Prof. Ing. Tomáš Šikola, CSc. is Professor of Applied Physics at the Brno University of Technology (BUT), Director of the Institute of Physical Engineering, and Coordinator of the CEITEC Advanced Nanotechnologies and Microtechnologies research program, where he also leads the Fabrication and Characterisation of Nanostructures research group. His research focuses on nanoscale science, the fabrication of nanostructures and investigation of their functional properties, plasmonics, and the development of analytical and measurement methods and instruments. He was born on 23 January 1957 and studied physics at Masaryk University. He then joined Tesla Brno as an independent research and development officer, and since 1986 he has been working at BUT, where he has directed the Institute of Physical Engineering since 2006. In 2006, he also worked as a visiting scientist at Stanford University in the USA. He was one of the founding scientists behind the establishment of the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), and during the initial evaluation of scientific quality by the CEITEC International Scientific Advisory Board, his group received the highest possible mark. Prof. Šikola is a respected expert in the preparation and characterization of nanoscale structures. He has authored and co-authored more than 60 scientific publications, was the principal organizer of seven international summer schools on "Physics at Nanoscale," and is a member of advisory committees to universities, professional societies, and international conferences. He serves as the Councilor of the Czech Republic in the International Union for Vacuum Science, Technique and Applications (IUVSTA). Together with his colleagues, he participates in European projects and collaborates with leading foreign universities, research centers, and industrial partners. Over the past 20 years, he has supervised more than 20 PhD students and has made a significant contribution to the development of Brno's scientific and technological potential
