Introducing

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1. 9. 2013 11:18

Rudolf Haňka, Prime Minister’s Chief Scientific Adviser

Prof. Ing. Rudolf Haňka, MA, PhD, FRSS, FEng is the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister.

Chief Scientific Adviser Rudolf HaňkaEducation

In 1961 graduated with distinction at the Electrical Engineering Faculty of the Czech Technical University in Prague, from March 1962 worked as a Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at the National Technical Museum in Prague. In 1968 emigrated to Great Britain and also worked for a short time in the USA.

From 1972 works at the University of Cambridge. Became Professor of Medical Informatics in 1999. Elected as a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (USA), Fellow of the British Royal Statistical Society and Royal Society of Medicine and member of the Engineering Academy of the Czech Republic. In 2003 he was awarded Bolzano Medal for Merit in Mathematical Sciences by the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Professional and Public Activities

He taught statistics at the University of Cambridge (1972-2004) at both the Medical and Mathematics Faculties, focusing his research on statistical recognition of images and on artificial intelligence applications in medical diagnostics and information management. He founded the Centre for Clinical Informatics at the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge and was its Director. He led a number of research teams looking at the topic of secure information sharing, some of which worked for the British Ministry of Defence. For a number of years he was a member of the Academic Senate of the School of Clinical Medicine , a member and Secretary of the Science Council and member of the Academic Senate at the University of Cambridge. From 1976 - 79 he was a Pro-Vice-Cancellor for Student Affairs.

In 1984 he was appointed to the University of Cambridge Financial Board, where he was active for almost 20 years. As a member of the Financial Board he represented the University as a Chairman of the Oxford & Cambridge Schools Examination Board (1988-2002 - the Oxford & Cambridge Universities body administering GCSE and A-level examinations). He was a member and later Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Cambridge Quantum Fund (1996-1999, a venture capital fund to support transfer of technologies from University of Cambridge into practice) and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of QTP Ltd. (1999-2004, a venture capital fund established in Cambridge with the support of the European Investment Bank and HSBC).

He has extensive experience with technology transfer and with looking for optimum ways for universities to work with global companies. In 1997 he co-founded the spin-off company Waxinfo Ltd., which specializes in developing software for secure sharing and management of widely distributed information, and was bought out by one of the Japanese banks in 2004.

Since 1984 he has been a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge, where he was Academic Dean (1989-1992) and then Vice President (1996-2000). He is now an Emeritus Fellow of this College. He has been a visiting professor at a number of international universities including the University of Economics in Prague (VŠE). He is a member of several Science Councils,including the Science Council of the University of Economics in Prague and the Science Council of Masaryk University in Brno.

Since 2010 he has been a member of the Council for Research, Development and Innovation and was appointed by the Council as a Reporter and Chairman of the Coordination Council of Experts to prepare the National Priorities of oriented research and experimental development.

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