The NTIS – New Technologies for the Information Society is an European project under the Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovations, aiming at establishing an European Centre of Excellence at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. The NTIS research centre is focused on cybernetics, computer science and mechanics, which are key to the development and applications of information, communication and mechatronic technologies, as well as various disciplines of physics relevant to research and development of novel thin-film materials and plasma sources.