A suitable way to link theoretical knowledge acquired in the course of study with skills necessary for one's professional work on an independent basis is the inclusion of practice in the student's curricula. Students establish contacts with professionals in their respective fields. Thanks to their help and leadership, they can acquire practical knowledge and skills. The benefits of this form of cooperation can be seen on both sides: i.e. students and the cooperating companies. Students establish valuable contacts for their future work; the cooperating legal entities may find and “raise” potential future employees. What makes this solution complicated is that there are not that many
companies willing to cooperate with universities and able to provide to students the adequate space for work.
Only one study programme offered by the Faculty of Civil Engineering has the mandatory practice included in its
curriculum: it is the master's level of the study programme Civil Engineering, field of study Realisation of buildings.
The mandatory practice is scheduled for the summer semester of the first year of the master's level. The mandatory
practice spans over ten weeks. It consists in the work at a construction site, combine with site preparation and
planning. The goal of this practice is the real-life application of theoretical knowledge acquired in the course of
study. In addition, it shall facilitate the students' future career growth.
This model can only be used as long as a certain number of students are accepted into the field of study in
question. For the time being the limit is 50 students per class. This is one of the main reasons why the mandatory
practice is not included in the curricula of all fields of study at the Faculty of Civil Engineering.