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On October 23, rector Miroslav Lávička welcomed four ambassadors – from Belgium, Canada, Finland, and Slovenia – to the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (UWB). The participants focused primarily on opportunities for further cooperation in education, research, and innovation. They also discussed topics that connect all four countries and the Czech Republic, particularly nuclear energy and technologies of the future.

Belgium was represented by Ambassador H. E. Jurgen van Meirvenne, Canada by H. E. Emily McLaughlin, Finland by H. E. Pasi Olavi Tuominen, and Slovenia by H. E. Aleš Balut.

In his introduction, rector Miroslav Lávička recalled the history and position of the University of West Bohemia and emphasized its links with industry. "We have both technical and humanities faculties, which allows us to explore topics from different perspectives. The location of Pilsen is also a great advantage – it is home to a number of industrial companies with which we collaborate on research projects," he said.

Romana Suchá, UWB's representative for international relations, presented the university's activities within the European alliance EUPeace, which brings together universities focused on peace, justice, and inclusion. She noted that UWB has over a thousand international students from more than 60 countries, with students from Ukraine making up the largest group. 

In the part of the meeting devoted to individual countries, specific figures on mobility, partner institutions, and joint research were presented. In the case of Belgium, there are 10 projects across faculties, Canada and UWB have a common professional theme primarily in the field of nuclear energy, and the university has a double degree program and several projects with Finland, focused, for example, on the restoration of mountain areas. UWB shares projects with Slovenia, for example with the Jožef Stefan Institute there.

The common denominator of all discussions was energy, especially nuclear energy. The rector pointed out that Pilsen has traditionally been closely associated with this field thanks to its history of engineering and the Škoda company.

There was also talk of links between the university and industrial companies in Pilsen and the region, which is home to a number of companies in the fields of engineering, energy, and new technologies. Projects in the fields of quantum technologies, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence were also mentioned, in which the University of West Bohemia cooperates with Czech and foreign universities, including partners from Taiwan.