able to fulfil the vision of our university as a whole, and I look forward to this cooperation,” said the university’s Rector, Associate Professor Martin Klimánek.
When Kapounek first took office as Dean in 2023, his main priorities included improving the faculty’s reputation and reversing the decline in applications. “Over the past two years, we have recorded an average year-on-year increase in applicants of up to 22%, which is an excellent result, even compared with other faculties of economics in the Czech Republic. This year, we admitted one in four applicants, which has a positive impact particularly on the quality of education,” Kapounek reflects.
During his next term, Kapounek intends to focus primarily on preparing for the reaccreditation of most study programmes by 2030 and reforming them to place greater emphasis on flexible study options, hybrid teaching and the use of artificial intelligence. He also wants to prepare the faculty for changes in higher education legislation, particularly in the areas of funding and academic career development.
Research and project activities will also be a major priority. According to Kapounek, although the faculty has been successful in securing prestigious international projects and most of its publications now appear in international journals ranked above the median in their respective fields, these achievements have not yet translated into improved research performance evaluations at either university or faculty level.
Kapounek therefore wants to make greater use of the faculty’s multidisciplinary expertise, encourage the formation of research teams across departments and create conditions for sharing data, methods and research infrastructure. He aims to place greater emphasis on internationally competitive research, participation in international research networks and support for early-career academics and PhD students.
“I see the role of Dean primarily as a service to the faculty and its academic community. A Dean’s job is not to make every decision, but to create an environment in which students and academic staff can make the most of their abilities and ideas,” Kapounek concludes.
Svatopluk Kapounek works at the Department of Finance and Accounting at PEF MENDELU. His research focuses primarily on corporate finance, banking, capital markets and financial econometrics. Between 2018 and 2022, he served as Vice-President and President of the Czech Economic Society. He has led the faculty since February 2023.
Over its 67-year history, the Faculty of Business and Economics at Mendel University in Brno has produced more than 20,000 graduates. It currently has nearly 3,000 students enrolled in business, economics and information technology programmes taught in Czech and English.