news - Archive

Wednesday, 30 September 2020 Rector's Welcoming Speech: »The knowledge gained will benefit you for a lifetime.«

Dear freshmen, dear students of the University of Primorska: warmest greetings and welcome to our University!

I am sincerely glad that the lecture halls of our faculties as well as the streets of our seaside towns will be replenished with young, creative energy. Above all, I am proud that our university can provide a safe and adequate environment for the study process we have all been waiting for to take place.

Every beginning of the academic year is accompanied by expectation, joy, curiosity, as well as some worries, which are especially present in this year. This year we will enter the lecture halls with extra care. In the coming months, our safety and health - both of those who will study at our faculties, as well as professors and all other employees of the University - will be our highest priority.
I am nonetheless convinced that the eagerness to study and learn new things, to cooperate and engage, will be felt no less than in previous years.

Thus, my message to you all is: dare to do more than is expected of you. Let your student days be guided by the openness to the broad study contents offered to you. The knowledge gained will benefit you for a lifetime, so take advantage of all the opportunities available to you and get to know the world through the people you will meet on this exciting journey.

I wish everyone a healthy, successful and enriching academic year!

Prof. Klavdija Kutnar, PhD
Rector of the University of Primorska

Thursday, 24 September 2020 University e-mail addresses of UP students

We would like to inform you that all students of the University of Primorska in SIS will be assigned a university student e-mail address.

All students will have the address enrollment@student.upr.si (enrollment = enrollment number). Students are obliged to use it for all communication with the faculty (with the Student Services, Assistants and Professors and other faculty employees).

It is the duty of students to regularly check the university student e-mail address, as they will receive all messages related to study and extracurricular activities to this address.

Under each e-mail, students are required to sign with their first and last name.


In the event that a student loses his / her status, he / she can no longer access the student's e-mail address and the initial e-mail address provided by the student upon enrollment is used for communication.

We offer e-mail to students using the free Office 365 package, which includes Outlook for managing e-mail. It is also possible to access the e-invoice via the UP FAMNIT website.

In case of additional questions or problems, you can contact our IT service: podpora@famnit.upr.si

All information about student information services can be found at the link below:
https://www.famnit.upr.si/en/education/it-services

Kind regards,
Student Services UP FAMNIT

Wednesday, 23 September 2020 The last application term for undergraduate and postgraduate studies - until 25 September 2020 (until 12.00 o'clock)

Tomorrow will start the last application term for undergraduate and postgraduate studies at UP FAMNIT 2020/2021 and IT WILL last until FRIDAY, 25th September 2020 until 12.00 o'clock.

The application is possible for following undergraduate study programmes:

• Computer Science (English Language): only for Slovene citizens and citizens of EU countries,
• Mathematics (Slovenian Language): for all candidates,
• Mathematics (English Language): for all candidates,
• Mediterranean Agriculture: only for Slovene citizens and citizens of EU countries,
• Mathematics  in Economics and Finance: for all candidates.

The application is possible for all postgraduate study programmes that are included in the call for enrolment, except postgraduate study programme Biopsychology for parallel degree studies.

The application for enrolment must be submitted via eVŠ. Candidates must submit all the documentation, including all requested enclosures to the student services no later than Friday, 25 September 2020 by 6 P.M.

All information about the application procedure are available here.

For more information please contact the Student Services (e-mail: referat@famnit.upr.si, tel. + 386 5 611 75 75).

Monday, 21 September 2020 Meetings of freshmen with coordinators - Thursday, 1st October

Dear freshmen!

Your first Academic year is about to start and we are warmly inviting you to take part of the activities of the first day!

Meetings with study programmes coordinators:

• Mathematics (Slovene) and Mathematics in Economics and Finance: 9.00 – 10.30 in classroom Famnit-VP2 (Glagoljaška 8, 1st floor),
• Mathematics (English): 14.00 – 15.30 in classroom Famnit-VP1 (Glagoljaška 8, 1st floor),
• Computer Science (Slovene): 12.00 – 13.30 in classroom FHŠ-Tramontana (UP FHŠ, Titov trg 5, ground floor),
• Computer Science (English): 14.00 – 15.30 in classroom FHŠ-Tramontana (UP FHŠ, Titov trg 5, ground floor),
• Conservation Biology: 12.00 – 13.30 in classroom Famnit-VP1 (Glagoljaška 8, 1st floor),
• Bioinformatics (Slovene): 16.00 – 17.30 in classroom Famnit-VP1 (Glagoljaška 8, 1st floor),
• Bioinformatics (English): 13.00 – 14.30 in classroom Famnit-VP2 (Glagoljaška 8, 1st floor),
• Biopsychology: 15.00 – 16.30 in classroom Famnit-AvlaGlagoljaška (Glagoljaška 8, ground floor);
• Mediterranean Agriculture: 15.00 - 16.30 in classroom Famnit-VP2 (Glagoljaška 8, 1st floor).

All courses will start on Friday, 2^nd October – please check the schedule HERE.

Time and classroom changes will be regularly published on the website (https://www.famnit.upr.si/sl/obvestila), but we advise you to register for the news and notices for your programme, as you will be immediately notified of any change.

See you soon!

UP FAMNIT professors and staff

Monday, 21 September 2020 UNDERGRADUATE STUDY: Course schedules for Autumn Semester 2020/2021

We would like to inform you that the course schedules for all study programmes for the Autumn Semester 2020/2021 are published on our website (https://www.famnit.upr.si//en/student-pages/timetables). Lectures start on Thursday, 1 October 2020 and last until Friday, 15 January 2021.

On this website you can also find a short clip that will show you how to check the course schedule.

Important information about the course schedule:

• Please check the schedule regularly, because weekly schedules can differ.
• The schedule might change until Wednesday, 30 September. Please check the schedule again before the beginning of the academic year.
• In some undergraduate courses, students are divided into groups for laboratory work. The list of students divided by groups will be published on Wednesday, 30 September.

Changes after that (from Tuesday, 1 October) will be published in the notices of Student Services. You will be able to find them here: https://www.famnit.upr.si/sl/obvestila (for each study programme separately). We advice all students to register for the news, as they will be immediately notified by email about any change.

Freshman will have meeting with the study programme coordinators on Thursday, 1st October. All information are published on our website (https://www.famnit.upr.si/en/news/meetings-of-freshmen). 1st year students start lectures on Friday, 2 October.

In the beginning of October, study programme coordinators will meet all 2nd and 3rd year students. Exact terms will be published in the notices of Student Services.

Regarding the schedule and COVID-19, we would like to remind you of the following:

• lectures / tutorials that are conducted remotely (on-line) are marked on the schedule so that the classroom is actually "On-line". If the lecturer informed us that he / she still needs a classroom for conducting online lectures / tutorials, a small classroom is reserved for this purpose, and the name of the course is marked “ON-LINE” and this is visible on the schedule; please check on the course schedule;
• classrooms, with the exception of the Vajalnica classroom (laboratory on Muzejski square) and computer classrooms, will be equipped for the implementation of the pedagogical process at a distance, so even if the schedule intends for lectures / tutorials to be "live", in the classroom at the faculty, online monitoring will be possible for the lectures / tutorials, if there are no  substantive objections related to the content of the course;
• the number of seats per individual classroom was reduced, which is also specially marked on the schedule next to the name of the classroom;
• More detailed instructions regarding the implementation of the pedagogical process in the conditions of COVID-19 and the obligations of employees and students will be published in the updated Instructions of the University of Primorska regarding the implementation of the study process with regard to the conditions of COVID-19. They will be published on the entrance page of the faculty's website (https://www.famnit.upr.si/en - Adjustments to the implementation of the teaching process) expected tomorrow, Tuesday, 22 September 2020. Please read the instructions carefully and follow them strictly.

Student Services UP FAMNIT

Monday, 21 September 2020 POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Course schedules for Autumn Semester 2020/2021

We would like to inform you that the course schedules for all study programmes for the Autumn Semester 2020/2021 are published on our website (https://www.famnit.upr.si//en/student-pages/timetables). Lectures start on Thursday, 1 October 2020 and last until Friday, 15 January 2021.

Important information about the course schedule:

• Please check the schedule every week, because weekly schedules can differ.
• The schedule might change until Wednesday, 30 September. Please check the schedule again before the beginning of the academic year.
• Notice for the 2nd year students of the Nature Conservation programme: laboratory work for the course Laboratory Practicum (1^st year) and seminar, laboratory work and tutorials for the course Marine Conservation Biology (2^nd year) will be added later to the course schedule.

Changes after that (from Thursday, 1 October) will be published in the notices of Student Services. You will be able to find them here: https://www.famnit.upr.si/sl/obvestila (for each study programme separately). We advice all students to register for the news, as they will be immediately notified by email about any change.

Regarding the schedule and COVID-19, we would like to remind you of the following:

• lectures / tutorials that are conducted remotely (on-line) are marked on the schedule so that the classroom is actually "On-line". If the lecturer informed us that he / she still needs a classroom for conducting online lectures / tutorials, a small classroom is reserved for this purpose, and the name of the course is marked “ON-LINE” and this is visible on the schedule; please check on the course schedule;
• classrooms, with the exception of the Vajalnica classroom (laboratory on Muzejski square) and computer classrooms, will be equipped for the implementation of the pedagogical process at a distance, so even if the schedule intends for lectures / tutorials to be "live", in the classroom at the faculty, online monitoring will be possible for the lectures / tutorials, if there are no  substantive objections related to the content of the course;
• the number of seats per individual classroom was reduced, which is also specially marked on the schedule next to the name of the classroom;
• More detailed instructions regarding the implementation of the pedagogical process in the conditions of COVID-19 and the obligations of employees and students will be published in the updated Instructions of the University of Primorska regarding the implementation of the study process with regard to the conditions of COVID-19. They will be published on the entrance page of the faculty's website (https://www.famnit.upr.si/en - Adjustments to the implementation of the teaching process) expected tomorrow, Tuesday, 22 September 2020. Please read the instructions carefully and follow them strictly.

Terms for the meetings with the study programme coordinators with the 1^st year students:

• Mathematical Sciences – Slovene (PMA) and Mathematical Sciences – English (PMA-EN): on Thursday, 1 October at 14.00 on Zoom;
• Computer Science (PRIN): on Thursday, 1 October at 14.30 in Famnit-Muzejski4 (during lectures for the course Computer Vision);
• Nature Conservation (PBI):  on Thursday, 1 October at 11.00 in Famnit-VP2;
• Biopsychology (PBP): on Thursday, 1 October at 13.00 in Famnit-Muzejski1;
• Applied Psychology (UPSI): on Thursday, 1 October at 12.00 on Zoom (link will be published later),
• Data Science – Slovene (PZ) and Data Science – English (PZ-EN): on Thursday, 1 October at 15.00 in Famnit-MP1.

In the beginning of October study programme coordinators will meet 2nd year students. Exact terms will be published in the notices of Student Services.

Student Services UP FAMNIT

Saturday, 12 September 2020 First graduate of MSc study program Sustainable Built Environments

On 10 September 2020, Hana Remešová succesfully completed the MSc study programme Sustainable Built Environment with the thesis Differences of consumers' preferences of unweathered and weathered wood (supervisor: Assist. Prof. Michael Burnard, co-supervisor: Assist. Prof. Anna Małgorzata Sandak, PhD). As part of her thesis, she conducted a survey to determine the differences in consumer preferences between unweathered and weathered modified wood.

Hana Remešová is the first graduate of the Master's study program Sustainable Built Environment.
Congratulations and good luck on her further research journey!

(Dr. Anna Małgorzata Sandak, Hana Remešová and Dr. Michael Burnard)

Friday, 11 September 2020 Applications to postgraduate programmes are one from 11 to 16 September 2020

Wednesday, 11 September 2020 starts the new application term for Master’s and doctoral study programmes at UP FAMNIT, which last until 16 September for all candidates (Slovene citizens and EU citizens, Slovene nationals without Slovene citizenship and non-EU citizens).

All information about the application procedure are available on this link.

Why choose UP FAMNIT?

First and foremost because we offer a unique educational opportunity for some of the most sought-after professional profiles in Europe and the world, such as mathematics, computer science, the natural sciences and psychology. Furthermore, we offer:

• attractive future-oriented study courses with an emphasis on interdisciplinarity,
• modern teaching methods supported by informational technology,
• award-winning and internationally renowned lecturers with a personal approach to students,
• the opportunity for research work during your studies in cooperation with the Andrej Marušič Institute of the University of Primorska,
• cooperation with industry in the framework of practical trainings and projects,
• a pleasant Mediterranean environment at the Slovenian seaside,
• a rich offer of extracurricular activities in cooperation with the Student Council and other student associations.

Find more about the advantages of studying at our MSc and PhD programmes in our brochure – simply click the picture below.

CALL FOR ENROLMENT for postgraduate study programmes 2020/21 (includes admission requirements for study programmes, criteria for selection, number of places available,...):

Sunday, 6 September 2020 Orientation days 2020

Dear international students!

Are you wondering where you are moving to, how will the things look like and if there is anyone to support you? Come to Orientation days and get all the informations you need or want to know!

• WHEN: 28 September - 30 September 2020
• WHO FOR: New international students (both degree-seeking and mobile)
• ORGANISERS: University of Primorska, all faculties, Students Organisation of the University of Primorska
• ANYTHING SPECIAL? Yes, bring local snacks, food and/or drinks for the country fair!

Have questions? Contact us at INTERNATIONAL OFFICE: erasmus@upr.si

IMPORTANT! In order to limit the potential spread of the COVID-19 disease, certain measures will be applied during the event. 

For more info and application form visit https://bit.ly/2QZmdiD

Friday, 4 September 2020 IRIC 2020 - International conference InnoRenew CoE

Integrating sustainability and health in buildings through renewable materials

The InnoRenew CoE research institute, in cooperation with the University of Primorska, organized an international conference on renewable materials and sustainable construction. The conference, which took place live in Izola and online, was attended by 32 experts who presented the role of renewable materials in sustainable construction, considering environmental, safety, economic, digital and social impacts. At the same time, the conference was an opportunity for a comprehensive exchange of knowledge and discussion on emerging science on renewable materials, designed to develop a built environment that has a positive impact on human health and the environment, as well as on innovations in this field.

(Image: Amy Simmons)

The keynote speaker of the conference was the Carlo Battisti, renowned international expert and consultant for sustainable innovation, and president of organization Living Future Europe - which seeks to accelerate change in Europe and provide the necessary direction towards the transition to regenerative planning. In his speech, Battisti highlighted the growing demand for transparency in the extraction and processing of materials, including path from building manufacturers to final consumers. They want to have all the information, including whether the product contains harmful ingredients or not, which he believes is crucial. He also stressed the great importance of renewables.

“When consuming and using resources, we need to think about giving back more to the environment than we took from it. A good example is wood, as certain types of trees from which we obtain it are quickly renewable. In addition, wood stores carbon dioxide in the direct production process and after it, in durable products. As our ultimate goal is to reduce CO2 emissions globally, we need to think very carefully about which materials we choose and use,” said Carlo Battisti.

According to dr. Michael Burnard, InnoRenew CoE deputy director, IRIC 2020 lived up to expectations. In particular, the importance of sustainability is highlighted by the challenges posed by climate change. “I am pleased to learn that there is a very clear need and urgency to think seriously about climate change; We need to use our creativity, work hard and change our thinking about construction and materials if we want to reduce climate change and maintain a healthy living environment.”

(Image: Amy Simmons)

The next international conference organized by InnoRenew CoE, IRIC 2021 will be held June 10 – 11 2021, and will address the topic of healthy and sustainable renovation with renewable materials.

IRIC2020 was supported by the company VG5 d.o.o.

Thursday, 3 September 2020 Prof. dr. Diego De Leo most quoted Italian scientist in the area of psychiatry

Head of the Department of Psychology at UP FAMNIT and head of the Slovenian Center for Suicide Research (UP IAM), Prof. Dr. Diego De Leo became the most cited Italian psychiatrist.

In the field, which includes neuroscience, neurology, neurosurgery and psychology, he ranks 16th in the world and third in the number of citations (more than 75,000). To be included in this ranking, an h-index of at least 30 is required. In Italy more than 250 scientists are classified in the field of neuroscience and psychology. Those with the highest rankings are invited by regional and national authorities to participate in various committees, write recommendations, etc.

Prof. Dr. Diego De Leo is a Professor Emeritus of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, where he is also a past director of World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Research and Training in Suicide Prevention. He is also a past president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and co-founder and past president of the International Academy for Suicide Research. He started the WHO /START (World Health Organisation/Suicide Trends in At-Risk Territories) study, which was announced in Manila on 18 August 2005 and officially opened in Brisbane on 3 March 2006. Currently 22 countries are participating.

Dr. De Leo is the leader of many research programs in Slovenia. He has received numerous prestigious international awards and recognitions for his research, including the International Suicide Prevention Association Award (1991). In 2013, he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Australia Queen Elizabeth II, "in recognition of his distinguished service to medicine in the field of psychiatry as a researcher and through the creation of national and international strategies for suicide prevention".

In the same year, he was awarded the Gold Plaque of University of Primorska for his extraordinary contribution to the development of scientific and educational work and strengthening the reputation and visibility of the university.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 UP IAM and UP FAMNIT successful with new ARRS research projects

Researchers from UP IAM and UP FAMNIT were successful with their application for new research projects in the "Public call for the (co)financing of research projects in 2020" published by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS).

Three basic projects and one post-doctoral project cover research in the fields of mathematics, psychiatry, computational methods and applications, and psychology.

Principal investigators of the approved basic projects are: Prof. Dragan Marusič, Prof. Diego De Leo, Assist. Prof. Nino Bašić and Nuša Zadravec Šedivy, PhD.

Other Slovenian research institutions will participate in the research activities in these projects, while UP FAMNIT will simultaneously participate in three basic projects in the role of a partner:

• Autonomic edge computing for air quality monitoring (leading institution: InnoRenew CoE, Principal investigator: Prof. Michaël Mrissa);
• Development of antibacterial compounds targeting validated enzymes in peptidoglycan biosynthesis (leading institution: Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Principal investigator: Prof. Stanislav Gobec);
• Chemical Carcinogenesis: Mechanistic Insights (leading institution: Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Maribor, Principal investigator: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Urban Bren).

One postdoctoral research project was also gained by the UP Faculty of Management, while other UP faculties will participate as partners in various other projects.

ARRS Basic research projects involve experimental or theoretical work with which we hope to gain new insights into the foundations of phenomena and perceptual facts. Given that the criteria for evaluating projects include scientific excellence of researchers as well as scientific, technological and innovative excellence of the project itself, the new success is a further confirmation of the quality work of researchers at the University of Primorska.

We congratulate our researchers and wish them successful work in the future!

Title: Symmetries in graphs via rigid cells (Basic project)
Area: Mathematics
Lead research organisation: UP IAM
Principal investigator: Prof. Dragan Marušič
Partners: UL PEF, UP FAMNIT

The following main lines of research will be pursued within this project proposal:

• Studying the structure of rigid cells in vertex-transitive graphs.
• Studying the structure of automorphisms giving rise to rigid cells. In particular, addressing the following question: under what conditions automorphisms of the same order belong to the same conjugacy class in the automorphism group?
• Finding combinatorial (graph-theoretic) reflections of the concept of real (strongly real) group elements (in particular with regards to consistent cycles in graphs), where an element of a group is real if it belongs to the same conjugacy class as its inverse, and is strongly real if it is conjugate to its inverse via an involution.

Finally, in line with certain opinions in mathematical community that a more conservative use of the Classification of finite simple groups (CFSG) in various problems in algebraic graph theory and the theory of permutation groups should be adopted, attempts will be made to find direct proofs of certain theorems in whose completion the CFSG had played an essential role.

Title: Psychopathology and suicidal behaviour among youth - the role of new technologies in the occurrence of distress and offering help (Basic project)
Area: Psychiatry
Lead research organisation: UP IAM
Principal investigator: Prof. Diego De Leo

In the proposed project we plan a thorough and in-depth study of the relationship between the characteristics of new media (e.g., ways of use, content), aspects of mental health, and psychopathology. We will focus on adolescents who represent a vulnerable group for the incidence of problems in this area and the adverse impacts of the media and modern technologies.

Title: Mathematical and computational methods for polyhedral self-assembly (Basic project)
Area: Computational methods and applications
Lead research organisation: UP FAMNIT
Principal investigator: Assist. Prof. Nino Bašić
Partners: Chemical institute, ABELIUM d.o.o.

The main goal of this project is to further develop existing mathematical models for selfassembly of nanostructures and also create new ones. In particular, we will make heavy use of flag graphs and results from topological graph theory to produce those models. A stronger link between topological graph theory and synthetic biology will be established. All this will be implemented in the form of a user-friendly well-documented library for Python and/or SageMath, which will enable researchers to do various "in silico" experiments. New data structures and algorithms will be developed and incorporated in this software library. This software library will be used to solve several practical self-assembly problems in synthetic biology to demonstrate its usability. Parallelisable algorithms will be developed to enable (computationally intensive) enumerations of strong traces of large polyhedra on multiprocessor systems and computer clusters, which was not possible so far. We will also consider self-assembly of planar nanostructures from the viewpoint of mathematical theory of tilings. The mathematics and software that will be developed will have direct applications in the area of synthetic biology.

Title: Elderly at risk for suicide: approaches to reduce feelings of loneliness and strenghten mental health (Post-doctoral project)
Area: Psychology
Lead research organisation: UP FAMNIT
Principal investigator: Nuša Zadravec Šedivy, PhD

The main purpose of the research is to explore different approaches for reducing social isolation and loneliness and to identify the most effective ways with which preventive action could be taken to reduce mental health problems, mental illness, and suicidal behaviour through the reduction of loneliness. The proposed project will advance the existing knowledge regarding suicide prevention in vulnerable group of elderly. The results will provide further indepth knowledge, which will be directly transferred into practice by implementing interventions for the vulnerable group. Our approach will be based on the newly gained knowledge regarding how to tailor the interventions to the needs of the selected vulnerable group or its subgroups.