I Like the Flexibility of Work and the Possibility of Further Education at the University, Says IT Specialist Tomáš Svoboda

The Department of Analysis and Cooperation of the IT Infrastructure Division deals with projects related to the processing of data that are used for scientific purposes. They facilitate scientists' access to important data and enable their smoother sharing, which contributes to clearer scientific work and helps to move science forward. And just about such projects and other activities is a short interview with one of the members of the analysis and cooperation team, IT specialist Tomáš Svoboda.

Tom, how long have you been with us and what do you do?

I started working at ICS in 2018, at the same time I also have a position at the CESNET association, which I joined in 2016 shortly after studying at the Faculty of Informatics. First, I started working in a user support position in the computing grids department (Metacentrum), which provides computing capacities on an extensive infrastructure distributed across the Czech Republic.

Later, I began to engage in longer-term collaborations with research groups – the first significant one was with the Center for Transport Research, where I applied IT methods to solving problems in transport. For example, I focused on the identification of problematic parallel closures or the search for risky accident sites on roads using statistical methods. Later, I was attracted by the support of research groups at Masaryk University, for example in the field of Life-science at CEITEC.

What specific projects are you developing in cooperation with research groups from CEITEC?

I am currently working on two projects. The first deals with the development of an information system for recording neurological measurements of volunteers who come to the MAFIL laboratory to provide their brain scan and other data for scientific research purposes. In return, volunteers get their images and the good feeling of having helped various research projects.

As part of my second project, which is now starting, I am dealing with the development of a system for storing, sharing and publishing scientific data sets that are obtained on various instruments, for example on electron microscopes. The goal of both mentioned collaborations is to make available the obtained data according to FAIR principles, which is becoming an increasingly frequent request of the scientific community.

„The icing on the cake is the feeling that I know that the work I do has meaning.“

Who as a user benefits from results of research projects you are involved in and how?

On the one hand, producers of data sets can benefit from the system, the development of which I participate in, to whom the systems provide the necessary support and automation during their preparation and publication. On the other hand, individual researchers, for whom the developed solutions will enable easier search and acquisition of data sets, which they can use, for example, to reproduce previously published results.​

What do you find most satisfying about your job? And is there anything you would like to change?

I like the flexibility of work and the possibility of further education provided by the university environment. I also appreciate being able to deal with things and technologies that I enjoy. The icing on the cake is the feeling that I know that the work I do has meaning.

I asked about the main work activities – but what do you do in your free time?

Most of my free time is filled with children and activities with them. I try to climb the wall regularly, and in the summer also outside. I like to ride a mountain bike, mostly off-road. Besides that, I like hiking, running and swimming.