Water Resources Management

The Bachelor's degree programme in Water Resources Management provides students with basic theoretical knowledge and practical skills in water resources management. It is a discipline at the crossroads of geological and geographical disciplines, complemented by courses aimed at acquiring the necessary specific technical knowledge and skills.

It is designed for those who will find practical employment in companies and government institutions focused on hydrogeology and water resources management. The specific features of the study programme are extended practical training and specialised field trips. The transfer of practical knowledge and skills is ensured by the participation of practitioners in the teaching and by solving practical problems in practical exercises. The aim is to prepare graduates to have the knowledge and skills that will enable them to obtain basic jobs in companies and government institutions. Another option for graduates is to continue their studies in a further study programme and deepen their professional specialisation.

Studies in the programme cover the basic disciplines of earth sciences relevant to water resource management. Specialised technical subjects will enable the acquisition of the specific technical knowledge required. Field exercises and excursions will allow to complement theoretical knowledge with practical skills. Specific water management tasks will be addressed in the Bachelor's theses, in direct cooperation with professional organisations in practice.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• Know the basic rocks, minerals and the main geological units
• Understand the principles of the water cycle in the landscape and understand the importance of different forms of water in the landscape for humans
• Understand the main risks of water resource management
• Design, implement, evaluate own field measurements and process them into appropriate outputs
• Solve sub-problems of water resources management
• Present the results of own work in written and oral form

Graduates are employed mainly in private companies and state organizations focused on geology, hydrogeology, water management, environmental protection. Graduates will also find employment in state administration (regional authorities, municipalities with extended competence, etc.). Graduates will have the advantage of involving experts from practice in teaching, solving practical tasks from practice in teaching and in the topics of bachelor theses. This will increase the graduates' professional readiness for practice and their competitiveness on the labour market.

Classical practice is not relevant in this programme. As part of the compulsory courses, students complete a total of 7 days + 2 weeks in specialized field courses and exercises (or an additional 1 week in compulsory electives), which is a sufficient amount of practical field training to acquire the necessary field-specific skills.

In the bachelor thesis the student demonstrates the ability to independently solve a problem of medium difficulty, including work with literature, processing and interpretation of results and their presentation. Topics are assigned in collaboration with professional organizations from practice and are solutions to specific water management problems. The student may propose the topic of the bachelor thesis with the approval of the thesis supervisor; the thesis topics are approved by the director of the institute. In the bachelor's thesis, the student evaluates the primary data taken or data obtained by his/her own field research. The data must be creatively processed and evaluated and bring new insights. The formal content of the bachelor thesis is determined by the measure of the dean. The maximum length of the text part of the thesis is 20 standard pages, separate graphical and tabular appendices and technical documentation are beyond the specified scope.

The subject of the final thesis includes the preparation and submission of a research paper summarizing the current state of knowledge on the subject based on primary sources, including a list of cited literature.

It is expected that some of the graduates of the bachelor's programme Water Resources Management will continue their studies in the follow-up master's programme Water Resources Management or in the environmentally oriented follow-up programme Geoenvironmental Risks and Remediation.