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Friday, 25 February 2022 Applications for the SEI internship are open, and more information on the Fulbright program

AmCham Slovenia, in cooperation with the US Embassy in Slovenia, connects study and business paths through the Student Entrepreneurship and Internship (SEI) program for eleven years.

It is a program that connects study and business paths, while enabling Slovenian students to gain their first work experience under mentorship, increased employment opportunities, and at the same time provides them with an introduction to understanding business and coming up innovative business concepts. There are 20 places available in the program in 2022. Slovenian students, aged between 19 and 28, in their second or higher year of undergraduate or master's studies can apply. The application deadline is March 11, 2022!

More details about the program will be presented by Charlotte Taft from the US Embassy on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at 10.00 at UP FAMNIT (Famnit VP3 Lecture Room, Second Floor, Galgoljaška 8, Koper). The presentation will also be attended by SEI Alumni, who will be available for any additional questions.

For those who will not be able to attend the live presentation, there will be another session available on the same day via Zoom, from 17.00 to 18.00. Registration is required, registration form is available here: https://sforce.co/35kfkmD

After the session on the SEI programme, Špela Sušec will present the Fulbright program, designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The presentation is planned for both Slovenian doctoral students and employees who are interested in studying and doing research in the United States. More information about the program is available here. Former Fulbright Scholars of the University of Primorska will also share their experiences. The presentation of the program starts at 10.45 in the lecture hall Famnit VP3.

We look forward to welcoming you at both presentations!

Friday, 25 February 2022 Tilen Genov received the Prometheus of Science Award for Excellence in Communication

The Slovene Science Foundation has announced this year's recipients of the Prometheus of Science Awards for Excellence in Communication, which has been awarded since 2003. Among them is Assist. Tilen Genov from the Department of Biodiversity at UP FAMNIT.

Tilen Genov

As the pioneer of scientific research and study of marine mammals in Slovenia, Tilen Genov is also the founder and president of the Morigenos society, and has been leading and directing its activities for two decades.

Morigenos – Slovenian Marine Mammal Society is an independent, scientific, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that combines scientific research, monitoring, education, public awareness, capacity building and management, to achieve effective conservation of the marine environment and biodiversity.

The scientific publications of the Morigenos Society are an important contribution to the science of marine mammals internationally and and Morigenos team members are actively participating in several research projects and organisations all over the world, for example the European Cetacean Society. Besides that, Morigenos is the only Slovenian organization with the status of a partner organization to ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Neighbouring Atlantic Area), of which Slovenia is a contracting party.

Although the beginnings of his research were not easy, Tilen Genov made an important contribution to raising awareness and educating the general public on this topic. “It started with a great deal of curiosity. There is a lot of doubt and disbelief on the part of others, including the profession. No funding, no serious support, no one at the time believed that someone in Slovenia could seriously deal with this and develop the matter, not even some 'kid' (I was still a high school student at the time). It literally started by taking the train or hitchhiking to the coast, equipped only with my grandfather’s binoculars. I slept in hostels or even on the boats of some people who came towards me. Long hours of staring at the sea from different hills and occasional going out to sea with a fisherman or individuals who saw something good in it. I remember how people laughed at me when I told them we were trying to study dolphins here. The general perception was that these animals do not exist in our country. that they appear occasionally,” Tilen Genov said in an interview with the Regional Obala portal.

Receiving the award, he emphasized the importance of the contribution of new scientific findings at the global level: “For example, the temporal separation of dolphin social groups, which we have described in our country, is unique at the global level. We have also developed a new method of identifying dolphins by faces, which is also a novelty at the global level."

The full interview in Slovene is published here.

Congratulations!

Tuesday, 22 February 2022 UP Scholarship Fund 2022/23 - Public call for obtaining scholarship

The Scholarship Fund of the University of Primorska (hereinafter the Fund) is based on a partnership between the University of Primorska (hereinafter UP), municipalities, and the private sector. Its aim is to reward and encourage the best students of UP, offer their knowledge to potential employers during the course of their study process, and provide opportunities for employment to these students as soon as they finish their studies. The objective of the Fund is at the same time to support all UP students in achieving the best possible results in their studies.

With this Public Call, the University of Primorska invites all:

candidates for enrolment in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd cycle study programmes of UP and
students who, in the academic year of 2022/2023, will be enrolled in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd cycle study programmes of UP,

to apply for this public call, and thus express their interest in joining the Fund.

The e-application deadline is September 15th, 2022.

You can find more information at Career center of the University of Primorska, Center for Lifelong Learning and Career Orientation website.

Monday, 21 February 2022 Orientation days - Welcoming Erasmus students at UP

On Friday and Saturday (18 and 19 February 2022) both Koper and Škocjan Caves were filled with young international energy from students, that will attend lectures at our University during the spring semester. Orientation days welcomed more than 70 students from 23 countries – most come from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, and Turkey.

They were greeted by international offices as well as volunteers who decided to be a part of it because of their own experience: “We were inspired by the memory of our Orientation days, that was a great inspiration and a great experience, as we got to be out and around all day, meeting new people from different countries and it made the day really fun.” (Volunteers Marko from Macedonia and Luka from Serbia)

On Friday, they first got to know the University, the forms for the Administrative Unit, and a few words in Slovene. PSEN and ŠOUP gave them information about the system for student subsidized food and social activities. After refreshments with typical local food, they discovered Koper through the traditional Treasure Hunt.

We would like to thank the Primorska Exchange group who took over this Treasure Hunt this time. Their representative Inga was happy to help: “We are so happy that our participants explored Koper, interacted with locals, broke communication barriers between themselves and between locals, and had a fun time overall! It was a pleasure to organize, thank you to our volunteers for all their help and collaboration and to our university for supporting us."

The event was also well received by students, who, in addition to a helping hand for their beginnings, were given a great opportunity to meet and make new friends in a new environment. This is certainly not an easy task as the tasks of treasure hunting were not easy either: “The most difficult game was the one in which we had to combine pictures with dishes - even the Slovenian participants did not know them. I really don’t know how we managed to win, probably just because we were fast. The tasks were not easy, but they were certainly a lot of fun.” (Alessandro from Italy)

Pantelios from Greece also shared his impressions: “I liked the whole experience, it was nice to get a little better familiarity with the streets of Koper. It was also nice to meet new people and share the experience. The tasks were hard enough to challenge you, but not too hard to be too much Even though we didn't win, it was a great experience.”

Saturday was the time for students for an excursion to the Škocjan Caves Park, not only the only monument in Slovenia inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List but also a partner of the UNESCO chair of interpretation and education for enhancing integrated heritage approaches with the University of Primorska – which will be marked wit inauguration meeting on 22 February 2022.

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 InnoRenew CoE celebrates grand opening of its new building in Izola

InnoRenew CoE celebrated the grand opening of its new building in Izola with a ceremony attended by the institute’s partners and special guests, including Dr. Mitja Slavinec, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Danilo Anton Ranc, Director-General of the Wood Industry Directorate at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, and Danilo Markočič, Mayor of Izola.

InnoRenew CoE celebrated its fifth anniversary with the grand opening of its newly built home in the Livade district of Izola (Slovenia) on 15 February 2022. With this, the institute has acquired a unique facility for research and innovation in the field of renewable materials and healthy living environments. Tuesday’s ceremony marked the culmination of five years of strong collaboration between InnoRenew CoE, founding and project partners, policymakers, industry, and other important stakeholders.

“When we started the construction two years ago, we together built the wooden tree,” Dr. Andreja Kutnar, InnoRenew CoE director, said. “Today, we are sitting in our new home, reaping the fruits of our strong joint efforts.”

Participants at the event received wooden apples made from Slovenian wood by Jože Koželj, a Slovenian craftsman, symbolizing the fruits of collaboration and looking towards new ideas and discoveries, just as the Newton apple helped to discover gravity.

The InnoRenew CoE building was made possible through infrastructure investment co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund. Dr. Mitja Slavinec, Republic of Slovenia’s State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, and Danilo Anton Ranc, Director-General of the Wood Industry Directorate at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, were in attendance to remark upon this outstanding achievement.

“As you know, we have recently adopted a modern scientific research law with a large consensus of stakeholders, and we are striving to create conditions for your successful and stimulating work and research environment,” Secretary Slavinec said. “We believe that the entire investment is a very good opportunity, especially in connecting science and economy.”

“The work of InnoRenew CoE in the field of wood research and use of wood contributes greatly to the development of the woodworking industry in Slovenia,” Danilo Anton Ranc added. “Slovenia is the third most forested country in Europe, and wood is one of the essential elements in the transition to a low-carbon society. It is important that we look for ways to add as much value as possible to our strategic raw material and, at the same time, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This project of building the largest wooden building in Slovenia is an excellent example of good practice, which will greatly contribute to achieving these goals, and the new building will put the Slovenian wood industry on the world map.”

A hybrid combination of timber, concrete and steel, the InnoRenew CoE building is a unique example of sustainable construction within the country, representing the transfer of research knowledge into industrial practice.

Eva Prelovšek Niemelä, InnoRenew CoE architect, who designed the building with Aarne Niemelä and the collaboration of InnoRenew CoE scientists, gave a video presentation about the building’s design and construction process. She highlighted the integration of ongoing research and monitoring by the institute’s researchers. The wooden section of the building took 850 cubic meters of wood, the humidity of which was measured in 400 places during construction. Construction from cross-laminated timber proceeded quickly, being completed in just five weeks. The building is also equipped with permanent sensors that will further research to determine wood durability and analyze the effects of wooden construction on human health and well-being.

VG5, a leading construction company, and its partner Marles hiše Maribor, along with Projekt and Proplus, supervision companies, are responsible for successfully constructing the InnoRenew CoE building—the largest wooden budling in Slovenia.

The grand opening ended with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, building tours, and viewing of the “Papiro-logía – Circular Design and the Use of Paper in Interior Design” exhibition. Created within the InnoRenew project framework by the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region from paper donated by the Pulp and Paper Institute, this exhibition highlights continuing cooperation between the project partners. DS Smith d.o.o. and industrial designers from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana, collaborated in the exhibition.

This important achievement would not be possible without the support and rewarding cooperation of InnoRenew CoE’s project partners—the University of Primorska, Fraunhofer WKI, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, University of Maribor, Pulp and Paper Institute, Zavod eOblak, National Institute of Public Health, Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region and InnoRenew CoE.

(Cutting the ribbon, from left to right: Bogdan Božac, Danilo Anton Ranc, Eva Prelovšek Niemela, dr. Andreja Kutnar, dr. Mitja Slavinec, Uroš Kodelja, Miha Brlan)

(From left to right: Danilo Markočič, Danilo Anton Ranc, dr. Mitja Slavinec, dr. Andreja Kutnar, dr. Zdravko Kačič)

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 Considerable interest in Famnit study programs during this year’s Info Days

Last Friday and Saturday, Virtual Information Days for future students were held at all Slovenian universities. Similar to last year, we recorded considerable interest in UP FAMNIT undergraduate study programs.

The students were able to follow the presentations online, prepared by the coordinators and professors in study programs: Mathematics, Mathematics in Economics and Finance, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Conservation Biology, Biopsychology and Mediterranean Agriculture.

Saturday afternoon was reserved for presentations in English for students coming from abroad who are interested in studying Mathematics, Computer Science or Bioinformatics.

Both Friday and Saturday, Famnit’s undergraduate and graduate students were available for questions, while answering high school students ’questions for a good hour. If there are any questions still left unanswered, we invite you to send your queries to the UP FAMNIT Student Council at studentski-svet@famnit.upr.si or contact the FAMNIT student-tutors directly, who are happily available for any additional information. The list of student-tutors is published here.

For questions related to the application and enrollment procedure, you can contact the Office of Student Services (referat@famnit.upr.si) or the Admissions Office of the University of Primorska. The University's website also contains material with all the information regarding the application and admission procedure for enrollment in the study programs of the University of Primorska.

If you are interested in attending the lectures before coming to study at UP FAMNIT or other faculties of the University of Primorska, you will be able to attend the Open Lectures Weeks, which will take place between 21 February and 4 March 2022. The full program of lectures and other events is published here. We will be announcing all events during the coming weeks via our website and on UP FAMNIT social networks via Facebook and Instagram.

Tuesday, 15 February 2022 First application term for undergraduate studies at UP FAMNIT in 2022/23

Today, 15 February 2022, starts the first application term for the enrolment in the undergraduate study programmes at UP FAMNIT.

Non-EU citizens can apply for enrolment in undergraduate study programmes from 15 February to 23 May 2022.

EU citizens and Slovene nationals without Slovene citizenship can apply for enrolment in undergraduate study programmes from 15 February to 18 March 2022.

The call and additional information regarding the application for candidates are published on this link.

Candidates can obtain all information from the Student Services Office (e-mail: referat@famnit.upr.si, phone 05 611 75 75).

Thursday, 10 February 2022 Virtual Info Days 2022

Are you thinking about studying at UP FAMNIT?

Join our Virtual Info Days on Friday and Saturday, 11 - 12 February 2022!

We have prepared many different online activities that will provide you with all the necessary information about living in Koper and studying at the University of Primorska. Future freshmen will have the chance to (virtually) enter the Faculty, learn about working in modern laboratories, and meet with assistants and professors. All the while, students will be available for chatting and answering questions about study obligations, extracurricular activities, accommodation, and everything that is related to the study experience at UP FAMNIT.

A detailed event schedule and ZOOM links are available below. All general presentations of study programs will be held in Slovene, however, for study programs that are also implemented in English, presentations will be held in English as well (12 February, 15-16:30).

Virtual info days will be held via Zoom. Click this link to join:

https://upr-si.zoom.us/j/89222477459

A short introduction and a virtual tour of the Faculty will be followed by the presentations of our study programmes:

Mathematics / Mathematics in Economics and Finances,
Computer Science,
Bioinformatics,
Conservation Biology,
Biopsychology,
Mediterranean Agriculture.

For technical support contact: promo@famnit.upr.si; Mobile: 00386 51 412 630.

FRIDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2022

Time	Content	Zoom link
9:00	[IN SLOVENE] Student dormitories of the University of Primorska: presentation of UP Student dormitories (presentation of dormitories, tenders, specialties, chat with resident students)	ZOOM
10:00–11:30	[IN SLOVENE] FAMNIT - presentations of study programs	ZOOM
11:30–12:00	[IN SLOVENE] Šport UP: active break with ŠportUP (exercise and infromation of the free sports offer for UP students)	ZOOM
12:00–13:00	[IN SLOVENE] Application and enrollment procedure: presentation of the application and enrollment procedure (UP Enrollment Office - description of the enrollment and application procedure, presentation of the Scholarship Fund)	ZOOM
13:00–14:00	[IN SLOVENE AND ENGLISH] Q&A with our students	ZOOM
15:00–16:30	[IN SLOVENE] FAMNIT - presentations of study programs	ZOOM

SATURDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2022

Time	Content	Zoom link
9:00	[IN SLOVENE] Student dormitories of the University of Primorska: presentation of UP Student dormitories (presentation of dormitories, tenders, specialties, chat with resident students)	ZOOM
10:00–11:30	[IN SLOVENE] FAMNIT - presentations of study programs	ZOOM
11:30–12:00	[IN SLOVENE] Šport UP: active break with ŠportUP (exercise and infromation of the free sports offer for UP students)	ZOOM
12:00–13:00	[IN SLOVENE] Application and enrollment procedure: presentation of the application and enrollment procedure (UP Enrollment Office - description of the enrollment and application procedure, presentation of the Scholarship Fund)	ZOOM
13:00–14:00	[IN SLOVENE AND ENGLISH] Q&A with our students	ZOOM
15:00–16:30	[IN ENGLISH] FAMNIT - Presenting Study programmes in English (Mathematics, Computer Science, Bioinformatics)	ZOOM

Wednesday, 9 February 2022 Erasmus+ (KA131) Open Call for Academic Year 2022/2023 published

Erasmus+ Open Call for students is published. Applications are now open for exchanges for studies or traineeship in the period from 1 June 2022 to 30 October 2023.

The application deadline is 28 February 2022.

The Open Call and all documentation are available on this link.

You are invited to apply!

Wednesday, 9 February 2022 An international academic alliance established to advance innovative mass timber building research

Climate change is increasing pressure on the built environment and building sector to transform from a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions to a central solution. The development of mass timber technology and the use of wood to construct mid to high-rise buildings can serve as a pathway to a more sustainable future, meeting a rapidly growing global urban population needs while decreasing carbon emissions and increasing human health benefits.

International networking and collaboration with researchers at the cutting-edge of mass timber technology, wood science and data-driven infrastructure safety is key to achieving the much-needed breakthroughs to advance innovative mass-timber buildings.

InnoRenew CoE and Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies at the University of Primorska is partnering with researchers at The College of Forestry at Oregon State University and Faculty of agriculture and forestry at the University of Helsinki to create an international, informal alliance to share mass timber technology data related to structural health monitoring. Structural health monitoring refers to analyses of data generated from sensors and information technologies that observe and monitor changes over time in buildings.

For a wide and systematic use of data from mass timber buildings, there remains a need for standardization and collaboration among researchers. The alliance will utilize first-hand data from three mass-timber projects, the George W. Peavy Forest Science Center (PFSC) in Corvallis, Oregon, USA, InnoRenew CoE in Slovenia, and the Hyytiälä forest station in Finland (University of Helsinki), to help create standards for structural health monitoring. The alliance will collect unique and innovative structural systems data, develop benchmark data for further applications, and cross-reference with other projects.

The PFSC is a three-story building completed in 2019 at Oregon State University and utilizes mass-timber structural elements. These include self-centering, rocking, cross-laminated timber (CLT) shear walls, CLT-concrete composite floor systems, a mass plywood panel roof system, and glulam beams and columns. To determine if the building is performing under static, dynamic, and environmental loads as expected, the PFSC serves as a full-scale living laboratory equipped with sensors. The sensors monitor outdoor and indoor climate conditions, heat and moisture transfer in CLT assemblies, moisture content of structural elements, movement of CLT floor and wall panels, tension losses in CLT shear walls, and global dynamic behavior of the structure.

The InnoRenew CoE’s building, the biggest wooden building in Slovenia, is a hybrid combination of timber, concrete and steel. It was designed according to state-of-the-art principles of contemporary sustainable construction following the principles of REED (Restorative Environmental and Ergonomic Design) based on research outputs from the InnoRenew CoE.

In Finland, four new mass timber buildings at the Hyytiälä forest station, Faculty of agriculture and forestry of the University of Helsinki, are under construction and will be completed in 2022. The structures and walls are CLT, while flooring and roofs are laminated veneer lumber (LVL) based. The buildings are 1-2 story comprising a large catering and studying/conference hall and three accommodation buildings with studio-type rooms. Wooden (walking) bridges and platforms connect the facilities. Two of the buildings will be used to collect data, research structure and material characteristics, and monitor indoor air quality. The buildings offer an opportunity to research human health and well-being, both perceived and experimentally measured.

The academic partners agree to cooperate in exchange for the mutual advancement, support and development of joint projects, publications and scholarship opportunities. Partners will develop standard practices for future structural health monitoring projects by creating standardized data collection, processing and management protocols, and establishing a common methodology for reporting project outputs. To inform transparent governance, ownership and regulation, the network will develop a repository and website with information about projects, data and outputs.

The alliance aims to further expand by attracting researchers from around the world to contribute to new knowledge and future developments in the field of built environment.

For more information about joining the alliance, contact:

InnoRenew COE and University of Primorska:
Andreja Kutnar, andreja.kutnar@innorenew.eu

Oregon State University:
Mariapaola Riggio, mariapaola.riggio@oregonstate.edu

University of Helsinki:
Ritva Toivonen@helsinki.fi
Laura Alakukku@helsinki.fi

Friday, 4 February 2022 University of Primorska is co-creating opportunities for staff development in Central Asia

A 10-day international teacher-training in the field of Intelligent Big Data Analysis is concluding at the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska (UP FAMNIT). The training is a part of the ERASMUS + project ELBA, where highly profiled specialists from universities in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are participating. The purpose of this training is to implement a multidisciplinary package of module-based courses for bachelor and master students at the 10 partnering universities in Central Asia.

According to participants, the seminars are very informative and the project itself is very engaging. “We are learning about the importance of the Intelligent Big Data Analysis (IBDA) models and extracting the information,” adds Shokhjakhon Abdufattokhov from the Department of Control and Computer Engineering at the Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

“The lectures are general in content and not limited to certain areas, so we can all apply the knowledge to our specific research areas and university study programmes. The plan is that once we finish this training we will be able to implement the knowledge in developing new courses on IBDA for our students in undergraduate and master’s study programmes, especially in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The primary reason for our visit is to take the theory and knowledge that will help us build a curriculum on IBDA”, says Abdufattokhov.

His research field is artificial intelligence, a technology that enables a machine to simulate human behaviour. Machine learning is a subset of AI which allows a machine to automatically learn from past data without programming explicitly. The goal of AI is to make a smart computer system that solves complex problems.

But how does the IBDA fit in all of this?

Intelligent data analysis reveals implicit, previously unknown, and potentially valuable information or knowledge from large amounts of data. Intelligent data analysis is also a kind of decision support process. Rule finding is working out rules contained in the data set by means of certain methods or algorithms.

“I am applying machine learning to control theory. To put it simply – I am now working on projects of smart buildings where we have sets of big data available to us. To process this data, we have to choose the right algorithm and features, this is IBDA. We can also use it to analyse business intelligence or do market analytics to find out about consumer shopping habits. Some of the colleagues here are interested in building models for the coal mining industry or for predictions in civil engineering. You can extract some really useful features that can give you very exact predictions”, explains Abdufattokhov.

International guests had the opportunity to meet with the Dean of UP FAMNIT, Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović, and the Rector of the University of Primorska, Prof. Klavdija Kutnar. During their free time they also had a chance to visit Koper: “To tell you the truth, we really like Koper”, they add. “We’ve had a historic tour of the city centre and it was very interesting. The town prompts you to visit Koper, not just once in your life, but again and again.”

The training that was coordinated by Assist. Prof. Branko Kavšek from the University of Primorska is ending on 4 February 2022, however, the project is far from being concluded. Another training will follow at the one of the other partner institutions in Europe, after that IBDA centres will be established in universities across Central Asia and multidisciplinary packages of module-based courses will be implemented in universities’ curriculum.

In the meantime, UP FAMNIT continues providing great research and establishing international cooperation, as well as offering excellent study programmes in the field of Information technologies. To find out more about studying Computer Science (at undergraduate, master’s and doctoral level) and Data Science (at master’s level) at Famnit, we invite you to visit the upcoming Information Days on 11 and 12 February. More information available at www.famnit.upr.si.

Wednesday, 2 February 2022 Call for enrolment into undergraduate study programs at UP FAMNIT

Call for enrolment into undergraduate study programs at UP FAMNIT in the academic year 2022/23 is now published!

Application procedure for enrolment in the first year of study

Non-EU citizens and Slovene nationals without Slovene citizenship can apply in four terms:

first application term: from 15 February to 23 May 2022,
second application term: from 30 May to 27 July 2022,
third application term: from 12 August to 5 September 2022,
fourth application term: from 22 to 23 September 2022.

EU citizens can apply in three terms:

first application term: from 15 February to 18 March 2022,
second application term: from 19 to 23 August 2022,first application term: from 15 February to 18 March 2022,
third application term: from 22 to 23 September 2022.

Call and information for candidates regarding the application are published in this link.