Thursday, 23 December 2021 Winners of Mathematical Advent Calendar 2021
This month, the sixth implementation of the Mathematical Advent Calendar took place, in which both elementary and high school students participated in solving mathematical tasks. For the fifth year, young mathematical enthusiasts have also been offered tutorials in English.
145 competitors have signed up for the quiz. Practical tasks from everyday life were handled by participants from December 1 to December 20, 2021, with only one day available for each task.
The recipients of the awards are:
Elementary school: Veronika Gortan, Tadej Zelenc, Lana Jelenič;
Secondary School, 1st and 2nd year: Peter Andolšek, Živa Cvitkovič, Alina Jelenič;
Secondary School, 3rd and 4th year: Katja Andolšek, Lenart Dolinar, Anže Hočevar.
We sincerely congratulate all the participants on their hard work and knowledge.
We hope that there will be many of them who choose to study mathematics!
Thursday, 16 December 2021 Presenting the GOOGLE DEVELOPER STUDENT CLUB AT UNIVERSITY OF PRIMORSKA
A good month has passed since the first meeting of the Google developer Student Club at University of Primorska (GDSC Primorska) and since then the dedicated group of Famnit students has held 3 more successful events, which are attended by a higher number of curious visitors each time.
GDSC Primorska Meet&Greet event (Source: Facebook @gdsc.primorska)
Google developer Student Clubs are groups of undergraduate or master's students at individual universities in the international environment working in the field of Google technology.
GDSC Primorska was established this year and successfully pursues the goal of forming a new research group of the University of Primorska. The club provides developers with a learning environment and in its circle invites students of all undergraduate and master's programs who strive to upgrade their knowledge and skills in the field of modern technology. Learning takes place in the form of interactive workshops and seminars, in which lecturers also participate, and members are equipped with their extensive knowledge and good practices.
Organizers of GDSC Primorska (Source: https://gdsc.community.dev/university-of-primorska/)
Yesterday, 15 December 2021, an event led by assoc. prof. Matjaž Kljun and assist. prof. Klen Čopič Pucihar, Chair and Deputy Chair of HICUP Lab - Humans Interacting with Computers at University of Primorska Laboratory, was held at UP FAMNIT.
Club members are also happy to accept ideas and suggestions to better the community. You can contact them at gdsc.primorska@gmail.com.
We also invite you to visit GDSC Primorska Facebook and Instagram profiles.
Monday, 13 December 2021 University of Primorska is hosting the EMS Council Meeting
We are very happy to announce that the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (UP FAMNIT) is hosting the next EMS Council Meeting, to be held 25 – 26 June, 2022 in Bled, Slovenia.
The event is following the 8the European Congress of Mathematics, one of the largest events in mathematics in Europe, that was held this June in Portorož.
The EMS Council is the governing body of the European Mathematical Society (EMS), the primary European organization dedicated to the development of mathematics in Europe. The Council meets every second year, at the meeting delegates to the council will be elected for the period of four years by the following categories of members: Full members, Associate members, Institutional members, and Individual members. One of the four representatives for the Institutional members is Prof. Klavdija Kutnar, Rector of the University of Primorska.
The Council is also responsible for electing the President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and other members of the Executive Committee who are elected for a period of four years.
The election of the next EMS president, among other delegates, is expected to take place in Bled, since Prof. Volker Mehrmann who is the current EMS president is concluding his term in 2022. Delegates are elected for a period of 4 years, while the president can hold only one term. A full list of delegates is available here.
UP FAMNIT looks forward to hosting another outstanding event in mathematics once again!
(On the photo: Prof. Volker Mehrmann, EMS president, Prof. Klavdija Kutnar, Rector of the University of Primorska, Prof. Tomaž Pisanski, president of the 8ECM Organising Committee)
(Photo: Jošt Gantar, www.slovenia.info)
Friday, 10 December 2021 More than 30 interviews with potential employers on Famnit's first Virtual Career Day
Yesterday, December 9, 2021, UP FAMNIT students had the opportunity to participate at Famnit’s first Virtual Career Day. More than 30 interviews with potential employers from various fields took place at the event.
The Career day took place via an online tool BRAZEN, and candidates were able to join the interviews, which lasted about 10 minutes, from a desktop or smartphone at any time during the event. The Career Day was designed for Famnit students of all fields: Mathematics, Mathematics in Economics and Finance, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Data Science, Biopsychology, Psychology, Mediterranean Agriculture, Conservation Biology, Nature Conservation and Sustainable Built Environments.
We would like to thank all the companies that have shown interest in networking with our students: Abelium d.o.o., Abrantix AG, Actual IT d.d., CREAplus / CREApro, Dinit Card Services, Novartis in Slovenia (Lek d.d.), Petrol d.d., Regional Development Centre Koper and Trapview. We would also like to thank the Career Center of the University of Primorska for their availability in the field of personal and business counseling at the event.
We are looking forward to the positive outcomes of the Virtual Career Day and all the upcoming events where students will be able to build their career path.
Friday, 10 December 2021 InnoRenew CoE as an example of excellence at the Nobel Week
The Nobel Week, which runs from 6 to 10 December, is the highlight of the scientific year in Sweden. The week culminates with the Nobel Award Ceremony in Stockholm Concert Hall and the Nobel banquet in the City Hall on December 10.
In yesterday's exclusive interview with Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, she highlighted the InnoRenew (Renewable materials and healthy environments research and Innovation Centre of Excellence), funded by Horizon 2020, as an example of a success story. “InnoRenew CoE conducts cutting-edge scientific research related to the use of renewable materials. It liaises with policymakers to further guide enterprises and research in the forestry sector”, she pointed out.
One of the objectives of Horizon Europe is to promote the excellence of all member states of the EU and to facilitate integration in the European research and innovation environment. The European Commissioner reports: “With Horizon Europe, we achieved a substantial increase of the budget for Widening activities to more than €3 billion to reach 3.3% of the total Horizon Europe budget as compared to about 1% in Horizon 2020.”
The EU’s commitment to research and innovation will be further strengthened in the future with an increased budget of € 100 billion for the period 2021-2027, which will additionally contribute to the success of European researchers and institutions. Among them are many Nobel Prize winners who have in the past secured the support of various European programs for their research work, such as Horizon 2020 and funding from the European Research Council (ERC) projects.
Mariya Gabriel, The European Commisioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
(Photo: ec.europa.eu)
The new InnoRenew building
Friday, 10 December 2021 Dr. István Kovács and Dr. Vita Poštuvan awarded with the prestigious Zois Award and Certificate of Recognition
On Friday, 10 December 2021, this year's Zois Awards and Recognitions were officially delivered to researchers who have made an important contribution to the development of scientific research in the country. We are happy and honoured to announce that two of UP professors and researchers are among this year recipients: Prof. István Kovács, PhD received the Zois Award for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of algebraic graph theory, while Assoc. Prof. Vita Poštuvan, PhD was awarded the Zois Certificate of Recognition in the field of suicidology and mental health.
This year's ceremony took place at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, with a broadcast on the second program of RTV SLO. You can watch it at rtvslo.si.
After receiving his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Széged in Hungary, Prof. István Kovács, PhD started researching at the University of Primorska, first as a postdoctoral researcher and then as a higher education teacher and researcher. His research work is focused on algebraic graph theory, which is essential for the normal functioning of high-tech society in the 21st century. Without it and all related cryptographic solutions to various communication efficiency and security issues, there would be no e-banking or e-commerce, no smartphones, no everyday use of the internet. In his researches, conducted with more than 40 scientists from around the world, he works on solving key issues of algebraic graph theory and connects them with other areas of mathematics, ie. theories of permutation groups, associative schemes, characters, and finite geometries.
Assoc. Prof. Vita Poštuvan, PhD is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of psychology, suicidology and mental health. In particular, she studies suicidal behaviour and identifies particularly vulnerable groups (such as adolescents) for suicide, as well as problems with coping with the consequences of suicide among relatives and professionals who deal with suicide in their work. Her findings have made an important contribution to understanding the risks of suicidal behaviour and to developing methods for researching them, thereby reducing suicide. The results of her research significantly contribute to the development of science and profession in Slovenia and abroad.
Among this year's recipients of the Zois Awards and Recognitions, we would like to mention also Prof. Stanislav Gobec, PhD, recipient of the Zois Award for Outstanding Achievement in Basic and Applied Research in Pharmacy, who is leading a basic project co-funded by the Slovenian Research Agency, in which UP FAMNIT researchers are currently participating.
The full list of this year’s recipients is available here.
We congratulate all recipients of the highest national awards for scientific achievements!
Zois Awards and recognitions were awarded to the following researchers of the University of Primorska:
- Lara Lusa – Zois Certificate of Recognition for scientific achievements, namely for scientific achievements in the development of the methodology of medical statistics (2020),
- Enes Pasalic – Zois Award for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of cryptography (2019),
- Andreja Kutnar – Zois Certificate of Recognition for important achievements in scientific research work in the field of wood science (2018),
- Martin Milanič – Zois Certificate of Recognition for important scientific achievements in the field of discrete mathematics (2017),
- Tomaž Pisanski – Zois Award for outstanding achievements in scientific research in the field of discrete mathematics and its applications (2015),
- Dušanka Janežič – Zois Award for outstanding achievements in mathematics and natural sciences (2013),
- Štefko Miklavič – Zois Certificate of Recognition for important scientific achievements in the field of mathematics (2012),
- Štefan Bojnec – Zois Certificate of Recognition for important scientific achievements in the field of economics (2008).
- Maja Čemžar – Zois Certificate of Recognition for important achievements in the field of experimental oncology,
- Dragan Marušič – Zois Award for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of graph theory and algebra (2002).
UP Famnit researchers have received Zois awards and Certificates of Recognition for the fifth year in a row, this year even two.
Thursday, 9 December 2021 On the occasion of its jubilee, Novartis in Slovenia donated funds to universities for new research projects
Novartis in Slovenia celebrates 75 years since the founding of Lek, the first modern pharmaceutical company in Slovenia, 25 years of Novartis and 15 years since the approval of the first biosimilar developed by experts at Sandoz, now a division of Novartis. In honor of the anniversaries, Novartis in Slovenia organized an event in which it commemorated years of knowledge, experience and pioneering work in numerous areas and looked to the future of finding breakthrough solutions for patients. In celebration of its anniversaries, it supported new research projects of Slovenian universities with funds in the amount of EUR 75,000 and allocated an additional EUR 25,000 for projects for the prevention of cancer and improving the health of oncology patients.
The keynote speaker at the event, which took place at the Herman Potočnik Noordung Center of Space Technologies in Vitanje, was Borut Pahor, the President of the Republic of Slovenia. In his address, he emphasized: “What you have today was not created overnight. Your company is so old that it was once called a ‘medicinal products factory’. At the same time, it is so modern that new terms need to be invented for today’s designations. Since the very beginnings of Lek up until today, when you play at the global level, you have been taking care of the environment in which you were born and in which you work.”
At the event honoring the 75th anniversary of Lek, the company contributed EUR 75,000 to the University of Ljubljana, the University of Maribor and the University of Primorska for the development and implementation of new research projects by interdisciplinary teams of Novartis experts and scientists from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maribor and Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies at the University of Primorska. Open innovation of mixed research groups is a common practice of Novartis in Slovenia, and breakthrough solutions arising from cooperation between the academic and economic spheres have been repeatedly awarded the highest recognitions at the national level.
“At Novartis in Slovenia, we are proud of our close ties with Slovenian scientific and academic institutions. Our achievements are the result of cooperation within the Slovenian scientific sphere. We realize that it is not possible to possess all the specialized knowledge within the company; the key to breakthrough innovations lies in collaborating with external experts. That is the only way to effectively fulfill our mission of co-creating medicine to improve and prolong the lives of people around the world. The funds dedicated to Slovenian public universities reflect our desire to successfully and productively cooperate with the Slovenian academic community in the future as well. The flow of knowledge and scientific discoveries between the academic sphere, scientific and research sphere and the economic sphere goes mainly through people, and I believe that history is written when the greatest scientific minds of a particular field work together towards a common goal,” said Robert Ljoljo, President of the Board of Management of Lek and Novartis Country President.
On the occasion of Novartis 25th anniversary, Novartis will donate EUR 25,000 for cancer prevention and to improve the health of oncology patients. Part of the funds will be donated to the Association of Slovenian Cancer Societies for the purchase of a state-of-the-art digital video-colposcope for the identification of pre-cancerous cervical lesions for the Slovenj Gradec General Hospital. This will contribute to improving women's health in Carinthia and the surrounding regions. A part of the funds is earmarked for improving the health of oncology patients from all over Slovenia who come to Ljubljana for treatment.
Source: www.lek.si.
Today, Lek d.d. is also participating in Famnit's Career Day, which enables Famnit students the opportunity to meet potential employers. Famnit's Virtual Career Day is taking place through the online tool BRAZEN, which enables presentation of companies, smart allocation of candidates for interviews, sharing documents (CVs), chat, video interviews on demand. You can read more about the event here.
Wednesday, 8 December 2021 Presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation – Sidra Aslam
We invite you to the presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation "Decentralized Data Privacy and Security for the Web of Things" of the student Sidra Aslam, enrolled in the doctoral study programme Computer Science.
The presentation will take place on Wednesday, 15 December 2021 at 14.00.
Zoom: https://upr-si.zoom.us/j/82455744181
Meeting ID: 824 5574 4181
Wednesday, 8 December 2021 The Ambassador of France H.E. Florence Ferrari visits the University of Primorska
On Wednesday, December 8, 2021, the Ambassador of the French Republic H. E. Florence Ferrari has visited the University of Primorska.
The official meeting, which was attended also by other employees of the embassy, ie. the director of the French Institute in Slovenia, Isabelle Desvignes, and the advisers Vincent Gremeret and Valentine Morel, was introduced by the rector of UP, prof. dr. Klavdija Kutnar, and the Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Assoc. prof. David DeVallance, PhD.
After a brief presentation of the university and the already existing cooperation between UP and partners from France, they talked mainly about study mobility. In recent years, France has become more and more interesting for UP students, and not only for those who are learning French, as graduates from Slovenia also decide to continue their studies at French universities. As the ambassador pointed out, the interest of French students in studying in Slovenia is also increasing, either due to favourable study conditions or due to the quality of the programmes that Slovenian universities offer also in English language.
The guests also met with French citizens who are currently employed at the University of Primorska or the InnoRenew CoE Research Institute. Clément Jean Dallard, PhD, postdoctoral student at UP FAMNIT, Laetitia Sarah Jennifer Marrot, PhD researcher at UP IAM and InnoRenew CoE, and Marie Curie Scholar, and Michael Nicolas Mrissa, PhD, professor at UP FAMNIT and researcher at InnoRenew CoE, presented their research activities.
They all agreed that working and living conditions could be with no doubt interesting also for other French researchers.
You can read more about the Ambassador's visit at the following link: https://www.upr.si/en/university/news-and-announcements/obisk-veleposlanice-francije-nj-eksc-florence-ferrari-
Friday, 3 December 2021 Virtual Career Day UP FAMNIT
Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies is organising a Virtual Career Day, which will take place on Thursday, December 9, 2021, from 1pm to 5pm.
The career day is designed for Famnit students of all fields: Mathematics, Mathematics in Economics and Finance, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Data Science, Biopsychology, Psychology, Mediterranean Agriculture, Conservation Biology, Nature Conservation and Sustainable Built Environments.
Various companies that want to address potential future employees will be participating at the event, and participation is completely free for all attendees!
Secure your place to chat directly with companies and organizations and start building your career today!
Famnit's Virtual Career Day will take place via an online tool BRAZEN, which enables:
- presentation of companies,
- smart allocation of candidates for interviews,
- sharing documents (CVs),
- chat,
- video interviews on demand.
Each chat lasts about 10 minutes, and you can join in from your desktop or smartphone at any time during the event. Potential employers will be able to review your career profile before the start of the Virtual Career Day and invite you to a chat or a video meeting on the day of the event. So register now and create your career profile today!
See you at the Virtual Career Day UP FAMNIT!
Thursday, 2 December 2021 The state of the world's seas is alarming, an interview with dr. Andrej Sovinc
Dr. Andrej Sovinc, assistant professor at UP FAMNIT, active in the Department of Biodiversity, presented a study entitled »Analysis of Protected Marine (water) areas in EUSAIR and proposals for corrective action« to the agents of the EUSAIR strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian region, responsible for environment quality.
The presentation also offered an opportunity for an interview in which he drew attention to the alarming state of the world's seas. The seas within the Adriatic-Ionian region are no exception and even have the lowest share of protected areas among all regional seas in the Mediterranean region.
(Foto: Zdravko Primožič/Fpa)
The UN Concention on Biological Diversity and EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 are just two of many international agreements that require the conservation and sustainable management of the marine environment. »The EU's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 sets an ambitious goal of establishing a pan-European network of natural areas on land and at sea, including legal protection for at least 30% of land, including inland waters, and 30% of the sea in the European Union,« said. Dr. Sovinc and added that a third of this area or 10% of the land and 10% of the sea will be included in strictly protected areas.
In the interview, Dr. Sovinc also discussed the topic of distinction between strictly protected and partially protected areas, pointing out that the value of strictly protected areas in the marine environment is several times higher than the value of less strictly protected areas where fishing is allowed. »In some areas, fish populations in the sea are already so looted that there is no other effective solution than to establish strictly protected areas where fish are not caught so that cores can develop from which these animals can spread.«
The whole interview in Slovene is available here.
Source: www.mediaspeed.net
Wednesday, 1 December 2021 Recording of the second lecture in the cycle "Famnitovi Izleti v matematično vesolje" now available
The second lecture in this year's cycle of "Famnitovi Izleti v matematično vesolje" was implemented in a hybrid form after quite a long time.
Considering some classical problems with real-life applications, dr. Clément Dallard discussed the P versus NP question, its theoretical and practical implications, and the various approaches to solve problems for which we do not know efficient algorithms.
You are invited to watch the video of the second lecture. The slides are available here.
