EUROPEAN EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING EXHIBITION GAUDEAMUS® 2011

The 18th year of the European Education and Lifelong Learning Exhibition Gaudeamus® 2011 was held at the Brno exhibition grounds from 1st to 4th November 2011 in the exhibition hall F. The aim of the exhibition was to provide a wide range of information about university and other higher education to high school and higher professional school students and graduates, bachelor students and graduates and to the whole spectrum of lifelong learning applicants. Representatives of universities, colleges and higher professional schools from the Czech Republic and from the whole world participate in the exhibition regularly.

Exhibitor's structure

185 exhibitors (- 1 compared to 2010) participated in the Gaudeamus® 2011 exhibition in 127 individual booths. Most of the exhibitors were Czech universities and colleges; there also were 47 universities from abroad. Exhibitor’s structure is described in table no. 1 and charts no. 1 and 2.

Chart 1

There were exhibitors from 14 countries worldwide at the 2011’s edition of the Exhibition. The highest number so far was 17 in 2010. Total number of exhibitors was lower by 1 compared to 2010, see table no. 1. The most foreign universities came from Switzerland, Germany, Finland and Austria, see table no. 1. It is however difficult to determine the exact number of foreign universities, because there were four joint country presentations: Study in Canada, Study Inland Finland, Study in West Finland and CampusFrance. There were also 123 schools from the Czech Republic.


Chart 2

Organization of the exhibition

The exhibition was organized by the company MP-Soft®, a.s., Brno in cooperation with Brno University of Technology with support of Trade Fairs Brno, a.s. The 18th year was held under the personal patronage of Mrs. Androulla Vassiliou, Member of the European Commission for education, culture, multilingualism, youth and sport; Mgr. Josef Dobeš, Minister of Education, Youth and Sport; Doc. RNDr. Anna Putnová, CSc. M.B.A., chairman of the Education committee of the Parliament of the Czech Republic; Prof. Ing. Karel Rais, CSc., M.B.A., rector of the Brno University of Technology; JUDr. Michal Hašek, governor of the South Moravian province; Bc. Roman Onderka, MBA, Mayor of Brno; Mrs. Valerie Raymond, Ambassadress of Canada in the Czech Republic and Mr. Pierre Lévy, Ambassador of France in the Czech Republic. Media partners of the Exhibition were Europe 2 radio, Lidové noviny newspaper and news portal Lidovky.cz. The academic guarantor of the Exhibition was Brno University of Technology, represented by Prof. Ing. Jan M. Honzík, CSc., academic advisor of the Exhibition. The organization guarantor was Ing. Pavel Mikula representing MP-Soft®, a.s. .

The conception of the Exhibition is being set by the Academic Preparatory Committee. Members of the committee are representatives of the most important universities. The Chairmanof the committee is Prof. Ing. Jan M. Honzík, CSc.

The Exhibition’s course

The 18th year of the Gaudeamus® Exhibition was held in the exhibition hall F at the Brno exhibition grounds as a standalone event.

The Exhibition was opened for the public from 1st to 3rd November, daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Friday 4th November from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There was a free entrance for education experts and teachers for the whole duration of the exhibition. Every attendant with the free entrance ticket received the exhibition catalogue with electronic Information System for Education Advisors on CD at the information service booth. Total 1 626 education advisors from Czech and Slovak Republic have registered for the exhibition. 1 385 registered education advisors have picked up their information sets.

The 18th year of the Gaudeamus Exhibition was inaugurated at 1st November 2011, in the exhibition hall F of the Brno exhibition grounds at 9 a.m. The ceremonial opening was held by Mrs. Valerie Raymond, Ambassadress of Canada in the Czech Republic; Prof. Ing. Karlel Rais, CSc., MBA, rector of the Brno University of Technology and representatives of government institutions, European Commission and universities. The ceremonial opening hosted more than 135 guests of honour.

Best booth contest

It was the third year of the Best Booth Contest in 2011. The ranking of the booths was carried out by an independent committee comprised of students of the Business Academy Pionýrská, Brno; High School of Art and Design Husova, Brno; High School of Technology Sokolská, Brno; Higher Professional School of Fashion Design and Management Francouzská, Brno and of other nominated students.

The ranking was carried out on 1st and 2nd November 2011 during the opening hours of the exhibition.

There were 21 exhibitors attending the contest. The winner of the contest is Czech Technical University in Prague; second place belongs to the presentation of the Youth on the Move initiative by the European Commission and third place belongs to the Technical University of Ostrava. The whole results of the contest can be seen in table no. 2.

The results were announced on 2nd November at the gala evening which was held at the headquarters of the Brno University of Technology at Antonínská Street. Rectors and other representatives of most Czech universities and colleges were guests at the party.

Attendance at the 18th year of the Exhibition

The 18th year of the Gaudeamus Exhibition was held at the Brno exhibition grounds as a standalone event. The exact number of visitors has been determined according to the number of sold catalogues. Also 1 626 teachers registered in advance at www.gaudeamus.cz. Every registered teacher received a free entrance ticket, the exhibition catalogue and a complete information set.

The expected number of visitors in 2011 was 30 000. The average attendance for the last 5 years is 30 460. The total number of visitors in 2011 was 30 359 which is 101 below average.

The attendance in 2011 was by 2 622 visitors lower than the highest number in 2009. The reduction of the number of visitors corresponds with the demographic development.

The attendance distribution into individual days is shown in table no. 3 and chart no. 3. In 2011, 69 % of visitors were female and 31 % male, see chart no. 4. The attendance distribution comparison can be seen in table no. 5.

This year’s new feature was an automated turnstile system installed at all entrances. Every sold catalogue contained a bar code, which allowed multiple entries trough the turnstile. This system provided detailed monitoring of actual number of entrances and information about the distribution of entrances during the day. The actual number of unique visitors entering the exhibition was 33 703 people. This confirmed the presumption that the actual number of visitors is much higher than the number of sold catalogues, because the students distribute the catalogues among themselves.

The attendance distribution during the day is shown in table no. 4

Chart 3

Chart 4

Statistical survey among lecture attendants

A statistical survey was carried out among lecture attendants using prize draw coupons. 9 029 visitors filled in coupons, which is 29,7 % of the total number of visitors. 302 less students attended the lectures in 2011 compared to 2010, which is the second highest number in the exhibition’s history. In comparison with the seven year average, which is 7 358 visitors, the attendance in 2011 was by 1 671 higher, which is 22,7 %. Detailed results of the survey are stated in the following tables.

The survey results confirm usage of suitable marketing techniques during the preparation of the exhibition. A state-wide effect of the Exhibition can be seen in the results. The 18th year of the Gaudeamus Exhibition confirmed its important position in informing the public about higher education possibilities.

The target group representation can be seen in table no. 6 and chart no. 5.

Chart 5

Table no. 7 contains data on the regional attendance distribution. The visitors came from all Czech provinces and 8 Slovak provinces and from 1 813 Czech towns and 107 Slovak towns. These are the highest numbers in history.

In 2011 students from Russia, Poland and Ukraine also visited the exhibition. The highest number of foreign visitors came from Slovakia. Foreign visitors represented 4,16 % of total attendance.

Year-on-year comparison of the selected data is stated in table no. 7. The regional attendance distribution and the lecture attendance comparison is stated in table no. 8. The target group representation comparison can be seen in table no. 10.

You can see the numbers of Czech and Slovak towns from which the visitors came from and percentage of lecture attendants over the last seven years in table no. 9. In table no. 10 you can see the distribution of attendants according to the types of schools they study at. The column “Lifelong learning” states the number of visitors interested in lifelong learning possibilities.

Students come to visit the Exhibition from all across the Czech Republic. As can be seen in table no. 9 the Gaudeamus Exhibition is one of the very important sources high school students use when choosing their further studies. It is also important for lifelong learning applicants, this group formed 8,1 % of visitors in 2011, this is 2 459 visitors.

Fields of study students are looking for and their considered criteria

Target group focuses and criteria students consider when choosing their further studies are also being monitored since 2004. Students answer the following questions:

1. I would like to choose the following fields of study:

• Transport
• Economics
• Electro Technology
• Chemistry
• Informatics
• Languages
• Management
• Mathematics - Physics
• Medicine
• Law
• Science
• Social Science
• Sports
• Civil Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Teaching
• Arts
• Agriculture

Students could select one or more fields of study they would like to study at the university or higher school. 9 029 students out of the total number 30 359 were addressed. Table no. 11 and chart no. 6 show the percentages of students who are interested in the individual fields of study. These values represent student’s interest in different fields of study they would like to choose for their future studies.

Chart 6

2. What type of study do you prefer?

• Bachelor
• Bachelor with possible masters follow up
• Masters
• Masters long
• Doctoral
• MBA
• Higher school

Students could select what type of degree they would like to achieve during their future studies. Student’s answers can be seen in chart no. 7, table no. 12 shows development of student’s preferences over the last seven years.

The most demanded types of study are bachelor with possible master follow-up and master study.

Chart 7

3. Sort the criteria you consider when choosing your future studies

• Financial prospects
• Employment prospects
• Preceding education
• Prestige of the field
• Personal prerequisites

Students could rate the importance of these criteria 1 to 5 (1-the most important, 5-the least important). Table no. 13 shows results for the last seven years. Chart no. 8 shows the students priorities in 2011.

Chart 8

Target group characteristics

A detailed survey has been carried out during the 18th year of the Gaudeamus Exhibition with aim to determine accurate target group characteristics. 2 413 visitors up to 25 years of age were addressed during the survey, 69 % of them female and 31 % male, see chart no. 9.


Chart 9

The age spectrum of visitors is shown in chart no. 10. The most numerous group are final year high school students aged 18 – 22. The second largest group are 3rd year high school students, not older than 18. The age spectrum of visitors is almost the same compared to 2009 and 2010.


Chart 10

Chart no. 11 shows answers to the question “What type of school are you currently studying?” The most numerous groups are grammar school – 46% and high school students – 45%.


Chart 11

Next question of the survey was: „Where did you first find out about the exhibition?“ Answers to this question are shown in chart no. 12. The most important sources of information for students are their schools and the exhibition website. These results confirm right usage of marketing methods during promotion of the Exhibition with emphasis on web presentation and promotion in schools.


Chart 12

The next questions „How did your school provide information about the fair?“ and „Where the information sufficient?“ was put into the survey for the first time this year. The research shows, that the school is the most important source of information about the fair. Because of this, we decided to research this topic further. The answers are shown in charts no. 13 and 14. Teachers and education advisers are the most important source of information. In most cases, the information provided by the school is sufficient.


Chart 13


Chart 14

Tradition, quality organisation and a stable date are the factors that have an important share on student’s awareness of the Exhibition. The role of schools in informing the students about the Exhibition increased substantially compared to last years. This is the result of the new ways of communication with teachers and education advisors.

We were also interested whether the students are responsible when visiting the Exhibition, so the next question was: „Were you looking for study opportunities at the fair?“ 94 % of students answered YES, only 6 % had different reasons, see chart no. 15. This confirms the estimates that the students approach the Exhibition and the question of their future studies with responsibility.

Students who answered „NO“, were asked „What was the purpose of your visit?“. Answers to this question can be seen in chart no. 16.


Chart 15


Chart 16

The next group of questions was aimed to determine how schools participate in organising student’s excursions to the Exhibition and whether the students are given enough time at the exhibition. The questions were:

1. Did you come alone or with an organized group?
2. If you have come with a group, how much time did your teacher allow for the visit?
3. If you have come with a group, was the time your teacher allowed sufficient for you?
4. If you have come alone, how much time do you consider optimal to spend at the Exhibition?

77 % of visitors came alone, 23 % came with a group organised by school, see chart no. 17. Number of students who came alone was almost the same as in 2010.


Chart 17

Chart no. 18 shows how much time the students were given by their teacher to see the whole exhibition and to visit all the lectures they want. Most teachers allowed 2-4 hours. Chart no.19 shows, that 95% of the students consider this amount of time sufficient for their visit.


Chart 18


Chart 19

Students who came to the Exhibition alone were asked „How much time do you consider optimal for the visit?“. 64% of the students consider 2 - 4 hours an optimal time and 14% of visitors would like to spend a whole day at the exhibition. Answers can be seen in chart no. 20. It can be seen that students require more time at the exhibition compared to last years.


Chart 20

Next two questions were concerning the lectures:

1. Did you attend any of the lectures?
2. What was the reason for you to attend the lecture?

The aim of these questions was to determine the student’s attitude to the lectures. 53 % of the students answered YES to question no. 1 and 47 % answered NO, see chart no. 21. Number of students who attended the lectures has increased by considerably compared to last years. An increasing interest in the lectures can be observed among the students according to this survey.


Chart 21

Answers to the question no. 2 are displayed in chart no. 22. As can be seen, almost all students come to the lectures with aim to obtain information about study opportunities, lectures are therefore a very effective way of presentation at the fair.


Chart 22

To determine the visitor’s purposefulness and successfulness of their visit, we asked these questions:

1. Were you looking for a specific school or a field of study?
2. What type of study were you looking for?
3. Did you find your future school?
4. Why didn’t you find your future school?


Chart 23

76 % of visitors come to the Exhibition with a clear picture of their future studies and are looking for a specific school. 24 % expect to get an idea of their studies at the Exhibition.

According to chart no. 24, the most demanded type of study is Bachelors degree, 67 % of visitors demand this type. 23 % of visitors are looking for master study. There is a long term increase in the demand for the university education at the expense of higher school study.


Chart 24


Chart 25

Chart no. 25 shows answers to the question no. 3. It can be seen that every third student is unable to orient himself in the study opportunities offer presented at the Exhibition. These results could lead to considerations about the forms of presentation of information by both exhibitors and organisers.

Answers to the question „Why haven’t you found your future school?“ are presented in chart no. 26. Two most common reasons were student’s indecision (57 %) and a lack of time for a proper decision (29 %).


Chart 26

Next questions were about the advisory service. This service was aimed to help students find specific schools or fields of study they offer. 30 % of students answered YES and 70 % answered NO to the question „Have you used the free advisory service?“, see chart no. 27. Students who answered NO to the previous question were asked why. Answers to this question are displayed in chart no. 28. It can be seen that more than a half of the students didn’t know about the service and the other part didn’t need advice. Therefore it will be important to increase promotion of this service in the following years.


Chart 27


Chart 28

There are many foreign schools interested in presenting themselves at the Exhibition. So we also asked the students about their opinions about study abroad. 57 % of the addressed students were interested in study abroad, see chart no. 29. Student’s preferences about individual countries can be seen in chart no. 30.

Based of this survey, we can say that the presentation at the fair is effective for foreign exhibitors. The number of students interested in study abroad was 17 300 this year. The most demanded countries were the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, France and Austria.

During the survey we also found out that the students miss more schools of art, higher professional schools and a police academy at the exhibition. The most demanded are schools from the USA and Great Britain.


Chart 29


Chart 30

Exhibitor’s lectures during the exhibition

Two lecture theatres were a part of standard exhibition facilities. The bigger one seated 300 people and the smaller one seated 200. Both theatres were equipped with high quality presentation technology. The lectures were held by qualified representatives of schools.

A very high number of students attended the lectures in 2011. Verifiable attendance was 9 029 visitors, which is 29,7 % of the total number. These are the numbers of students who filled in the coupons. The actual attendance was higher. The estimated number is more than 12 000 visitors.

After each lecture a prize draw was carried out. 5 visitors who filled in the coupons were awarded a prize donated by the organiser or by the presenting school.

The survey shows that the lectures are the most effective way to present information about study opportunities. Both lecture theatres are the most visited places at the Exhibition every year.

Table no. 14 shows the development of lecture attendance in the last seven years.

Exhibition catalogue

Every visitor received an 80 page printed catalogue and a detailed electronic catalogue on CD. The catalogues contain detailed information about participating schools ad their offer of study opportunities. Every exhibitor has a free of charge advertisement containing:

• Name of school
• Booth number
• Address
• Phone number
• E-mail and website addresses

Most schools publish more information, like: list of faculties, academic subjects, study department contacts, student statistics and more.

Part of the electronic catalogue is also an interactive index of fields of study. Fields of study are in alphabetical order, each with a list of schools where it is possible to study it and each school is linked to its contact information. There is also a list of participating schools with links to lists of fields of study that the schools offer. The CD catalogue also contains a guide how to choose a right school and an index of countries with conditions of study.

30 000 copies of the printed catalogue have been distributed this year to students and exhibitors. The electronic catalogue was also available for download at www.gaudemus.cz for the first time.

Advisory service and other services for students

The surveys show that it is important to pay close attention to students who are unable to orient themselves in a large amount of information presented at the Exhibition. Students demand complex information about study opportunities, a comparison with other schools and assistance with choosing a right field of study. Individual exhibitors are unable to provide such complex information. To meet this demand the organisers introduce a variety of free services for students:

• Free advisory service for students. Its aim is to help students find right fields of study, schools or faculties for them. The service was available in a special info booth inside exhibition hall F. 30 % of visitors used the service.
• „Future university student’s guide“, which contains step by step instructions on how to proceed from choosing a right school up to enrolment at a university.
• „University terms dictionary“, which explains some of the terms that new students come into contact with when starting at a university.
• „Student’s section“ at www.gaudeamus.cz.
• Index of faculties, containing:
  • Basic contact information
  • Information about entrance exams
  • Information abou admission process
  • Other information

Registration into this index is free of charge for participating schools. The index is available for public at www.gaudeamus.cz.

• Interactive index of fields of study at www.gaudeamus.cz, which contains all registered fields of study available at participating schools. The index is divided into Czech and international parts. It is available for public at www.gaudeamus.cz. The index is being regularly updated according to exhibitor’s requests.
• Same index is also a part of the electronic catalogue.
• „Index of countries“, contains information about countries where Czech students can study including information about conditions of study.

Exhibition development in 1994-2011

The number of exhibitors in 2011 was lower by one exhibitor compared to 2010.

There was an increase in exhibition space in 2011 by 75 m2, mainly in case of booths with individual construction and accompanying programmes. The average space per one booth was 15,75 m2, which is by 1,28 m2 more than 2010. The average space per one booth is one of the most important quality indicators, directly affecting the quality of presentation at the Exhibition. This factor is constantly growing at the Gaudeamus fair.

There were 127 exhibitors in 2011 that represented 185 individual institutions. Universities and colleges represented another 235 faculties, 2 655 Czech and 688 international fields of study.

The exhibition on the internet

All information about the exhibition is available at the website www.gaudeamus.cz. Basic contact information about participating schools is also published every year after the Exhibition. There also are indexes of fields of study, index of faculties and list of schools with fields of study they offer available for students at the website. There is also a new section for students at www.gaudeamus.cz containing index of college terms, a guide how to choose a right school and an index of countries with conditions of study. This is without overstatement the on-line version of the Exhibition offering answers to questions:

• What to do after graduation?
• How to get to the university?
• Where is the study most advantageous?
• Where can I study a specific field of study?
• What fields of study does a specific school offer?
• Where can I study a specific faculty?
• In what countries can I study?

This service is completely free of charge for all participating institutions. Numbers of accesses at www.gaudeamus.cz in individual months over the last seven years are presented in table no. 16.

Science for Life

It was the fourth edition of the "Science for Life" accompanying programme in 2011. The aim of the programme is to enable the students to see the interesting things they can learn at school in real life. The students could try operating different machines, do experiments and see scientific discoveries and natural processes in action. The following universities participated in the program:

• EF Education First
• Mendel University in Brno
• Charles University in Prague
• University of Defence, Brno

Let’s Play with Technology

„Let’s Play with Technology“ was a new accompanying programme aimed to promote technologically oriented fields of study. The programme was organised in cooperation with seven biggest Czech technical universities: Czech Technical University in Prague, Technical University in Liberec, University of Pardubice, Technical University of Ostrava, Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Brno University of Technology and University of West Bohemia in Plzen. The project was supported by development programme C44 of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Project coordinator was Porf. Ing. Jan M Honzík, CSc.

Let’s Play With Technology exposition offered presentations of the following technical universities:

• Brno University of Technology
• Czech Technical University in Prague
• Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague
• University of West Bohemia in Plzen
• Technical University of Liberec
• University of Pardubice
• Technical University of Ostrava

The 19th edition in 2012

The 19th year of the Gaudeamus Exhibition in Brno will be held from 30th March to 2nd November 2011. It is expected that the Gaudeamus Exhibition will again be a standalone event at the Brno exhibition grounds; the expected location is the exhibition hall F.

For the 19th edition we prepare the following:

• Maintaining the price level set in 2011.
• Maintaining the 4 and 6 sqm “economy booths” intended for presentation of higher professional schools.
• Maintaining the price benefits for exhibitors participating in accompanying programs „Science for Life“ and „Let’s Play with Technology“.
• System of space allocation for boots participating in “Science for Life“ so the booths will be connected to each other.
• Maintaining of attendance support using appropriate marketing techniques and media promotion in cooperation with our media partners.
• Lecture attendance support as in 2011.
• Printing 31 000 copies of the exhibition catalogue.
• 31 000 units of the electronic exhibition catalogue on CD and for download at www.gaudeamus.cz.
• Further expansion and revision of the Index of Faculties.
• Continuous publishing of contact information and fields of study provided by exhibitors at www.gaudeamus.cz.
• Continuous publishing of information about the exhibition on the internet.
• Further expansion of the Index of Fields of Study and improvements of its functionality.

Gaudeamus Exhibition in Prague 2012

The Study Abroad Education Exhibition Gaudeamus Prague will be held for the 5th time at the Holešovice exhibition grounds in Prague at 24th and 25th January 2012.

Attributes and aims of the Exhibition:

• To offer a wide range of higher education and lifelong learning opportunities.
• To address students from Prague, Middle Bohemia and other regions further from Brno.
• To maintain the standards and properties of the Brno Exhibition considering the local conditions.
• To allow the presentation of Czech schools offering studies in foreign languages in the International section of the Exhibition.
• The International section will be held under the auspices of the Canadian ambassador.

In Brno 12th December 2011

Dipl. Ing. Pavel Mikula, Managing director

Prof. Ing. Jan Maxmilián Honzík, CSc., Chairman of the preparatory committee