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Thursday, 30 June 2022 Four positions are open for young researchers at UP IAM

University of Primorska has published a Public Tender for the selection of candidates for the Young Researchers training programme in 2022. Five PhD students will do research work with their mentors while studying and ultimately obtain a doctorate of science. All mentors were selected through a Public Tender published by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS), namely at the Andrej Marušič Institute (UP IAM) and the Faculty of Health Sciences (UP FVZ).

Mentors and research fields

At UP IAM, candidates may apply for four positions with selected mentors within scientific disciplines and in selected:

Enes Pasalic – research field: Mathematics; research programme: P1-0404 Mathematical Modelling and Encryption: from Theoretical Concepts to Real-Life Applications, UP Andrej Marušič Institute

Miklós Krész – research field: Computer science and informatics; research programme: P1-0404 Mathematical Modelling and Encryption: from Theoretical Concepts to Real-Life Applications, UP Andrej Marušič Institute

Dragan Marušič – research field: Mathematics; research programme: P1-0285 Algebra, discrete mathematics, probability and game theory, UP Andrej Marušič Institute

Bojan Kuzma – research field: Mathematics; research programme: P1-0285 Algebra, discrete mathematics, probability and game theory, UP Andrej Marušič Institute

Only one candidate can be selected per mentor. If several candidates apply to the public tender, they will be ranked according to their overall score under the selection criteria. The candidate with the highest score will be selected. If the selected candidate withdraws or fails to provide the necessary supporting documents by the deadline set in the public tender, the next candidate will be selected based on the overall score obtained.

The deadline for application is 1 August 2022.

The Public Tender, the application guidelines and all additional information are available on the website of the University of Primorska at the following link: https://www.upr.si/en/news-and-announcements/razpis-za-mlade-raziskovalce-v-letu-2022-

Wednesday, 29 June 2022 Sidra Aslam, new Doctor of Science

Yesterday, 28 June 2022, we welcomed another doctor of science at UP FAMNIT.

Sidra Aslam, a student of the doctoral study programme Computer Science at UP FAMNIT has succesfully defended her doctoral dissertation entitled Decentralized Data Privacy and Security for the Web of Things, mentored by Full. Prof. Michael Mrissa, PhD.

We sincerely congratulate the new doctor of science and wish her much success on her future journey in research!

Monday, 27 June 2022 SRNA: New app for monitoring wildlife

Monitoring (checking the distribution, numbers, etc.) of wildlife populations is fundamental for successful conservation or management plans of wildlife populations, whether we are talking about hunting or strictly protected species. Regular and systematic monitoring of several species is also required by Slovenian and European legislation. Not only researchers, but also nature lovers today can make an exceptional contribution for a better monitoring and understanding of wildlife populations and their needs.

To conduct easier, better and more systematic monitoring of selected species of wild animals, we developed an application called SRNA in cooperation with the Hunting Association of Slovenia and three research institutions (University of Primorska, University of Ljubljana and Faculty of Environmental Protection of Velenje). The app allows those interested to record the observations of different animal species in nature.

The SRNA app can be downloaded via QR code or this link.

Those observations will contribute to a better understanding of wildlife, but you can also simply test their wildlife identification skills through a quiz (English version will be available soon). The collected data will not only improve our understanding of wildlife, but also contribute to better management and protection of wild animals (large mammals and selected bird species) in Slovenia. The broad distribution of smartphones and the development of dedicates apps makes it now possible for everyone to contribute and the role of “citizen scientists" is becoming extremely important. By connecting citizen science data with large datasets obtained from environmental observations, researchers can now address aspects previously unattainable with their strength alone.

You too can become a Citizen scientist!

By recording observations of both common and rare or endangered species, you can contribute to the understanding of their distribution and numbers, which will help researchers identify their densities and how the population is doing. Such knowledge will make it possible to develop conservation and management strategies enabling a harmonious coexistence of all species.

The app is available for both smartphone and computer and only asks for a one-time registration by email. Despite allowing for multiple data to be recorded, the app is user friendly and guides you from the beginning to the end of entering an observation by internal links and transparent/clear menus. Through the app, you will be able to get a graphical overview of your own entries and the overall information for the whole country. Additionally, you will be able to contact the researchers in the team with questions related to the project or their observation by writing to: stepchange@famnit.upr.si. 

Researchers will keep you informed about the results and the most active participants will be rewarded. We will also reward the individuals with the most entries.

We kindly invite all of you to download the app and start recoding your observations of wildlife whenever you encounter one, doesn’t matter if it is during a challenging hike or during a stroll in the countryside!

Sunday, 26 June 2022 University of Primorska successfully hosted the EMS Council Meeting

The University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (UP FAMNIT), hosted the EMS Council Meeting, which was held 25 – 26 June, 2022 in Bled, Slovenia.

The event was following the 8the European Congress of Mathematics, one of the largest events in mathematics in Europe, that was held last 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 were 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 was Prof. Dr. 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, took place in Bled as well, since Prof. Dr. 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. 

»The meeting of the European Mathematical Society was very successful. Everything that we had planned, could be done in spite of some challenges. Among other, we voted for the new president, so we have new members, that we welcome. We reached success also concerning in-person attendance. It was particularly important for us to come back to in-person meetings, so let me take this opportunity to thank the colleagues from Slovenia, in particular colleagues from the University of Primorska, for organizing this in a very impeccable way,« concluded Prof. Dr. Barbara Kaltenbacher, EMS Executive Committee member from the Austrian Mathematical Society.

 

Thursday, 23 June 2022 The doctoral thesis defence of the student Sidra Aslam

Sidra Aslam, student of the doctoral study programe Computer Science at UP FAMNIT will defend her doctoral thesis Decentralized Data Privacy and Security for the Web of Things; under the mentorship of Full Prof. Michael Mrissa, PhD.

The defence will take place on Tuesday, 28 June 2022 at 9:00 in Famnit-VP3 (UP FAMNIT, Glagoljaška 8, 6000 Koper).

The doctoral disertation is available in the library at UP FAMNIT.

Thursday, 23 June 2022 UP FAMNIT researchers prove that working in virtual reality for a week has a negative impact on human productivity

A study conducted by UP FAMNIT researchers and colleagues reveals that working in virtual reality (VR) has a significantly more negative impact on people’s productivity compared to working in a physical office environment.

Maheshya Weerasinghe, Klen Čopič Pucihar and Matjaž Kljun from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies at UP FAMNIT alongside with a research group including Verena Biener, Snehanjali Kalamkar, Negar Nouri, Eyal Ofek, Michel Pahud, John J. Dudley, Jinghui Hu, Per Ola Kristensson, Stephan Streuber and Jens Grubert, revealed important scientific findings that help lay the groundwork for further research by clearly highlighting current shortcomings and identifying opportunities to improve the VR work experience.

As part of the IEEE ISMAR 2022 Conference (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Conference for Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) 2022), the article entitled »Quantifying the Effects of Working in VR for One Week« will be published in the IEEE TVCG journal (IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics), which includes contributions in the field of computer graphics, information and scientific visualization, visual analytics, virtual and augmented reality, with emphasis on theory and algorithms.

In addition to publication in the prestigious IEEE TVCG, our researchers' article also attracted the attention of New Scientist, the world's most popular weekly science and technology publication, which covers international news from a scientific perspective and raises extensive questions about life, space and what it means, to be human.

»People working full-time in a virtual-reality environment have lower productivity and well-being, and increased anxiety, according to a new study. The research shows that, despite companies such as Microsoft and Facebook owner Meta investing heavily in VR and the immersive virtual world of the metaverse, the technology isn’t yet ready for widespread use in the workplace, while some people may never be able to use it effectively,« briefed Matthew Sparkes for New Scientist.



Source: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2206.03189.pdf

Given the limitations of current technology and the fact that VR provides a virtual approximation of the real environment, the researchers did not expect that working in the VR environment would exceed the efficiency of working in the physical environment, which is also confirmed by the results. Already on the first day, two participants stopped participating in the study due to migraine, nausea and anxiety. On the other hand, the results of the study showed, that participants are gradually overcoming negative first impressions and initial discomfort, which can serve as a baseline for future optimization of VR systems.

The full article is available here.

The IEEE ISMAR conference attracts the world's leading researchers from both academia and industry, and this year's 21st in a row will be held for the first time in Southeast Asia, in Singapore, from 17 to 21 October, 2022, in a hybrid version.

In addition to the article »Quantifying the Effects of Working in VR for One Week«, IEEE TVCG will publish two more articles by UP FAMNIT researchers: »VocabulARy: Learning Vocabulary in AR Supported by Keyword Visualisations« (authors: Maheshya Werasinghe, Klen Čopič Pucihar, Verena Biener, Aaron Quigley, Alice Tonilo, Angela Miguel, Jens Grubert, Matjaž Kljun) and »Arigato: Effects of Adaptive Guidance on Engagement and Performance in Augmented Reality Learning Environments« (authors: Maheshya Werasinghe, Klen Čopič Puciigley, Aron , Alice Tonilo, Angela Miguel, Matjaž Kljun).

Congratulations to our researchers and other authors!

Monday, 20 June 2022 Fully funded PhD in Mathematics - Cryptography at University of Primorska

The Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies at the University of Primorska (UP FAMNIT) is offering one fully-funded PhD scholarship at the Center of Cryptography.

We welcome applications from EU as well as International students who are enthusiastic about working as part of a multidisciplinary team focusing on mathematical cryptographic research in the following areas:

  • Boolean functions with high nonlinearity (bent functions, AB functions, planar functions …),
  • Linear codes,
  • Cryptanalysis (classical and quantum).

The selected candidate will be offered a tailored research project at UP FAMNIT.

What does the scholarship include?

The selected candidate will receive a 36-48 month scholarship which includes:

  • monthly payments of around EUR 1000 neto,
  • tuition fees,
  • research equipment and a working desk,
  • yearly budget for other research costs for covering fieldwork and conference attendance.

Eligibility criteria

Candidates should demonstrate outstanding academic potential with a strong Master’s ang Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics or related subject. Good understanding of finite fields, vector spaces, algebraic and combinatorial techniques is desired. Familiarity with Sage, Mathematica, Magma or similar program packages is a plus.
Candidates must be born in 1994 or younger.

Candidate’s obligations

Besides the regular coursework required for the doctoral study programme (more information available here), 2 hours per week of teaching assistant work (e.g. running lab sessions, consulting students, drafting and correcting coursework, etc.). The teaching assistant work is only conducted during term time (32 weeks per year).

If coming from outside of EU the selected candidate will need a proof of fluent English language ability. Selected candidates will start their studies at the latest on 1st of October 2022. The selected candidate is expected to complete their doctoral studies in a minimum of 3 and maximum of 4 years.

How to apply?

Applicants for the scholarship need to include the following documents (if not in English or Slovenian all documents need to be officially translated and provided with documents in the original language):

  • a motivational letter,
  • a Curriculum Vitae (personal details, work experience, education and training, language skills, awards and recognitions, previous research work, publications) - maximum 4 pages,
  • a certified copy of any previously completed higher-level education degrees: e.g. bachelor degree, master degree, etc.,
  • course transcripts, GPA (grade point average) certificate of exams and tutorials,
  • a reference letter,
  • if you will need a visa to study in Slovenia, a copy of the page of your passport that gives your full name, passport number, etc.

Applicants should send this information in zip file to enes.pasalic@famnit.upr.si and nastja.cepak@iam.upr.si.

Application deadline is 30 July 2022.

For further information regarding application, enrolment and other administrative procedures please read the following, or contact Student Services.

Lead Supervisor: Prof. Enes Pasalic, PhD

More information: Center of Cryptography


Members of the center (from left to right): Dr. Samir Hodžić, Dr. Nastja Cepak; Prof. Enes Pasalic, PhD, Sadmir Kudin, Rene Rodriguez Aldama, Amar Bapić

Thursday, 16 June 2022 Project ENGREEN completed

The ENGREEN project - a 29-month project for preservation of green infrastructure in the cross-border cultural landscape Italy-SloveniaI, in which UP FAMNIT, VeGAL - Agenzia di Sviluppo del Veneto Orientale, ZRSVSN and Municipality of Dolina also cooperated with the Škocjan Caves Regional Park, ended today.

As part of the collaboration UP FAMNIT researchers collected data on ponds in western Slovenia and in the part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Through its activities, the ENGREEN project has achieved its purpose of preserving the biodiversity of the area and significantly contributed to the restoration of dry walls, ponds, small wetlands, glaciers and the preparation of joint guidelines and plans for an integrated strategy for biodiversity conservation and development.

According to the director of the Škocjan Caves Park, Mr Stojan Ščuka the project "significantly contributed to the inventory of ponds, wells and drywalls and their renovation, which will continue as part of new already acquired projects (ReNature) and projects that are still in preparation (ENGREEN 2)." He added that "cooperation with the University of Primorska had a significant impact on the results and exceptional success of the project through various field tasks and deepened the existing cooperation, which will continue with various activities outside the project and in all subsequent projects in their area«.


Director of the Škocjan Caves Park, Mr Stojan Ščuka

Assist. Prof. Martina Lužnik, from the Department of Biodiversity at UP FAMNIT adds that "in two years they examined a large part of ponds (and other water bodies) in the Karst, Slovenian Istria and Brkini, collected data on the condition of ponds and the presence of amphibians, monitored karst grasslands and butterflies.". There was also monitoring of the recovery of the population of the extremely endangered butterfly False ringlet (lat. oenonympha Oedipus) after the fire (2019) in Cerje. By removing alien species, they have improved both the condition of ponds (removal of goldfish) and the habitat for False ringlet (removal of spider mites from grasslands), and the dissamination achieved with "ENGREEN" BIOLOGICAL EVENINGS with interesting, current and diverse biological topics.


Assist. prof. Martina Lužnik

As part of the project, UP Famnit also intensively included students - they even conducted 2 summer schools - where they were able to participate intensively in field research, and quite a few students chose this topic to prepare a final thesis in both 1st and 2nd level study programs.

The key activities of UP Famnit's cooperation within the project were:

• preparation of an overview of green infrastructure in the program area, and in particular the collection of existing data on ponds in western Slovenia and part of Friuli Venezia Giulia;

• survey of a large part of ponds (and other water bodies) in the Karst, Slovenian Istria and Brkini and collection of data on the condition of ponds and the presence of amphibians;

• review of karst grasslands and butterflies: monitoring the recovery of the population of the extremely endangered False ringlet butterfly after the fire (2019) in Cerje (2020, 2021, 2022);

• by removing alien species, they improved the condition of ponds (by removing goldfish from 8 ponds) and the habitat for False ringlet butterfly (by removing spider mites from grasslands), and

• great reach with "ENGREEN" BIOLOGICAL EVENINGS with interesting, current and diverse biological topics - more or less related to green infrastructure.


Members of the ENGREEN Project Team at UP Famnit, Assist. Katja Kalan, PhD, Assist. Prof. Jure Jugovic, Assist. Prof. Vladimir Ivović, Assist. Martin Senič,  Assist. Sara Zupan, Assist. Prof. Martina Lužnik

 

Friday, 10 June 2022 12th generation of UP FAMNIT graduates

Today, June 10, UP FAMNIT celebrated the twelfth generation of graduates - there have been 92 of them in the last year – that will enrich the broader national and international community with their skills and knowledge as: graduate bioinformatics, conservation biologists, biopsychologists, mathematicians, financial mathematicians and computer science and agricultural engineers, masters of mathematics, nature conservation, biopsychology, psychology, mathematics with financial engineering, data science,  computer science and sustainable built environments.

The 12th generation of graduates was addressed by the rector of the University of Primorska, Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, as well as the UP FAMNIT Dean, Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović. Congratulations on the completion of the studies were also given by Tomaž Lešnik, Director of Business Development and Sales at Dinit d.o.o.

Two students shared their memories and thoughts at the end of their study experiences at the faculty: Cita Jenko, graduate of the undergraduate study programme Biopsychology and Aljaž Kosmač, graduate of the master’s study programme in Mathematical Sciences.


Foto: Pavel Fičur

Following the tradition, this year too, a few students received rewards of the Faculty for their outstanding study and research achievements and the development of extracurricular activities. Below we publish the recipients of rewards for the last two years.

Recipients of the Faculty rewards are:

  • Maruša Penca Kocjan, undergraduate study programme Conservation Biology reward for study/research work,
  • Marjana Tomažič, master's study programme Nature Conservation, reward for study/research work,
  • Niki Hrovatin, doctoral study programme Computer Science, reward for study/research work,
  • Ajla Šehović, undergraduate study programme Mathematics, reward for study/research work,
  • Manca Vodopivec, undergraduate study programme Mathematics, reward for study/research work,
  • Ines Knežević, undergraduate study programme Biopsychology, reward for study/research work,
  • Cita Jenko, master's study programme Psychology, reward for study/research work.

Recipients of rewards for their active involvement in the development of extracurricular activities for students, based on the proposal of the UP FAMNIT Student Council:

  • Inga Raič, undergraduate study programme Computer Science,
  • Nadeen Al Hawamdeh, undergraduate study programme Computer Science.

  • Foto: Pavel Fičur

We sincerely congratulate all graduates and recipients of rewards and wish them success in their further study, research and careers.

Thursday, 9 June 2022 Successful conclusion of the ALTNLP conference

The Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (UP Famnit) has successfully concluded hosting the ALTNLP conference (The international conference on agglutinative language technologies as a challenge of natural language processing) on Wednesday, 8 June 2022.

The two-day conference was co-organised by UP Famnit Information Technology Department with its partner institutions Urgench State University, and Universidad del Pais Vasco, Basque Center for Language Technology (HITZ).

The conference was opened with a welcoming speech by Assoc. Prof. Jernej Vičič and Assist. Prof. Branko Kavšek, the organisers and representatives of the DIST UP Famnit. All attendees were greeted and welcomed by Prof. Dr. Štefko Miklavič, Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and Development of the University of Primorska, and Prof. Dr. Eneko Agirre, Director of the HITZ Centre.

The ALTNLP conference brings together researchers in linguistics, language technologies and machine learning in the field of agglutinative and morphologically rich languages. This year's conference was held virtually and brought together experts from 12 countries to present their latest findings in their respective fields, and also to network for possible future collaborations in research projects.

More information about the conference is available here.

  

Wednesday, 8 June 2022 Students of the Dušan Bordon Primary School attended the Natural Science Day at Famnit

Yesterday, June 7, 2022, our faculty hosted students from the Dušan Bordon Primary School who attended the NATURAL SCIENCE DAY AT FAMNIT.

Through various activities, lectures, experiments and workshops, they got to know the diverse world of science and had fun.

After the introductory greeting of the Dean and a walk around the faculty, dr. Alenka Baruca Arbeiter invited students to the world of research of medicinal and aromatic plants. As part of the workshop "Aromatic Plants and Distillation", they learned about methods for obtaining essential oil and hydrolate.

In the continuation of the science day, dr. Ana Zalokar explained, what the board game Snakes and Ladders and the movement of stock prices have in common. The workshop “From Snakes and Ladders to Stock Prices” gave them an insight into two examples of the Markov chain. They played board games and counted the routes, forecasting the weather and at the same time observing what was happening on the stock market.

Dr. Živa Fišer and students of Conservation Biology Lana Božič and Tinka Terčon presented to the students, how and in what way plants attract animals and how flowers differ to attract specific insects. The workshop "How and with what plants reward animals for spreading pollen?" Included a lot of work with practical aids, which the students were enthusiastic about: "We liked the most, that we could actually do something practical. It's best when we can test ourselves in something."

 

The science day ended with a workshop on mental health, where we talked about stress and the factors, that affect the feeling of stress and why it is important to seek help. Through the discussion and activities within the workshop "Are you ok? Ok!", Eva Sedlašek and Manca Kosmač from the Department of Psychology tried to introduce students to the concept of mental health and the factors that affect it.

"It's very important that we try to solve our problems. On the one hand, we have positive, protective factors that help us with our mental health, and on the other hand, there are risk factors that increase our distress. The number of factors is not as important as is the value on each individual factor," concluded Eva Sedlašek.

Tuesday, 7 June 2022 Presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation – Aleksandar Tošić

We invite you to the presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation Blockchain application in existing systems and architectures: an empirical study of the student Aleksander Tošić, enrolled in the doctoral study programme Computer Sciece.

The presentation will take place on Thursday, 9 June 2022 at 11.00 on Zoom:
https://upr-si.zoom.us/j/2711197445?pwd=ZGk0ZDZQb1NkcG5yWnE4Z3Y4aS9Edz09
Meeting ID: 271 119 7445
Passcode: 826129

Monday, 6 June 2022 A successful 13th edition of the TRIPLE i in Suicidology Conference 2022

The TRIPLE i: Intuition, Imagination and Innovation in Suicidology conference successfully concluded on Wednesday, 1 June 2022 at the University of Primorska. The two-day event was organised by the Andrej Marušič Institute, Slovene Centre for Suicide Research (UP IAM SCSR) in collaboration with the De Leo Fund Onlus.

This year, the conference was held in a hybrid format - in the Zoom online environment and simultaneously at the premises of the University of Primorska. The in-person attendees were aspiring students of the Psychology and Biopsychology postgraduate study programmes, which are successfully implemented at the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (UP Famnit).

Assoc. Prof. Vita Poštuvan, Deputy Head of the Slovene Centre for Suicide Research (SCSR), said about the hybrid format of the conference: »The online implementation allows the event to be attended by people from all over the world. At this year's 13th conference, we had participants from about 35 countries. Personally, I am most pleased with those accompanying us from low and middle-income countries, as they would most likely not be able to attend the classic form of the conference. With the online implementation of the event, we enabled all listeners to obtain high-quality first-hand information. Witnessing their satisfaction, and how they transfer what they have learned into suicide prevention practice, makes our work and the continuation of this event worthwhile.«

All attendees the were greeted by Prof. Diego De Leo, Head of the Slovene Centre for Suicide Research and Assoc. Prof. Vita Poštuvan, Deputy Head, and Prof. Klavdija Kutnar, Rector of the University of Primorska, who also welcomed the participants.

This year's programme included topics on suicide research and clinical work with suicidal people. Internationally renowned experts in the field of suicidology Prof. Stephen Platt, Prof. David Gunnell, Prof. Holly C. Wilcox, Prof. Danuta Wasserman, Prof. Kairi Kõlves, Prof. Lanny Berman, Prof. David A. Jobes, Prof. Nicola Veronese, and others contributed to the insightful and well-rounded programme.

Dr. Vita Poštuvan summarized her impressions with a final thought: »This year's programme once again offered an extremely stimulating debate. In addition to the classic topics addressing suicidal behaviour and risk factors, such as the covid epidemic, social factors, loneliness, groups of people at risk (adolescents) – this year's programme brought together important topics on research methods, ethics and assessment, and interventions in clinical situations. The programme was broad and the participants were extremely satisfied at the end. «

We invite you to visit the ŽivŽiv?! website, where experts and people with personal experience write about mental health and suicide.

For more photos check the Andrej Marušič Institute (UP IAM) profiles on Facebook and Instagram.