Friday, 29 December 2023 GDSC Primorska hosted a DataFlow workshop last week

Last week, the Google Developer Club of the University of Primorska (GDSC Primorska) successfully held the DataFlow workshop, which brought together all enthusiasts of the Large Language Model (LLM).

The workshop took place from 18 to 21 December 2023 at various locations. 

In the introduction, in Tramontana (UP FHŠ), the organizers delved into the details of the event, where Robert Dovžan, head of the data science team at Outbrain company (the sponsor of the event), introduced the participants to the department where he works and discussed the possibilities of cooperation with the company in the form of summer schools and internships. Clément Delteil, a data scientist, former Erasmus student at UP FAMNIT and keynote speaker from France, presented his important projects and professional work to the young enthusiasts, and then led his workshop. 

Throughout the introductory day, participants interacted with speakers and discussed ML&AI topics using the Slido platform, which had been introduced at the beginning. On the following day, they actively started working on the development of their projects, and these were later presented at the conclusion of the event on December 21.

Additionally, the organisers gave the teams direct access to their sample reports accessible online, on the Medium platform. The individual teams with access to the platform can be found at the links below: 

• Marija Rakic, Bogdan Sinik and Pavel Jolakoski, ‘Crafting Lyrics with LSTM’ > HERE
• Yllke Yashari and Dmytro Tupkalenko, ‘Predicting next term in an integer sequence’ > HERE
• Emilija Trajkovska and Ilija Petrov, ‘Fine tuning LLM to generate song lyrics’ Elsa Morina,Nikola Murgoski and Miha Rupar, ‘Fine tuning LLM for machine translation’ > HERE
• Vasilije Bozaric and Marko Veskovic, ‘Image generation by merging stable diffusion models’ > HERE
• Hana Amiri and Sasa Krajnovic, ‘Mechanisms of action’ > HERE
• Zhivko Stoimchev and Anastasija Temova, ‘Image Generation with DCGAN’ > TUKAJ
• Marija Cetkovic and Elena Zdravkoska, ‘Image Generation with DCGAN’ > HERE
•  Andrej Natev, ‘Predicting Hit Songs’ > HERE

At the end of the workshop, Clement Delteil, assist. Jordan Deja and Martin Jakomin, Head of Outbrain, offered each group constructive feedback and suggestions, encouraging the participants to continue exploration of this field. Participants were acknowledged with prizes and certificates of participation. 

»I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who made our recent 4-day Machine Learning Summit a success. It's been an incredible journey, and I'm grateful for the support from each participant and all those who helped to organise this event. I'm proud of our students who dove into networking, workshops, and project presentations over the three intense days. The meals and rewards were small tokens compared to the significant contributions of our hardworking students.  Looking forward, 2024 promises more exciting events as we aim to grow and bring more opportunities to our university. We're not just a community, we're here for our students. Whether you need help with projects, academic questions, or anything else, feel free to reach out,« summed up  Ivan Cvijetić, the leder of the GDSC Primorska. 

According to the head of the event, Ivan Cvijetić, organizing such an event, especially for the first time, was no small task, so every individual's contribution played a role in the successful implementation of the event. 

The organizers want to extend special thanks to Assoc. Prof. Branko Kavšek and assist. Domen Vake, who supported the event, the Outbrain sponsor, and Clément Delteil, who came from France to lead workshops and guide students. Also, thanks to Assist. Arsen Matej Golubovik, who prepared a workshop on neural networks, Nevena Stojnić and Jordan Aiko Deja for their support in leading this initiative, as well as Damjan Muhič for a short video recap of the event. 

Friday, 22 December 2023 WORKSHOP: COMBINATORICS AND PROBABILITY IN PRACTICE

Workshop: Combinatorics and Probability in Practice

When? Thursday, 4 January 2024, 13.00–14.30

Kje? ZOOM

Registration: up to 2 January 2024 via the e-form HERE

In the framework of the Green, Digital and Inclusive University of Primorska project (GDI UP), we invite you to the workshop on Combinatorics and Probability in Practice, led by Prof. Dr. Ajda Fošner. During the workshop, we will delve into the basic rules of counting, ordered and unordered selections, permutations, variations, and combinations. Additionally, we will explore terms such as experiment, event, and sample space, along with conditional probability and other related concepts. The presentation will cover the formula of total probability and the Bayes' theorem, as well as the sequences of independent trials.

Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be equipped to apply the basic principles of combinatorics and probability in practice, particularly in statistics and other fields such as computer science, chemistry, biology, optimization, etc. We invite you to join us and gain valuable knowledge and skills for the effective application of these concepts across various disciplines.

INVITATION TO THE WORKSHOP 

The project is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and the European Union – NextGenerationEU. The project is implemented in accordance with the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) under the development area Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, component Strengthening competencies, in particular digital competencies and those required by the new professions and the green transition (C3 K5), for the investment measure Investment F. Implementation of pilot projects, the results of which will serve as a basis for the preparation of a roadmap for the reform of higher education for a green and resilient transition to a Society 5.0: project Pilot Projects for the Reform of Higher Education for a Green and Resilient Transition.

Thursday, 21 December 2023 Happy holidays and a prosperous and healthy New Year!

Thursday, 21 December 2023 Presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation – Albert Kravos

We invite you to the presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation Unlocking the Potential of Olive Leaves Agricultural Residue as a Resource for Biorefineries of the student Albert Kravos, enrolled in the doctoral study programme Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments.

The presentation will take place on Thursday, 4 January 2024 at 17.00 in InnoRenew CoE, Livade 6a, 6310 Izola, room Juniperus. The presenation will be available also at TEAMS tool, to which you can access here.

Cordially invited!

Thursday, 21 December 2023 UP FAMNIT student's team won second place at ParaVolley Europe

Tija Vrhovnik, a Master's student in Psychology at UP FAMNIT, won the excellent second place at ParaVolley Europe together with her team in the Italian town of Caorle this October.

On Monday, December 19, traditionally at the end of the year, the best Slovenian sportsmen gathered in Cankarjev dom for the Sportsman of the Year 2023 event. The Association of Sports Journalists and the Olympic Committee of Slovenia presented awards to the individuals and teams with the biggest impact in the field of sports.

They awarded the prize for the best athlete with a disability, and this year it went to a team sport for the first time. In front of a full Gallus hall, our volleyball players received the award, for which we sincerely congratulate them!

 
Source: http://www.odbojkasede.com/

Thursday, 21 December 2023 LAST APPROVED PROJECTS BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS: AT UP FAMNIT

At UP FAMNIT, we acquired two new projects within the INTERREG programme Slovenia-Croatia 2021-2027.

»TransPlant: Integral cross-border protection of Natura 2000 plant species and habitats«, partner, UP FAMNIT (lead: Prirodoslovni muzej Rijeka, Croatia), UP leader: dr. Peter Glasnović

The TransPlant - Integral Transboundary Conservation of Natura 2000 Plant Species project aims to develop conservation guidelines and actions for three Natura 2000 plant species: the Dinaric spurge, the Scopoli's sedge and the Varied cattail. These species thrive in the cross-border area between Slovenia and Croatia, and their long-term conservation requires common conservation strategies. Active conservation measures, both in-situ and ex-situ, based on knowledge of the species' distribution and an understanding of the impact of climate change in the future, will be used to develop a long-term strategy for their conservation. This will focus on understanding the biology, population genetics and reproductive status of populations. The strategy will be developed in collaboration with stakeholders, space users and the interested public. The project, which will be led by the Natural History Museum of Reka, has been prepared in cooperation with eight partners from Slovenia (Škocjan Caves Regional Park, University of Primorska, Institute for Nature Conservation of the Republic of Slovenia, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and Croatia (Natural History Museum of Reka - lead partner, Istria County, Matulji Municipality, Risnjak National Park).

»FoRESisT Preservation and evaluation of forest and agricultural ecosystems in the cross-border area FoRESisT«, partners, UP FAMNIT, UP lead: dr. Matjaž Hladnik

The FoRESisT project focuses on the conservation of forest and agricultural habitats, or agroforestry habitats (agroforestry), as well as on opportunities to enhance biodiversity. The project aims to increase the resilience of habitats to a wide range of negative impacts such as fires, droughts, invasive non-native species, diseases, anthropogenic and other factors, and to ensure sustainable management. FoRESisT activities will be carried out in three strands: 1) Analysis of the situation and identification of habitat conservation measures; 2) Implementation of pilot actions to improve the situation and enhance the resilience of selected habitats (e.g. conservation of chestnut forests, downy oak forests, establishment of agroforestry and forest ecosystems typical of karst landscapes), based on common cross-border guidelines; and 3) Educational activities to raise public awareness on the importance of conserving a diversity of habitats. The main outputs and outcomes of the project will include the development of a common cross-border strategy for the conservation of forest and agricultural ecosystems, the establishment of a cross-border network of experts in the field of agriculture and forestry, pilot actions for the protection of ecosystems, and the organisation of public cross-border events, leading to improved cooperation between the different stakeholders and to more effective management of Natura 2000 sites in the cross-border area.

BIODIVMON

BIG_PICTURE, Developing data management and analytical tools to engage and promote citizen science camera trapping initiatives across Europe, partners, UP Famnit, UP leader: dr. Elena Bužan

This project aims to address several of these obstacles to enhance the availability of information-rich data collected by camera traps already being collected across Europe during the last 10-15 years. working with the leading researchers, citizen science groups and stakeholders involved in camera trapping1 of wildlife we aim to identify, and then overcome, the legal, institutional, social, technical and practical barriers to processing, annotating, organising, sharing and analysing the vast amounts of camera trapping data that are being collected every day across the continent.

Tuesday, 19 December 2023 UP FAMNIT was part of the international congress »Sport through the Eyes of Psychology «

Between December 14 and 15, 2023, an international congress entitled »Sport through the eyes of psychology« took place in the Crystal Palace (BTC Ljubljana) under the auspices of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia - Association of Sports Federations (OKS-ZŠZ).

Experienced foreign and domestic experts in the field of sports psychology gave lectures at the congress. The event focused on various psychological aspects of sports. Throughout the two-day program, the speakers delved mainly into creating a safe environment for athletes, addressing aspects of mental health, and discussing the role of psychology among young athletes.

The program was divided into two parts: Workshops for Psychologists, intended for psychologists, and the Congress part, open to coaches, pedagogues, athletes, and other sports professionals.

Within the congress, the workshop »Mindfulness exercises« was held, together with Tina Jeromen, by Dr. Maja Smrdu from the Department of Psychology at UP FAMNIT, also a member of the Organizing Committee of the congress. 

The Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, the Sports Psychology Section of the Association of Slovenian Psychologists and the Faculty of Sports of the University of Ljubljana were part of the organization and implementation of the event.

In the same week, 13 December 2023, prominent representatives of sports organizations visited the Faculty of Health Science, namely Mr. Gregor Rankel, Undersecretary at the Directorate for Sport, Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport, g. Peter Lević, acting Chief Inspector at the Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia for Sport and dr. Uroš Mohorić, Director of the Sports Sector at the Olympic Committee of Slovenia – Association of Sports Federations.

The purpose of the event was to convey knowledge about the formal regulation of sport in the Republic of Slovenia, to present the tasks and orientations of individual institutions in the field of sport, and above all to enable students to have an in-depth discussion with representatives of these organizations.

The organizers were doc. Dr. Maja Smrdu, UP FAMNIT, holder of the course Sport Psychology and doc. Matej Plevnik, PhD, UP FVZ, Vice-Dean for Quality in the field of kinesiology.

Tuesday, 19 December 2023 Another award for Đorđe Mitrović, this time in the field of combinatorics

Đorđe Mitrović, UP FAMNIT alumni, received the CMSA Penfold Street Student Prize for the best talk by a student at the 45th Australian Combinatorics Conference.

With this student award, named in honour of Anne Penfold Street, who was the first President of the CMSA (Combinatorial Mathematics Society of Australasia), CMSA encourages students to attend Australasian combinatorics conferences and prepare good presentations for student lectures.

Contributions are evaluated on the basis of several criteria: motivation and setting of the general context, methods used to present the material, organization and structure of the lecture, originality of the substance of the lecture and rapport with the audience.

The laureate of the award receives 500 US dollars.

The Australian Conference on Combinatorics (ACC), at which the CMSA Penfold Street Student Prize is being awarded since 2001, is an annual CMSA conference covering all areas of combinatorics in mathematics and computer science. This year’s edition of the event was the 45^th.

Once again, we sincerely congratulate our alumni and wish him much success in the future!

Đorđe Mitrović (in the middle) and some of the previous CMSA Penfold Street Student Prize laureates

Monday, 18 December 2023 Invitation to the defense of the Master’s Thesis - Katrin Školnik Škrabe (Nature Conservation, 2nd cycle)

On Wednesday, 20 December 2023, at 17:00 via Zoom, Katrin Školnik Škrabe, a student of the master's study program Nature Conservation, 2nd cycle, will present her Master's Thesis entitled Assessment of population density of ungulates and mesocarnivores with the help of phototraps.

Zoom link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/7119733027

Zoom password: c8Ksnb

You are all kindly invited!

Friday, 15 December 2023 Newly acquired adapted research projects ARIS

The Department of Mathematics at UP IAM and theDepartment of Information Sciences and Technologies at UP Famnit have once again succeeded in the public call for (co)financing adapted research projects under the complementary scheme for applications to the European Research Council (ERC) calls, announced by the Public Agency for Research and Innovation of the Republic of Slovenia (ARIS). 

UP Famnit successfully acquired a project titled "Uncovering the user consumption experiences through computational psychological modelling," funded for a period of 3 years, led by Dr. Marko Tkalčič from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies.

21st-century life offers increasingly accurate recommendation algorithms based on new, deep-learning approaches that extract user-specific information from the user's past behaviour. However, these systems still lack an interpretable reasoning on why a certain item (e.g. a film or a music piece) is suitable for a user and, more importantly, do not fully explain the item consumption impact on the user. PsyCom will create a paradigm shift from the current behavioural approach by establishing a new computational framework containing experience, user, and item models, datasets, instruments for annotations, ethical guidelines, datasets, and evaluation metrics. The data sources for features will be digital user traces and media content. Finally, we will validate the approaches through use cases.

At UP IAM, we successfully obtained a project titled "Some applications of t-point counts in algebraic and combinatorial graph theory from the point of view of association schemes," funded for a period of 2 years, led by Dr. Safet Penjić from the Department of Mathematics.

Project abstract: There are several types of finite, undirected, connected graphs that have the sort of combinatorial regularity that can be analysed using combinatorial or algebraic methods (algebraic methods such as linear algebra, geometry, linear programming bounds, special functions, orthogonalpolynomials, representation theory and etc.). In this project we build up and continue to study $t$-point counts, the scientific work that we started in the paper ``A unified view of inequalities for distance-regular graphs (part I)'', J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 154 (2022) by Arnold Neumaier and Safet Penjić.

Thursday, 14 December 2023 UP FAMNIT students tested their programming skills at the Central European Regional Contest - CERC

From the 9th to the 10th of December, computer enthusiasts gathered at the Central European Regional Contest (CERC) in Ljubljana, which is part of the largest and most prestigious university computer science competition in the world - the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC).

The University of Primorska was represented by: Vasilije Božarić (a 2nd-year student of Mathematics), Miloš Jevtović ( absolvent of the Mathematics programme) and Jovan Pavlović (a student of the Master’s programme Data Science). Dr. Andrej Brodnik (competition leader) and Dr. Nino Bašić from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies at UP FAMNIT also contributed to the implementation of the competition.

The competition, attended around 60 teams from the best universities in the region, was organized by the Faculty of Computer and Information Science of the University of Ljubljana (UL FRI) in cooperation with ACM Slovenia, Association for Computing Machinery. 

Congratulations to the competitors!

Wednesday, 13 December 2023 We are entering the new year with a new student leadership

UP FAMNIT Student Council has elected a new leadership. At the constitutive session held on 12 December 2023, Gabriela Laznik Zalaznik, a student of Biopsychology, was elected as President, Pavel Jolakoski, a student of Computer Science, as vice president, and Yelyzaveta Karazhova, a student of Biopsychology, as Secretary. In addition, the students will be represented, besides the president of the Student Council, by Teodora Ilić, who will also have the role of the UP FAMNIT representative in the Senate of the University of Primorska.

We wish the UP FAMNIT Student council successful work!

Wednesday, 13 December 2023 Together we are stepping UP for the fridge of Good Heart

The cooperation between UP and Radio Capris has been going on successfully for many years, with UP being particularly associated with them at events for students (such as Orientation Days or StartUP), and the campaign they run in December connects the wider community, which is why UP responded to the invitation to participate in the campaign both last year and this year. Radio Capris traditionally organises the December charity campaign "Fridge of a Warm Heart", which helps families in need in our region.

Last year, 8.5 tonnes of goods and €64,167 in funds were collected. The amount of goods collected is not important - every donation is precious. 

• food products with a longer expiry date (pasta, rice, oil, sugar, breakfast cereals, etc.)
• treats for the festive season (chocolates, panettone, biscuits, jam, chocolate spread),
• personal care and hygiene products (shampoos, shower gels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap); and
• cleaning products.

They do not accept used toys or clothes.

The collection boxes are located in the Famnit lobby, accompanied by our joyfully decorated tree. 

Thank you for steppingUP. We wish you a warm and colourful December! 

Tuesday, 12 December 2023 The full video of 2nd Famnits' Biological Evening is now available

The second lecture of the Famnits' Biological Evenings titled “Circularity of biobased, biodegradable, and non-degradable plastics,” was given by Dorian Vodopia, UiT- The Arctic University of Norway.

The lecture covered several research areas, commencing with an introductory segment on macroplastics pollution in the marine environment, delving into the material flows / effects of Abandoned, Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG), and current mitigation strategies. Consequently, the lecture briefly probed into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and underlined the existing research gaps and efforts in integrating the impacts of "Ghost Fishing" on marine ecosystems and biodiversity within Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) modelling. An overview of the SFI DSolve project and the latest developments in Research Area 5: Circularity of biobased, biodegradable, and non-degradable plastics, were presented. Including the ALDFG retrieval operation done in collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, a long-term in-situ assessment of “Ghost Fishing” impacts on benthic environments: stock-specific catch rates in relation to gillnets and pots, and modelling the fate of ALDFG within the Norwegian marine environment.

About lecturer: Dorian Vodopia, born the 5. 3. 1996 in Rijeka, Croatia, attained a bachelor’s degree in Marine Sciences at the University Juraj Dobrila of Pula, Croatia in 2017. Thesis title: “Synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their impact on the sperm of sea urchin A. lixula”. Subsequently, in 2020 he obtained a master’s degree in Nature Conservation at the University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia. Thesis title: „Embryotoxicity and oxidative stress in the sea urchin P. lividus after co-exposure to PMMA microparticles and NSAID indomethacin”. From January 2021 to January 2023, he was employed as a project associate at the Laboratory for Marine Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, Centre for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. Since April 2023, he has been employed as a PhD fellow at UiT- The Arctic University of Norway, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, HARVEST research group, DSolve Project Research Area 5. His PhD work is: „Inclusion of ghost fishing and its effects on ecosystems and biodiversity in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)”.

The 3rd lecture of the Famnits' Biological Evenings series titled “Circularity of biobased, biodegradable, and non-degradable plastics,'' will be held on 19 December, 2023, at 7pm, via ZOOM. The lecture will be conducted by Anna Gasperl from the University of Graz.  More info. > HERE

Monday, 11 December 2023 FTP – Faculty Tournament in Programming

FTP (Faculty Tournament in Programming) is a competition where students have the opportunity to test their programming skills in a fun way. Participants develop a program (Player) that plays a turn-based game on their behalf against other competitors. The goal is to create a program (Player) that responds best to the strategies of other competitors, without access to their source code.

This year, we invite you once again to participate! The competition brings many changes, with the most notable being the team dimension (games in pairs). Other changes will be presented at the official introduction on December 12, 2023, in classroom Rlab3 at 8:30 AM.

You are cordially invited!

We invite all UP FAMNIT students to participate!

• Start: 11. 12. 2023
• End: 1. 3. 2024
• Finals: TBA

The official website: https://tekmovanje.famnit.upr.si/

Tuesday, 5 December 2023 Niki Hrovatin, new Doctor of Science

Today, 5 December 2023, we welcomed another doctor of science at UP FAMNIT.

Niki Hrovatin, student of doctoral study programe Computer Science at UP FAMNIT has successfully defended his doctoral thesis Enabling Decentralized Privacy Preserving Data Processing in Sensor Networks; under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Jernej Vičič, PhD and co-mentorship of Prof. Michaël Mrissa, PhD.

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

Tuesday, 5 December 2023 Research visits to the University of Malaga and University of Sheffield

Assoc. Prof. Matjaž Kljun and Assoc. Prof. Klen Čopič Pucihar, UP FAMNIT and UP IAM researcher from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, visited the University of Malaga as part of the ERASMUS+ KA220 project FTDCHE - Fostering the Transversal Digital Competences in Higher Education.

With a duration of 30 months, this Erasmus+ project integrates five Universities (the University of Málaga, the University of Applied Sciences of Leuven-Limburg, the University of Primorska, the Polytechnic University of Bucharesti,  Šiauliai State University of Applied Sciences) with the leaders in the research and development of Information and Communication Technologies. The project aims to promote the updating of advanced digital skills of citizens in general and Higher Education students.

The project worth 250,000 EUR, is granted by the European Commission.

Sollertia is the collective name of the 3-year Erasmus+ project KA220-HED »FTDCHE« (Fostering the Transversal Digital Competences in Higher Education), which started in December 2022, and its »LMS« (Learning Management System).

You can read more about the FTDCHE/Sollertia project here.

Between November 26 and December 3, 2023, Dr. Nino Bašić (UP FAMNIT, UP IAM and IMFM) and Prof. Primož Potočnik (UL FMF and IMFM) visited Prof. Patrick W. Fowler, FRS, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As part of the research visit, they also met with Prof. Barry T. Pickup, Maxine M. McCarthy and Prof. Steven P. Armes, FRS.

They discussed various topics of chemical graph theory and physical chemistry: the use of nut graphs in physics, applications of graphs with a small number of orbits in mathematical chemistry, the energy of toroidal graphs, directed nut graphs, etc.

The visit was financially supported by the Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics (IMFM).

Monday, 4 December 2023 PSYCHOLOGY AND SPORT: INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS »SPORT THROUGH THE EYES OF PSYCHOLOGY«

On December 14 and 15, 2023, an international congress entitled »Sport through the eyes of psychology« will be held in the Crystal Palace (BTC Ljubljana) under the auspices of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia - Association of Sports Federations (OKS-ZŠZ). The Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, the Sports Psychology Section of the Association of Slovenian Psychologists and the Faculty of Sports of the University of Ljubljana are involved in the organization and implementation of the event.

Experienced foreign and domestic experts in the field of sports psychology will give lectures at the congress, and the red thread of the entire event will be various psychological aspects in sports. Due to the short time frame, the lectures will be intensive, and the lecturers will focus mainly on creating a safe environment for athletes, aspects of mental health and the role of psychology among young athletes. Not only psychology in elite and competitive sports, but also psychology in the context of recreational sports and physical education in schools will be discussed.

The program is divided into 2 parts, namely Workshops for psychologists (both days in the morning), which is intended for psychologists, and the Congress part (both days in the afternoon), which is intended for coaches, pedagogues, athletes and other workers in sports.

Workshops for psychologists

The morning part is intended for psychologists. The workshop entitled »Mindfulness exercises« will be led, together with Tina Jeromen, by Dr. Maja Smrdu from the Department of Psychology at UP FAMNIT, also a member of the Organizing Committee of the congress. Other workshops will be carried out by Paul Wylleman, Sidonio Serpa, Chris Harwood, Boris Balent and Hafrun Kristjansdottir.

The registration fee is EUR 50 and includes participation in both workshop days.

Registration for the workshops is possible via the e-mail address sportna.psihologija@gmail.com or via this link. Places in the workshops are limited.

Congress part

The congress work program will start on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. and is intended for the general public. Also in this part of the congress, Dr. Maja Smrdu will provide a lecture entitled »Abuse in Slovenian sport«.

The registration fee for both days and congress material is EUR 50 (or EUR 30 for students).

Registration for the congress (afternoon part) is possible at this link.

If anyone would like to register for both parts of the congress (morning and afternoon), the registration fee will be 90 EUR.

You can read more about the event, the speakers and the organizing committee here.

Thursday, 30 November 2023 The doctoral thesis defence of the student Niki Hrovatin

Niki Hrovatin, student of doctoral study programe Computer Science at UP FAMNIT will defend his doctoral thesis Enabling Decentralized Privacy Preserving Data Processing in Sensor Networks; under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Jernej Vičič, PhD and co-mentorship of Prof. Michaël Mrissa, PhD.

The defence will take place on Tuesday, 2 December 2023 at 9:00 on Zoom:

https://upr-si.zoom.us/j/5389732484?pwd=bUxySzZhRkFmUjMrekozdFE5NTBwUT09

The doctoral disertation is available in the library at UP.

Wednesday, 29 November 2023 Prof. Dr. Elena Bužan is a new Executive board member of the largest global consortium in the field of genomics (ERGA)

Prof. Dr. Elena Bužan, from the Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT, has become a member of the Executive board of the European Reference Consortium Genome Atlas (ERGA), which consists of more than 1000 European researchers in the field of genomics - currently the largest global consortium in this field.  

Dr. Bužan, who is also the coordinator of the Slovenian consortium ERGA, was elected by the votes of the representatives of all European countries. She says that her new role represents a big responsibility and obligation, which will have an impact on the University of Primorska itself, and put it on the map of visibility in Europe. 

“As a newly appointed member of the European Reference Consortium Genome Atlas (ERGA), I will seek to expand collaboration with other projects and initiatives from all around the world, who strive to expand the catalogue of  reference genomes and its applicability.  The cooperation is not just a scientific endeavour, but also a work, which brings together various experts in the field of biodiversity protection, from different fields and backgrounds,” sums up her new role, prof. dr. Elena Bužan.   

ERGA actively responds to the current threats to biodiversity by pursuing and researching genomic biodiversity. Recent data shows that one-fifth of European species are at risk of extinction, therefore understanding the insight of the genetic basis that shapes each species is crucial for a successful understanding and protection of biodiversity. 

To achieve the goal, the consortium (ERGA) cooperates with various governmental and non-governmental organizations and connects with the locals through various activities, which was also pointed out by Prof. Dr. Elena Bužan. 

“By establishing strong partnerships, we at ERGA aim to create a synergistic environment where knowledge, resources and innovation in the field of genomic biodiversity research are freely and efficiently shared. This collaborative approach is key to tackling the complex challenges of genomic research and achieving breakthroughs, which were previously thought to be impossible,”she added. 

European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) is the hub of the Earth Biogenome Project (EBP), which aims to slow down the extinction of species and the decline of biodiversity worldwide using genetic and genomic approaches. 

We sincerely congratulate Prof. Dr. Elena Bužan for her achievement!

Wednesday, 29 November 2023 Đorđe Mitrović, UP FAMNIT Alumni, won the Gordon Preston Prize for the most outstanding student talk at the 7th Australian Algebra Conference

Đorđe Mitrović, graduate of the Master's programme in Mathematical Sciences at UP FAMNIT, won the Gordon Preston Prize for the most outstanding student talk at the 7th Australian Algebra Conference.

The Gordon Preston Prize is awarded annually for the most outstanding student talk at the Australian Algebra Conference. The winner of the prize receives $300 and a certificate. The prize is named in honour of renowned semigroup theorist Professor Gordon Preston (Monash University), who played an important role in the instigation of the annual conference known over the years as the Algebra Conference of Victoria, the Victorian Algebra Conference and the Australian Algebra Conference.

The Gordon Preston Prize was first awarded in 2006, with Professor Gordon Preston himself attending the conference and presenting the prize to the inaugural winner.

After graduating at UP FAMNIT, Đorđe continued his academic journey at the renowned University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is currently developing his PhD thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Gabriel Verret, and co-mentorship by Dr. Jeroen Schillewaert and Dr. Florian Lehner (latter also being a former post-doc student at the University of Primorska).

Đorđe visited our faculty in June as he participated at the 11th PhD Summer School in Discrete Mathematics in Koper, jointly organized by UP FAMNIT, UP IAM, SDAMS and IMFM.

We sincerely congratulate our Alumni and wish his a lot of upcoming success!

Source: https://sites.google.com/a/ltumathstats.com/austalg/gordon-preston-prize
 

Monday, 27 November 2023 INAUGURATION OF THE RECTOR OF UP

The inauguration of the Rector of UP took place on 23 November 2023 at the Regional Museum in Koper - the new four-year term will be led by the current Rector, Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, who was elected in the elections in May 2023.

The event was hosted by Prof. Dr. Mara Cotič, Dean of the UP PEF as the oldest UP Senator, who in her speech emphasised: »The rector must be the person who guides the university community of learners in the right direction, and for this she must have a wealth of experience and a broad outlook, and above all she must serve as an example to her entire academic community. With her tirelessness, diligence, attention to detail, and ability to listen to students, scientists, artists and professionals alike, Prof. Klavdija Kutnar has proved beyond doubt during the past term that she is such an example to all of us who serve the academic community of the University of Primorska. That is why the professors, researchers, professional staff and students of the UP have once again honoured her and given her the responsibility to lead the University of Primorska in the new term of office 2023-2027.«

The Mayor of the Municipality of Koper, Aleš Bržan, also wished the UP Rector a successful continuation of her goals: »The University is most present in Koper. And it is here that some of the stories that other Slovenian cities are following were born. Recently, we have jointly opened a library that offers 24-hour access to students, researchers, and citizens. (...) The University ensures that young, educated, active people come to the environment and contribute to the development of our city, and as Mayor I want as many of them as possible to stay here.«

Monday, 27 November 2023 Third Famnits' Biological Evening

 You are invited to the third Famnits' Biological Evening,

»To be stressed or not to be stressed – Antioxidants for plants and humans«,

on 6 December 2023, 7 pm, via ZOOM.

The lecture will be given by Anna Gasperl, Institute of Biology, University of Graz.

Antioxidants help us stay healthy and prevent damage. This may sound familiar to you. In advertisements for improving the immune system, such statements are often used. Antioxidants are chemical compounds with the power to neutralize free radicals. Free radicals can grab an electron from other molecules, which may help in cellular communication or, if they exceed a certain limit of tolerance, lead to damaged DNA, leaking cells, and other serious problems. The human body can produce some antioxidants, such as glutathione, and others need to be taken up by food. We will learn how plant antioxidants work in plants and humans in the first part of this lecture. In the second part, Anna Gasperl will explain how antioxidants can be detected in plant cells and how relocating antioxidants between cell compartments helps plants deal with unfavorable conditions.

Anna Gasperl is a plant physiologist and external lecturer at the Institute of Biology, University of Graz. She has been a university assistant in the Stress- and Cellbiology of Plants group (2018-2021). She graduated from the University of Graz in 2006 in Biodiversity and Ecology, obtained her Master’s degree in Botany in 2009, including field work in South Africa (Stellenbosch University) and completed her doctoral studies in adaptation of perennial ryegrass‘ sugar metabolism to cold and hormonal treatments in 2017, with research stays in France (University of Caen). She worked in science education for the Botanical Garden Graz, Natural History Museum Graz, Frutura Fruit and Vegetable Academy. Maria Müller and Anna Gasperl study plant stress tolerance to changes in light or water supply and pathogens (Zucchini yellow mosaic virus) and how plants physiologically adapt to unfavorable conditions. These adaptations include information exchange (signaling) and relocation of antioxidants between cell compartments.

Friday, 24 November 2023 The Department of Biodiversity hosted numerous organizations from practice

Today, 22 November 2023, the Department of Biodiversity hosted an event aimed to exchange opinions and to present organisations, where students of the study programmes Conservation Biology (BSc) and Nature Conservation (MSc) had already taken their internship opportunities. Eleven organisations responded to the invitation for this event, which provided detailed information about possibilities.

The meeting was organised to enhance the quality of the internship experience and improve the interaction with those organisations, which have an interest in working with our department and our students.

»We are very pleased to have been able to host such an event, because we believe that our students, besides getting the information about the internship opportunities offered by various organisations working in the fields of nature conservation, biology and education, also got the first impression of their potential employers and their mission,« said assist. Martin Senič from the Department of Biodiversity at UP FAMNIT.

We would also like to thank all the present organisations for their participation and looking forward for the future collaboration:

• The Škocjan Caves   

• Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve

• Public Institute Landscape Park Strunjan

• Gimnazija-Ginnasio G.R. Carli Koper-Capodistria

• Botanical Garden (UM)

• National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food

• Kmetijsko gozdarski zavod Nova Gorica, oddelek Sadjarski center Bilje

• Aquarium Piran

• Morigenos 

• Seasonal lakes of Pivka Nature Park

• Prirodoslovni musem Rijeka

Friday, 24 November 2023 Intercultural orientation and safety management for outgoing students: Staff Training at Ghent University

Colleagues from UP FAMNIT, Sanja Sandić from Communication Office and Tanja Labus from International Office, attended a Staff training at Ghent University, held from 22 to 24 November on the topic of Intercultural orientation and safety management for outgoing students.

The three-day programme included lectures on international and intercultural competences, preparation and safety abroad for outgoing students and topics related to student and staff mobilities to the Global South. Colleagues from UP FAMNIT also presented best practices on promotion of incoming and outgoing student mobilities.

The training was attended by 23 participants from 15 countries.

Lessons learned from the staff training include establishing structured educational programmes for outgoing students while utilizing different digital resources. One of the themes included is crisis management and debriefing after the mobility.

We are currently in a process of establishing a new Erasmus+ partnership with Ghent University.

Key findings and guidelines from the staff training will be presented to colleagues at UP in the following weeks.

Thursday, 23 November 2023 The Department of Biodiversity (UP FAMNIT) was part of the annual meeting of the Botanical Society of Slovenia

Since 2011, the Botanical Society of Slovenia has been celebrating Wraber Day (Slovene: Wraberjev dan) at its annual meetings. On Saturday, November 11, 2023, the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts hosted the traditional autumn meeting.

In the introductory part, the participants were welcomed by the President of the Botanical Society of Slovenia, Andrej Podobnik, and the Head of the Institute of Biology ZRC SAZU, Urban Šilc.

Traditionally, the Department of Biodiversity (UP FAMNIT) was part of the meeting, where Assist. Dr. Živa Fišer delivered a lecture entitled 'Invasive (Oxalis pes-caprae): Are we witnessing a rapid evolution of the reproductive strategy after introduction into a new environment?,' additionally, Assist. Dr. Katarina Šoln presented picture books for children, written and illustrated by authors from four different countries (Slovenia, Italy, the Czech Republic, and the Middle East), all of which relate either to endangered or otherwise interesting plants. 

Within the Wraber's Day, Assist. Dr.  Peter Glasnović also presented his results from studying the morphological and molecular diversity of Drypis spinosa, while Nina Lončarević spoke about the endangered vascular flora of Europe and the preliminary results of the review of European national red lists.

The Wraber days were named after the Slovenian botanist Tone Wraber, an honorary member of the Botanical Society of Slovenia.

Thursday, 23 November 2023 International exchanges and opportunities abroad for PhD students

UP FAMNIT International Office is organizing an informative session, designed for doctoral students and other interested individuals, aiming to delve into the diverse realm of international exchanges and opportunities available abroad.

The meeting will be held in English, on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at 2 p.m., via Zoom.

We will cover a short overview of:

• Erasmus+ study exchanges (EU & non-EU).
• Erasmus+ traineeship opportunities (EU).
• Scholarships (Ad Futura, DAAD, Fullbright).
• Post-doctoral international prospects.

To attend the meeting you need to REGISTER in Zoom via the following link:
https://upr-si.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpdOChpz8jH92F84SpEI3BT4F_dw9GGSdl

• After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We hope you can join us!

Wednesday, 22 November 2023 AWARD CEREMONY FOR THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF TUTORING WORK FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2022/23

On Tuesday, 21 November 2023, awards were presented to UP student tutors who have done excellent work in the academic year 2022/2023. A lot has happened in the field of the tutoring system in the past academic year. The tutoring system broke new ground, a number of training sessions were held for both student tutors and teacher tutors, and the first tutor picnic was organised. While the responsibility for all this lies mainly with the student tutors, their coordinators also play a major role in guiding, supporting and motivating them during their tutoring sessions.

For numerous years, the Tutoring system at the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Science, and Information Technologies (UP FAMNIT) has played a crucial role in assisting students not only with academic challenges but also in navigating practical life obstacles. In the last academic year at UP FAMNIT, 21 students were part of it. Besides helping other students they contributed to the promotion activities of the Faculty's with engaging presentations at secondary schools, informational days, and various other events.

The participants were welcomed and thanked for their excellent work by the UP Vice-Rector for Education, Prof. Tina Štemberger, the coordinator of teachers tutors at UP 2022/23, Assoc. Prof. Sonja Čotar Konrad and the coordinator of the tutoring system at UP, Petra Majcen. Alja Polanec,UP Student Tutor Coordinator, joined in the thanks and greetings and made an indispensable contribution not only to the final event but also to all the activities of the academic year that have led to the successful progress in the field of tutoring.

UP Vice-Rector for Education emphasised: "The purpose of the tutoring system at UP is to create the conditions for an organised, systematic and by no means just random care for the development and involvement of each and every student at UP. In this context, student tutors and tutor teachers are responsible for strengthening direct contacts between all of us who meet in the university environment. And let me take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for the effort and energy you have put into your work, especially during this academic year. We have followed your work in the high-profile organisation of various activities for students, familiarisation and support meetings, and the promotion of UP at the wider Slovenian and international level."

In the beginning, the coordinators of the student tutors Lana Erjavec, Alja Polanec, Eva Krebl, Alen Mujkić, and Tian Janev, together with Associate Prof. Dr. Sonja Čotar Konrad, shared some highlights of the past academic year and plans for the current academic year. 

Afterward, awards were presented to the tutors at the individual UP members.

The UP FAMNIT student tutors were awarded by the UP teacher tutor coordinator Dr. Vesna Jug, and the student tutor coordinator Eva Krebl.

• The awards were awarded to: Anuška Dinić Nemanić, Mihail Filipovski, Pavel Jolakoski, Elsa Morina, Lucia Nikolić, Nevena Stojnić, Marko Taleski, Karolina Trajkovska, Matija Zagoranski, Nevena Stojnić, Eva Krebl.

• The awards were also awarded in absentia to: Ajla Šehović, Andrej Perković, Bogdan Šinik, Cita Jenko, Diar Gashi, Enya Kvarantan, Igor Heslenji, Jana Ristovska, Milan Milivojčević in Teodora Dalmacija.

We would like to thank all student tutors for their work and all the hours they dedicate to the students throughout the academic year and wish them every success in the future. 

    ​

Monday, 20 November 2023 The Congress of Slovenian psychologists successfully concluded with the Student Day

On Saturday, November 18, 2023, after three days of lectures and workshops in the field of psychology, we successfully concluded the 9th Congress of Slovenian Psychologists. In the program of the event, which was held under the title Self and environment: the intertwining of inner and outer worlds, we also added the STUDENT DAY, on which students had the opportunity to express themselves and contribute to the diversity of psychological research.

Students presented their research, projects, case studies and other contributions related to the central theme of the event.

They shared their ideas with a wide audience at the presentations with the following presentations:

• Sara Vidmar and Andreja Avsec: »Effects of narrative perspective on identification, emotion and immersion in reading fiction«,
• Vesna Muzek and Daša Gajšek: »The brain behind the wheel - how visual and auditory stimuli are intertwined with traffic safety«,
• Katja Šacer: »Psychological readiness for returning to sports«,
• Ema Kukovec: »Parental alcoholism and negative outcomes in children in middle and late childhood and adolescence«,
• Katarina Marjanović and Vesna Jug: »Do significant life events cause changes in attachment style in adulthood?«,
• Ajda Novak and Andreja Avsec: »Sexting in partner relationships in connection with intimacy and subjective well-being«.

In addition to these presentations, workshops on climate anxiety and professional writing were also held on the Student Day, and students were able to present their posters to the audience.

The congress was held under the honorary patronage of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, dr. Robert Golob, and the main organizers of the event were event are UP FAMNIT and the Association of Psychologists of Slovenia. The members of the Program and Organization Committee arranged a content-rich program, which, in addition to five plenary lectures, also included three round tables. The chair of the Program Committee was Prof. Vlasta Novak Zabukovec, full professor at UP FAMNIT and UL FF, and the president of the Organizing Committee was Assist. Prof. Vesna Jug, also a lecturer at UP FAMNIT.

The members of the UP FAMNIT Department of Psychology were pleased to receive the program relay baton, for which we would like to thank the Society of Psychologists of Slovenia.

Below we share some photos of the congress.

Within the Department of Psychology at UP FAMNIT, four study programs are implemented: Biopsychology for undergraduate and master's studies, Psychology for master's studies, and Suicidology and Mental Health for doctoral studies.

Thursday, 16 November 2023 The 9th CONGRESS OF SLOVENIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS is officially open

Between November 16 and 18, the 9th Congress of Slovenian Psychologists is taking place again after some years at the Bernardin Congress Center in Portorož, under the title Self and environment: the intertwining of inner and outer worlds. The congress is held under the honorary patronage of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, dr. Robert Golob, and the main organizers of the event are UP FAMNIT and the Association of Psychologists of Slovenia.

On behalf of the Program Committee, President Vlasta Novak Zabukovec, full professor at UP FAMNIT and UL FF, summed up the thoughts regarding the central theme of the congress: »We believe that this is a topic that opens up countless ideas. Me as an individual in a social, natural, built, virtual or otherwise defined environment. Me as a personality who reacts differently to events in the mentioned environments. Me as an active member who contributes to the wealth of social contacts, or me who is aware of the importance of the natural environment. Me, who is important to me to feel good in the built environment, and of course me, who always discovers something new in the virtual environment.«

Around 250 congress participants are already following the program, which includes four invited lectures:

• Maria Ojala from Örrebro University with the lecture »Climate-change hope among young people«,
• David Gosar from the Pediatric Clinic UKC Ljubljana with the lecture »Digital transformation of psychological practice and research«,
• Yannick Joye from the Vilnius University with the lecture »Natural environments and psychological well-being – traditional theories, theory critique and outlining a novel account« and
• Ernest Ženko from UP with the lecture »On the psychology of society«.

On Saturday, November 18, 2023, a STUDENT DAY will be held as part of the congress. This will be an opportunity for students to express themselves and contribute to the diversity of psychological research.

At Thursday's opening ceremony, the participants were addressed by Prof. Vlasta Novak Zabukovec, president of the Program Committee, Prof. Anja Podlesek, president of the Association of Psychologists of Slovenia, Prof. Klavdija Kutnar, Rector of UP, Eva Vodnik, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Dušica Boben, Director of the Center for Psychodiagnostic Resources.

The always inspiring Rudi Bučar enriched the program with his music.

Wednesday, 15 November 2023 A visit from the University of Belgrade as part of the RIN seminar

On Monday RIN seminar, Prof. Ivan Luković from the University of Belgrade visited us as part of the Erasmus+ exchange.

Nowadays, modern business includes acquisition and storing enormous data volumes, larger than ever before. Most often, collected data are used in a shorter time frame, and then they are archived and almost not used, effectively. On the other hand, such data represent a significant value that a company can utilize so as to reach created goals and provide a sustainable development. On 13 November 2023, Prof. Ivan Luković held a lecture on »big data crisis« for our students and other interested participants.

»I really enjoy to come to Slovenia in general, as it is not my first time in Slovenia. This is an emerging university with special atmosphere, which offers really good opportunities for students and teacher. We had already started the cooperation in 2018 with my first visit and I believe we will continue with that. I like to be in contact with students and teachers and I am also engaged in some topics related to Data Science here. We are open to several options and possibilities on how we can continue our cooperation, also with the help of the CEEPUS network,« added Prof. Luković.

More about the seminar and Prof. Luković is available at this link.

We look forward to further cooperation and new successes.

Monday, 13 November 2023 THE FIRST INNOVATION IN PIKA EVENT

The University of Primorska (UP), the Centre for Development and Knowledge Transfer (CRPZ UP FM) and the Municipality of Koper (MOK) organised the event "Innovation in pika" on World Science Day, Friday, 10 November 2023, with the aim of presenting the importance of innovation for research and development and raising questions on how to innovate and present the field of innovation in an innovative and appropriate way. The event brought together researchers from a wide range of fields at UP, the local community with a municipal perspective, and guests from business. This offered many opportunities for networking to develop new, common innovative ideas in the local, regional, and wider area.

The opening speeches of the Rector of UP, Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar and the Mayor of the MOK, Mr. Ales Bržan, were followed by presentations of good practices by the guests of the meeting:

• Strengthening university competitiveness: intellectual property management for researchers (Mr. Tadej Černivec, Director of IPRC, d.o.o.),
• Presentation of the Centre for Development and Knowledge Transfer - CRPZ UP (Prof. Dr. Simona Kustec, Head of CRPZ),
• Presentation of the Fortissimo project and the Slovenian company Invida, as the winning EU Entrepreneurial Innovation Project for 2023 (Mr. Blaž Gregorin, Director of INVIDA, d.o.o.)

The presentations were followed by a Round Table on different success stories of innovation at UP, where different representatives of UP members talked about the way they work and communicate innovation:

• Living Laboratory for Cultural Heritage (Dr. Zrinka Mileusnić, UP FHŠ),
• Device and process for attention management and quality interaction in two-way audio-communication platforms (Dr. Denis Trček), Project Think XR (Prof. Dr. Peter Štrukelj, Matevž Malej) (UP FM),
• Scientific Slam (dr. Nino Bašić, UP Famnit),
• UP PEF Ra-Ra Early Childhood Education Research and Development Unit (Dr. Sonja Rutar, UP Pef),
• UP FTŠ sTUOdio Turistica - Student Studio for Sustainable Development and Innovation in Tourism (Dr. Dejan Križaj, UP FTŠ Turistica),
• Ergonomic Stromma (Dr. Nejc Šarabon, UP FVZ),
• Sustainable valorisation of olive leaves within the OLEAF4VALUE project (Dr. Jakub Sandak and Albert Kravos, UP IAM)

Afterward, the participants visited the exhibition of good practices, which is on display in the UP Armeria Hall.

Monday, 13 November 2023 Successfully obtained projects at UP FAMNIT and UP IAM in October

UP FAMNIT and UP IAM were once again successful in the public call for (co)financing research projects for the year 2023, funding from the Agency for Research and Innovation (ARIS), where UP FAMNIT successfully obtained partnership basic research projects (ARIS) and targeted research programme (ARIS).

Partnership basic research projects (ARIS), entitled: “Improving B-WIM performance based on big data and artificial intelligence,” is funded for a period of 3 years and led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Klen Čopič Pucihar from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies (UP FAMNIT).

Leading partner: ZAG - Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije

The increasing number of heavy goods vehicles has a significant impact on road safety and infrastructure management. Overloaded vehicles are particularly problematic as they increase safety risks and accelerate the destruction of road infrastructure. Preventing congestion starts with traffic monitoring, while traditional static weighing, while providing the most accurate results, is expensive and inefficient for heavy traffic. As a result, we use Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems to collect information on traffic loads, but these have significant drawbacks. The project aims to address these shortcomings through an alternative approach - using big data and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) methods.

More

Targeted research programme (ARIS) entitled: “Monitoring of vector-borne diseases in vectors in Slovenia,”is funded for a period of 3 years and led by the dr. Katja Adam (UP FAMNIT) and Tatjana Horvat (UL MF).

The project, which will focus on the control of mosquito and tick populations in Slovenia and the pathogens they transmit, has an interdisciplinary approach. The objectives of the project include the surveillance of populations of invasive and emerging mosquito and tick species in Slovenia, including in urban areas, with a particular focus on endemic areas of the country during periods of seasonal vector activity. In addition, efforts are made to identify new vector-borne pathogens of relevance to human health and to assess the risk of introduction and outbreak of these new pathogens. As part of their field work, they will monitor mosquitoes and ticks and identify vector-borne pathogens using modern diagnostic approaches.

More

The Institute Andrej Marušič (UP IAM) successfully obtained two small basic research projects (ARIS), both funded for a period of 3 years, led by Dr. Diego De Leo and Dr. Dragan Marušič.

Hamilton cycles with rotational symmetry in connected vertex-transitive graphs, leader, UP IAM, UP leader: dr. Dragan Marušič

Motivated by recently introduced graph parameter that quantifies how symmetric a Hamilton cycle in a graph can be the proposed project on symmetries of Hamilton cycles in connected vertex-transitive graphs. The main object of the proposed project is to study Hamilton compression of connected vertex-transitive graphs, those for which the existency Hamilton cycles is already known, and in view of the connection with the polycirculant conjecture, also those for which no information on Hamilton cycles has been obtained thus far. In this sense the proposed project has a clear link to the Lovasz hamiltonicity problem for vertex-transitive graphs.

More

Lonely? Mix method study of general and vulnerable populations to understand the link between loneliness and mental health, leader, UP IAM, UP leader: dr. Diego de Leo

As social beings, humans have a fundamental need to belong. Social relationships and good social integration are therefore crucial for developing a sense of emotional fulfilment and life satisfaction. When the need for belonging is not met, we talk about social isolation and/or loneliness. Both concepts are now recognised as an important public health problem, as they are associated with various negative consequences for (mental) health, such as depression, low life satisfaction, high blood pressure, premature mortality and increased risk of suicidal behaviour. The proposed project, therefore, aims to (i) explore the construct of loneliness in-depth, (ii) examine the negative impact of loneliness on individuals at different life periods using different research approaches, (iii) identify vulnerable groups within these life periods for whom loneliness is one of the most important risk factors for the development of mental health problems, (iv) and design high quality and culturally specific interventions.

More

Thursday, 2 November 2023 Maheshya Weerasinghe, new Doctor of Science

Today, 2 November 2023, we welcomed another doctor of science at UP FAMNIT.

Maheshya Weerasinghe, student of the international joint doctoral study programe Computer Science at UP FAMNIT has successfully defended her doctoral thesis Adaptive Guidance in Extended Reality Learning Environments; under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Matjaž Kljun, PhD and Alice Toniolo, PhD and co-mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Klen Čopič Pucihar, PhD, Prof. Aaron Quigley, PhD and Angela Miguel, PhD.

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

Friday, 27 October 2023 Second Famnits' Biological Evening

You are invited to the second Famnits' Biological Evening,

»Dsolve Project Research Area 5. Circularity of biobased, biodegradable, and non-degradable plastics«,

on Wednesday, 8 November, at 7pm,
via ZOOM.

The lecture will be given by Dorian Vodopia, UiT- The Arctic University of Norway.

The lecture will cover several research areas, commencing with an introductory segment on macroplastics pollution in the marine environment, delving into the material flows / effects of Abandoned, Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG), and current mitigation strategies. Consequently, the lecture will briefly probe into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and underline the existing research gaps and efforts in integrating the impacts of "Ghost Fishing" on marine ecosystems and biodiversity within Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) modelling. An overview of the SFI DSolve project and the latest developments in Research Area 5: Circularity of biobased, biodegradable, and non-degradable plastics, will be presented. Including the ALDFG retrieval operation done in collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, a long-term in-situ assessment of “Ghost Fishing” impacts on benthic environments: stock-specific catch rates in relation to gillnets and pots, and modelling the fate of ALDFG within the Norwegian marine environment.

About lecturer: Dorian Vodopia, born the 5. 3. 1996 in Rijeka, Croatia, attained a bachelor’s degree in Marine Sciences at the University Juraj Dobrila of Pula, Croatia in 2017. Thesis title: “Synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their impact on the sperm of sea urchin A. lixula”. Subsequently, in 2020 he obtained a master’s degree in Nature Conservation at the University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia. Thesis title: „Embryotoxicity and oxidative stress in the sea urchin P. lividus after co-exposure to PMMA microparticles and NSAID indomethacin”. From January 2021 to January 2023, he was employed as a project associate at the Laboratory for Marine Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, Centre for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. Since April 2023, he has been employed as a PhD fellow at UiT- The Arctic University of Norway, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, HARVEST research group, DSolve Project Research Area 5. His PhD work is: „Inclusion of ghost fishing and its effects on ecosystems and biodiversity in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)”.

Thursday, 26 October 2023 The doctoral thesis defence of the student Maheshya Weerasinghe

Maheshya Weerasinghe, student of the international joint doctoral study programe Computer Science at UP FAMNIT will defend her doctoral thesis Adaptive Guidance in Extended Reality Learning Environments; under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Matjaž Kljun, PhD and Alice Toniolo, PhD and co-mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Klen Čopič Pucihar, PhD, Prof. Aaron Quigley, PhD and Angela Miguel, PhD.

The defence will take place on Thurdsay, 2 November 2023 at 15:00 on Zoom:

https://upr-si.zoom.us/j/5389732484?pwd=bUxySzZhRkFmUjMrekozdFE5NTBwUT09

The doctoral disertation will be available in the library at UP in the following days.

Monday, 23 October 2023 TWO POSITIONS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATICS

UP Member: UP FAMNIT

1. ASSISTANT - ASSITANT

The employment relationship will be concluded full-time 40 hours per week (100%), for a fixed period of 12 months.

The position includes the duties defined in the job description, mainly the following:

• participation in the implementation of educational, scientific-research and artistic work and the performance of other tasks specified in the acts of UP and its members,
• management of various forms of exercises or training students in the subject according to the instructions of the subject holder, cooperation with the teacher in the preparation and implementation of students' knowledge tests and in other pedagogical activities,
• preparation of teaching materials, equipment and aids for carrying out exercises,
• carrying out consultations with students and mentoring and/or mentoring students in accordance with the acts of UP and its members,
• engagement in the scientific research field, transferring the results of scientific research work into the study process and participating in activities related to pedagogical and scientific research work in the professional field,
• carrying out other professional and development work that fulfills the mission of the university and raises the reputation of the university, its members, the profession,
• cooperation in the work of bodies, working bodies and member commissions or universities,
• performing other tasks as instructed by superiors.

Conditions for performing work:

• specialization after higher education (previous) in the field of Computer Science and Informatics or
• higher university education (previous) in the field of Computing and informatics or
• Master's degree in the field of Computer Science and Informatics,
• active knowledge of the Slovenian language, due to the performance of pedagogical work,
• active knowledge of a world language.

Additional functional skills required:

• computer skills,
• handling audiovisual equipment,
• the ability to work in a team,
• organization skills,
• communicativeness,
• practical skills.

Other desirable skills:

election to the title of higher education assistant in the field of Computer Science and Informatics, or fulfilling the conditions for election to the said title.

2. ASSISTANT - ASSISTANT WITH PHD

The employment relationship will be concluded full-time 40 hours per week (100%), for a fixed period of 12 months.

Detailed description of work and tasks according to the field of work:

• participation in the implementation of educational, scientific-research and artistic work and the performance of other tasks specified in the acts of UP and its members,
• management of various forms of exercises or training students in the subject according to the instructions of the subject holder, cooperation with the teacher in the preparation and implementation of students' knowledge tests and in other pedagogical activities,
• preparation of teaching materials, equipment and aids for carrying out exercises,
• carrying out consultations with students and mentoring and/or mentoring students in accordance with the acts of UP and its members,
• engagement in the scientific research field, transferring the results of scientific research work into the study process and participating in activities related to pedagogical and scientific research work in the professional field,
• carrying out other professional and development work that fulfills the mission of the university and raises the reputation of the university, its members, the profession,
• cooperation in the work of bodies, working bodies and member commissions or universities,
• performing other tasks as instructed by superiors.

Conditions for performing work:

• Doctor of Science (previous) or Doctor of Science in the field of Computer Science and Informatics,
• active knowledge of the Slovenian language, due to the performance of pedagogical work,
• active knowledge of a world language.

Additional functional skills required:

• computer skills,
• handling audiovisual equipment,
• the ability to work in a team,
• organization skills
• the ability to give advice,
• independence,
• communicativeness,
• practical skills.

Other desirable skills:

-election to the title of higher education assistant in the field of Computer Science and Informatics, or fulfilling the conditions for election to the said title.

Candidate must be fluent in slovene language!

Application: Interested applicants can send written offers with a motivational letter explaining its interest for the position and CV to vanessa.pobega@famnit.upr.si 

Application deadline: 12 December 2023

Friday, 20 October 2023 Presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation – Richard Acquah

We invite you to the presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation Integrating Digital Building Technologies for Enhanced Service Life Performance Modelling of Wooden Structures of the student Richard Acquah, enrolled in the doctoral study programme Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments.

The presentation will take place on Friday, 27 October 2023 at 16.00 in InnoRenew CoE, Livade 6a, 6310 Izola, room Tilia. The presenation will be available also at TEAMS tool, to which you can access here.

Thursday, 19 October 2023

Thursday, 19 October 2023 VICE-RECTOR PROMOTED THIRTEEN NEW DOCTORS OF SCIENCE

On Thursday, 19 October 2023, a solemn promotion of Doctors of Science of the UP took place in the hall of the Armeria Palace in Koper. The Vice-rector of the UP promoted thirteen new Doctors of Science, who completed their doctoral studies between March and October 2023. As of today, the University of Primorska has 328 Doctors of Science.

Kenny Štorgel  completed his studies at UP FAMNIT with the doctoral thesis »Certain Graph-Theoretic Invariants and Decompositions: From Structure to Bounds and Algorithms« under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof.  Borut Lužar and co-mentorship of Prof. Martin Milanič.

Doctoral dissertation summary: »Certain Graph-Theoretic Invariants and Decompositions: From Structure to Bounds and Algorithms«

The first part of the dissertation focuses on various graph invariants related with colorings of planar graphs. Among the results of this part are certain generalizations of known results on proper colorings, a new affirmative result in the direction of proving an open conjecture on cyclic colorings and improved bounds for parity colorings of planar graphs. The second part of the dissertation then focuses on special not yet fully understood graph classes where absence of large cliques is necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of tree decompositions of small width and the study of closely related and fairly new invariant called the tree-independence number. Algorithmic consequences for the aforementioned graph classes are also examined and it shows that certain problems are solvable in polynomial time in such graph classes.

Sara Zupan, employee at UP FAMNIT, completed her studies at UP FHŠ with the doctoral thesis »The influence of geographic and ecological isolation of populations of the False ringlet butterfly Coenonympha oedippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) on genetic structure and phenotype expression« under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Jure Jugovic and co-mentorship of Prof. Elena Bužan and Assoc. Prof. Valentina Brečko Grubar.

Doctoral dissertation summary: »The influence of geographic and ecological isolation of populations of the False ringlet butterfly Coenonympha oedippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) on genetic structure and phenotype expression«

False Ringlet is an endangered species of butterfly that inhabits phytocenologically and geographically contrasting habitats in Slovenia. Through analyses of landscape-forming elements, we confirmed the differentiation of populations and determined also genetic and morphological differences. For endangered species, who are losing their habitat due to anthropogenic activities or natural disasters it is crucial to define conservation guidelines. For the studied indicator species we defined Slovenian populations as a single evolutionary significant unit. Additionally, we proposed management units for each of the four Slovenian mezzoregions where species occurs.

Wednesday, 18 October 2023 Invitation to the defense of the Master’s Thesis - Laura Bavdek (Psychology, 2nd cycle)

On Wednesday, 25 October 2023, at 16:00 in the classroom IKT orodje (Zoom, Skype,...), Laura Bavdek, a student of the master's study program Psychology, 2nd cycle, will present her Master's Thesis entitled Psychosocial factors in the development of pedophilia.

https://upr-si.zoom.us/j/82969135287?pwd=WUJSc25JWW02MmR2aHJ3eDUxOFYvdz09
 

Meeting ID: 829 6913 5287
Passcode: 12345

You are all kindly invited!

Tuesday, 17 October 2023 Dr. Andrej Brodnik receives the Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr. Andrej Brodnik, a UP employee working at UP IAM and UP FAMNIT, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 26th Information Society Multi-Conference. The conference took place at the Jozef Stefan Institute from 10 to 13 October and concluded with an award ceremony. 

Andrej Brodnik was awarded for his outstanding lifetime contribution to the development and promotion of the information society. He received his PhD from the University of Waterloo in Canada, has been active in professional associations, especially ACM Slovenia, and has been instrumental in promoting computer science in Slovenia, especially in the context of teaching in secondary and primary schools and in competitions for secondary school students. His main research areas are concise data structures, ubiquitous computing and the teaching of computing and informatics. 

His contribution to the establishment of the University of Primorska, where he was Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs from 2003 to 2007, and is now a member of the UP Senate, is significant. During his professional career he has received numerous international and national awards and prizes, including the Innovation Cup in Sweden, the IBM Faculty Award, the Golden Plaques of the UL and the UP, and the Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Higher Education of the Republic of Slovenia.

We would like to congratulate Dr. Andrej Brodnik and wish him many more successes!

Foto: Delo

Friday, 13 October 2023 RECTOR'S DAY 2023

This year's Rector's Day will take place on Wednesday, 18 October 2023, once again in the spirit of socialising and getting to know each other. It will be accompanied by several festive and special events. We invite you to take a day off from your everyday commitments on Rector's Day and add your own little piece to the mosaic of team spirit.

FOR STUDENTS
On 18 October 2023, students are invited to take part in the traditional AUTUMN ČISTA 10KA. The event, organised by the UŠZP and the SUP, will see university teams competing in a variety of sporting and less sporting disciplines with the aim of winning the Clean Ten Transitional Cup. Students who will not be competing are invited to cheer on the performers at Arena Bonifika in Koper.

FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF
UP employees will have a rich programme of workshops, hikes, excursions and other meetings on Rector's Day, to which students are also invited. Some events require registration to facilitate their organisation. Based on last year's survey, we have tried to make it possible to attend several events during the day, and we are repeating some of them so that you can visit them over the years.

PROGRAMME

Below you will find an overview of the programme by strand. You are invited to read the full programme and combine the activities from the different strands. The application form is the same for all strands and the deadline for applications is Tuesday 17 October 2023 at 10:00. If there are any changes, we will inform you in due course. In the event of an emergency, we reserve the right to change the programme.

REGISTRATION FORM

SPORTS 

• Cycling trip along the Parenzana from Koper to Milj and back (Difficulty: 3)

9.00, mixUP | Full equipment is required. Meeting point will be on the platform behind the UP building at 9.00. The trip is led by Alex Žigante (RIC UP).

• Walk along the sea from Koper to Izola (and back) as far as Simon's Bay with the possibility of a guided tour of the Archaeological Park at 11.00 (Difficulty: 1)

9.30, Žusterna, 11.00 guided tour | The guided tour will be in Slovenian language.

The meeting point will be at the entrance to the macadam car park in Žusterna at 9.30. There are no guided walks.

• Seafront walk from Koper to Izola (and back) with the possibility of a guided tour of the InnoRenew CoE building at 11.00 (Difficulty: 1)

9.30, Žusterna, 11.00 guided tour | The guided tour will be in English.

The meeting point will be at the entrance to the gravel car park in Žusterna at 9.30. There are no guided walks.

• Walk along the sea from Turistica to Piran (and back), with a visit to the Aquarium (Difficulty: 1)

9.30, UP FTŠ | A relaxed walk to Piran with the possibility of a group visit to the Aquarium at 10.30. The walk and tour are not guided.

Meeting point will be at the Turistica car park at 9.30.

• Tinjan hike with SportUP (Difficulty: 3)

9.30, Dekani | Circular walk along the trail to Tinjan

The meeting point will be at the cemetery car park in Dekani at 9.30. The tour is led by Luka Kejžar (Sport UP).

• In the Footsteps of Migrants - Testimonies of Life Stories (Difficulty: 1)

10.30, Koper Passenger Terminal | Eco-sustainability walk along selected Istrian migrant routes in the vicinity of Dragonja, which also draws attention to migration trends in our region and the difficult situation of migrants crossing our borders (the so-called "migrants' stories"). Balkan route) or trying to do so, leaving behind traces that will be turned into exhibition artefacts that can document the life and hope of "everyday people" in search of a better world, as they did with migration decades ago.

The collection point will be in the car park under the lift in the passenger terminal at 10.30. Please let us know if you can provide transport or if you need it. The trip will be led by Dr Michael Mrissa (UP Rector's Office) and Dr Katja Hrobat Virloget (UP FHŠ).

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL

• Literary walk in Koper with poetry reading and a relaxing end with tea and coffee (held in slovenian language)

9.00-10.30, UP surroundings and mixUP | The UP Book Club meeting will take the form of a leisurely stroll through the literary spots around the university, a visit to the library and a closing with coffee and tea at mixUP.

• UPreplet (UP Volunteering)

10.30-12.30 in mixUP | This year, anyone who would like to take a break from work but can't make it to the events is invited to bring something creative from home - something you like to do or create, and then chat or share knowledge with your colleagues in mixUP. You can drop off your products and we will donate them to the relevant charities.

WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS 

• Travel lecture: 51 days in Thailand and the Philippines - Lovrenc Habe (UP PEF) (held in slovenian language)

8.30-9.30, P2, UP PEF | During this travelogue you will smell the streets of Bangkok, throw yourself into the muddy roads and drive on suspicious concrete roads, all the way to the childish elephants. You'll hear from hearty locals, meet lady boys and suicidal monkeys.

• Stress and mindfulness at work - Meta Lavrič (UP IAM, SCRS) (held in slovenian language)

11.00-12.00, UP FAMNIT lobby | At the workshop we will learn about the basics of mindfulness, which are the foundation for coping with various everyday situations. We will also learn about and try out practical mindfulness exercises, which, if needed, can also be done at work. We will therefore equip ourselves with knowledge and skills that can help us to manage stress both in our private lives and at work. (60 min, between 11.00 and 13.00)

• ChatGPT API on Raspberry Pi - Dr. Igor Riznar (UP FM)

13.00-14.00, P2, UP FM | Using ChatGPT on Raspberry Pi with Open AI API implementation.

• Fundamentals of Investing - Dr. Jan Frančeškin (UP FM) (held in slovenian language)

14.00-15.00, P2, UP FM | In recent years, the global economy has been undergoing a major test. We have witnessed the global pandemic of COVIDA - 19 which is heading into a period of elevated inflation in 2022. It is precisely the increased inflation and the low interest rates on bank deposits that are forcing individuals and households to be exposed to riskier investments. This raises the key issue of financial literacy, which is a prerequisite for the prudent selection of a portfolio of slightly riskier investments.

LECTURES

• The mission of knowledge in the age of artificial intelligence - a human perspective - Dr Simona Kustec (held in slovenian language)

10.00-11.00, P1, UP FM | The aim of the lecture will be to discuss the future vision and role of knowledge in the new, sixth wave of the so-called technological revolution, characterised by artificial intelligence. In this respect, the different missions (categorisations) of knowledge and their relevance for the development of AI will be presented. The central part of the paper will highlight the role of knowledge as a moral compass and social gatekeeper of the technological development of AI. Starting from the thesis that the use of knowledge must also be approached in a deliberate manner for the purposes of further civilisational development, selected historical examples of the use of knowledge for the development of technological innovations will be highlighted, which have had negative consequences for the further development of societies. In conclusion, all the findings presented will serve as an open space for further debate on the image and mission of different types of knowledge for human-centred technological progress.

• Gender issues - presentation of the AGRIGEP project - Dr. Štefan Bojnec and Dr. Patricia Blatnik 

12.00-13.00, P1, UP FM | The European Union places great emphasis on gender equality, with a focus on gender issues in research and educational institutions. Our university has also already adopted a Gender Equality Plan for UP, which defines the vision and mission of UP in ensuring gender and other equality for the period 2021-2027. However, gender equality issues also vary according to the fields of study and research, where, for example, in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, gender equality issues are already well known and specific action plans have also been developed.In addition, gender equality issues in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics are also well known and have been addressed by the European Commission. However, some other areas do not yet have systematically identified specific actions and plans to mitigate them. The objectives of the AGRIGEP project, in which UP FM is collaborating with five other consortium partners, are, inter alia, to assess the current state of implementation of gender equality policies and to improve capacities through intensive capacity building. These results could also lead to long-term institutional reforms and the establishment of a system for mainstreaming gender equality issues in the education system and in the professional training of students. You are invited to a presentation of the AGRIGEP project, where you will also have the opportunity to raise your own issues and experiences to contribute to the search for solutions.

SIDE EVENTS

• PROMOTION OF PHDS

Thursday, 19 October 2023, at 12 noon in the UP Armeria Hall.

The Vice-Rector for Scientific and Research Activities of UP, Dr Štefko Miklavič, will inaugurate 13 new PhD students who completed their studies between March and September 2023.

• FIRST EVENT - LITERARY EVENING - IN THE NEW LIBRARY OF THE UP (held in slovenian language)

Thursday, 19 October 2023, at 19.00 at the University Library of the University of Primorska (Trubarjeva 1, 6000 Koper).

Marcello Potocco will present his latest collection of poems, Odyssey(ka) in the Labyrinth. The discussion will be moderated by Barbara Jurša Potocco.

Marcello Potocco is a poet, literature researcher and university professor. He graduated and received his PhD in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, and now teaches at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska. He has published six collections of poetry. He was nominated for the Veronika Prize in 2008 for his collection "Corrections to a Poetry Collection" and for the Jenk Prize in 2012 for his collection "Via Francigena". He has participated in literary festivals at home and abroad, and his poems have been translated into many foreign languages, including an anthology of Slovenian poetry in Hebrew and Czech. Recently, he has also been featured in bilingual editions of contemporary Slovenian poetry in Italian and German.

• OFFICIAL OPENING OF STUDENT HOUSE OF PRISOJE 9b (held in slovenian language)

Friday 20 October at 12 noon, Prisoje 9a

On the first day of the academic year, the UP Student Halls of Residence opened their renovated section in Prisoje. This important addition brings students 82 extra beds in double or triple dormitories, equipped with en-suite bathrooms and kitchens. The new part of the dormitory is adjacent to the existing dormitory of the ŠD Prisoje dormitory, which has 160 student beds. In total, the Prisoje Student Residence will have 121 rooms with 242 beds. At the end of 2022, UP also bought the former Garni Hotel Pristan from Luka Koper d.d. and has already built 55 beds for students in 18 rooms, which were already occupied by students in February this year.

• ETHICS DAY: A CONSULTATION ON TRENDS IN ACADEMIC ETHICS AND INTEGRITY (held in slovenian language)

Thursday, 24 October at 12 noon, Burja 1 lecture room at UP FHŠ

In recent years and months, we have seen major shifts in the field of academic integrity and ethics, as we have witnessed the emergence of artificial intelligence tools in the higher education space and a paradigm shift in the approach to student misconduct. Artificial intelligence thus raises a number of issues related to the quality and credibility of student products, while in the area of student misconduct, action is moving from retributive justice to restorative justice, which seeks to understand the circumstances in which misconduct occurred. The event will also present the findings of the working group for the preparation of the document with the working title "Position on the use of artificial intelligence at the University of Primorska" and the working group for the implementation of the UP Integrity Plan.

REGISTRATION FORM

Friday, 13 October 2023 Opening of UP Clinic

On Thursday, 12 October 2023, the opening of the UP Clinic took place in the premises of the Koper Health Centre - after the speeches, the ribbon was cut by the Rector of the UP, Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, and Igor Hrvatin, the Director of the Koper Health Centre, where the clinic was set up.

The University of Primorska Clinic (UP Clinic) was established on the basis of a letter of intent between UP and ZD Koper and provides healthcare for all UP students and employees who do not have it in their place of residence, study or work. This type of partnership was also supported by the Slovenian Ministry of Health and, by establishing it, UP, in cooperation with the Health Centre, is improving healthcare for students, especially for foreign students and students from other regions, in line with its objectives, while offering additional support to its employees.

The UP Clinic is located on the premises of the Koper Health Centre, Dellavallejeva ulica 3, 6000 Koper (3rd floor), and will start operating on Thursday, 19 October 2023, according to the following timetable: every Tuesday and Thursday from 15.00 to 17.00.

There are several ways possible to make an appointment:

• by telephone during office hours on (+386) 5 6647-110

• in person at the clinic during office hours

• by regular post to the following address: ZD Koper - Center, Student Clinic, Ljubica Kolander Bizjak, dr. med. spec., Dellavallejeva 3, 6000 Koper

Thursday, 12 October 2023 Mathematical Research Seminar brought together enthusiasts of algebraic combinatorics

As part of the Mathematical Research Seminar at UP FAMNIT, in collaboration with UP Andrej Marušič Institute, a workshop on algebraic combinatorics was held today, which brought together researchers and enthusiasts in the field.   

Participants were addresed by the rector of UP, Prof. Klavdija Kutnar, who guided everyone into the world of algebraic combinatorics. 

This was followed by an introductory lecture titled »On the geometry of the Hermitian Veronese curve and its quasi-Hermitian surfaces,« presented by Prof. Michel Lavrauw.  

Later, additional presentations were given by: 

• Dragan Marušič with the lecture »Does AGT have a life with(out) CFSG?«,   
• Ilias Kotsireas with the lecture »20+ years of Legendre pairs«, 
• Daniel Hawtin with the lecture »Large sets of infinite dimensional q-Steiner systems«, 
• Sara Ban with the lecture »On new extremal ZZ4-codes of length 64«, 
• Tomo Pisanski with the lecture »Splittable and unsplittable polycirculants«, 
• Istvan Kovacs with the lecture »CI-property of the groups C2 p × Cn and C2 p × C2 q for digraphs«, 
• Andrea Švob with the lecture »Switching for block designs«, 
• Ana Šumberac with the lecture »Codes from quasi-symmetric designs of Blokhuis-Haemers type«, 
• Blas Fernández with the lecture »On the trivial T -module of a graph«. 

Thursday, 12 October 2023 DIGI-MAT: DEALING WITH MATHEMATICAL LEARNING CONTENT USING DIGITAL TOOLS

Today is the last day of the »DIGI-MAT: DEALING WITH MATHEMATICS LEARNING CONTENT USING DIGITAL TOOLS« training, which took place between 30 September and 13 October 2023, live on UP FAMNIT and via ZOOM.

The training was part of the continuing education and training of professionals in education, which we carried out at UP FAMNIT.

DIGI-MAT professional training was divided into three topics, which were presented to the trainees by Assoc. Prof. Mihael Perman,  Assoc. Prof. Lara Lusa and Assist. Dr. Ana Zalokar.  

DIGI-MAT was carried out in a combined format; two days of 11 hours live and two Zoom meetings of 5 hours.

»This is the second successful implementation of the training for primary and secondary school mathematics teachers,  »DIGI-MAT: Dealing with learning content using digital tools«. Participants became familiar with everyday examples of probability at the elementary level, learned about statistics, and the R programming language. One of the purposes of this education is to connect mathematics teachers across the entire educational vertical - i.e. from elementary school to faculty. In this way, we can exchange experiences, highlight potential issues, and seek solutions. Once again, the participants' responses have been positive, so we are already looking forward to future training,« summarized Dr. Ana Zalokar, DIGI-MAT programme coordinator. 

According to the KATIS system (Catalog of further education and training programs for professional workers in education for the school year 2022/2023), participants received 1 point for the completed education. 

Monday, 9 October 2023 EUROPEAN RESEARCHERS' NIGHT AT UP WITH THE ASSOCIATED EVENT "SCIENCE FOR ALL - 'ZATE'"

On Friday, September 29, 2023, we organized the European Researcher's Night at UP, which was held as an associated event under the slogan "ZnAnosT za vsE (Science for All) - 'ZATE'".

We carried out 28 workshops, presentations, guided tours, one storytelling, and various other activities at ten different locations. 

More than 100 researchers, students and university employees participated in the organization and implementation of all activities of the European Researcher's Night 2023 - the associated event "Science for All - 'ZATE'".

This year, scholars and students from 15 primary and secondary schools of the Obalno-Kraška region, their teachers, students of the University of Primorska and other visitors visited the event. There were almost 1,200 visitors at all locations.

In Koper, in the company of our UP Famnit researchers, they got to know the interior of the best-selling mechanical puzzle/toy in the world - the Rubik's cube,  as well as fidget toys - Pop-It, whose popularity escalated in the spring of 2021.

Our researchers presented to them the apparatus for detecting phenolic compounds in an interactive manner, where they participated in a short quiz and learned about the work of herpetologists - researchers who study amphibians and reptiles. In one of the workshops, they also had fun learning about a geometric object polyhedra. 

At the Livade 1. 0 facility in Izola, young enthusiasts, together with Famnit researchers, participated in four workshops where they learned how to obtain data on wildlife and how to unmask invisible wild animals in our environment. They also entered the world under the microscope, where they learned about its workings and made their own microscopy. (The workshop was held under the auspices of the World Federation of Scientists (WFS) Young Scientists Scholarship. In addition, the young researchers observed how insects drink nectar and why bumblebees are sometimes called nectar thieves. (the workshop was held as part of the COST Action CA18201 ConservePlants).

After the event, we received letters of thanks from the teachers of several schools and an announcement of their arrival at the European Researcher's Night next year.

The project was co-financed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation as part of the activities carried out during the Month of Science.opean Researcher's Night next year.

Monday, 9 October 2023 ŠTARTUP - A JUMP INTO THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR FOR UP STUDENTS

On Saturday, 7 October 2023, the third edition of ŠtartUP - a social and sporting event aimed at welcoming all University of Primorska students - took place in the Žusterna Seaside Park.   

The event is aimed at introducing the new students to older students and getting to know each other, as well as a more personal approach to the students, as the contact offices, who are in contact with the students throughout their studies (international offices, student affairs offices), presented them with content that will help them in their studies. Last but not least, the event was also attended by the pedagogical staff, so they were able to make personal contacts, which, due to the smaller groups, is an advantage of studying at the University of Primorska.   

Alongside UP members, the University's centers and units were also presented, which are also dedicated to cooperation with the wider community and to linking the University's content with the environment. This year, also the UP Tutors joined as well as the International Service, which introduced the students to international options, especially in the context of joining the European University Transform 4 Europe. 

Again this year after a successful year last year, more than 40 local associations and organisations who recognised the event as an opportunity to present the event to students and recognised the contribution that student of the student population in seaside towns. We also received a positive response from local businesses, A special feature of this year's event was the addition of the Municipality of Koper, which joined as a co-organiser and further welcomed the students to the city.

Stands were offered with a symbolic entry fee, which was fully and directly donated to the Association "Pomagalčica Pomagalčica", so the event also had a humanitarian note. This year, more than 400 students visited the event and were welcomed by more than 100 staff and representatives of the associations, so the welcome was truly massive and enriched the event in the new Žusterna Seaside Park.    

We wish all students a successful start, progress and conclusion of the academic year 23/24! 

Thursday, 5 October 2023 The Department of Biodiversity invites you to the 1st SEMINAR ON MARINE TOPICS

The first seminar "Dsolve Project Research Area 5. Circularity of biobased, biodegradable, and non-degradable plastics"will be conducted by Dorian Vodopia on October 11, 2023, in the Epsilon lecture hall (ground floor) from 12:00 to 1:00 PM.  

An overview of the SFI DSolve project and the latest developments in Research Area 5: Circularity of biobased, biodegradable, and non-degradable plastics, will be presented. Including the ALDFG retrieval operation done in collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, a long-term in-situ assessment of “Ghost Fishing” impacts on benthic environments: stock-specific catch rates in relation to gillnets and pots, and modelling the fate of ALDFG within the Norwegian marine environment.

   

Dorian Vodopia, born on the 5th of March 1996 in Rijeka, Croatia, attained a bachelor’s degree in Marine Sciences at the University Juraj Dobrila of Pula, Croatia in 2017. Thesis title: “Synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their impact on the sperm of sea urchin A. lixula”. Subsequently, in 2020 he obtained a master’s degree in Nature Conservation at the University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia. Thesis title: „Embryotoxicity and oxidative stress in the sea urchin P. lividus after co-exposure to PMMA microparticles and NSAID indomethacin”. From January 2021 to January 2023, he was employed as a project associate at the Laboratory for Marine Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, Centre for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. Since April 2023, he has been employed as a PhD fellow at UiT- The Arctic University of Norway, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, HARVEST research group, DSolve Project Research Area 5. His PhD work is: „Inclusion of ghost fishing and its effects on ecosystems and biodiversity in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)”.

Thursday, 5 October 2023 SCORES conference: encouraging students to publish research works in the field of computer science

Today, October 5, 2023, the Student Computing Research Symposium SCORES is being held at UP FAMNIT.

Since 2014, the computer science departments of UP, UL and UM have jointly organized the conference, and each year one of the universities is chosen as the primary organizer. For this year's 9th edition, UP FAMNIT took over the baton, in cooperation with UP IAM and SDAMS. This year's event is co-organized also by ACM Slovenija. In the past, we were the main organizers of the event in 2016 and 2019.

SCORES is one of the few Slovenian conferences specifically intended for undergraduate and master's students, encouraging them to present and publish research works in the field of computer science. The (co)author of the paper on SCORES must be at least one undergraduate or master's student, which strengthens their cooperation and creativity.

At the beginning, the participants were greeted by Prof. Tomaž Pisanski, head of the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies at UP FAMNIT, who encouraged the participants to actively participate and offered his advice on how they can make the best use of such events to expand their horizons.

The invited lecturers of this year's conference are Marko Grgurovič and Marko Grobelnik, both successful former doctoral students of UP FAMNIT.

Marko Grgurovič is the general director of Triternion and the lead developer of Mordhau, the first Triternion game to reach the top of the sales chart on the Steam platform. They sold 500,000 copies in the first week of release. The title of his lecture at SCORES is »Research and Development in the Video Game Industry«.

Marko Grobelnik is an expert researcher in the field of artificial intelligence. He jointly leads the AiLab at the IJS Institute. It cooperates with the most important European academic institutions and large industrial companies, such as Bloomberg, British Telecom, the European Commission, Microsoft Research, New York Times. The title of his lecture at SCORES is »Knowledge Graphs and Large Language Models«.

In addition to the plenary sessions, the conference also included 13 lectures given by the conference participants.

We are very pleased that next year's conference will mark 10 years of cooperation between faculties, which strive to ensure that students develop the knowledge, skills and abilities required by the rapidly growing digital world.

Wednesday, 4 October 2023 Strengthening cooperation the Stellenbosch University in South Africa

Assoc. Prof. Matjaž Kljun and Assoc. Prof. Klen Čopič Pucihar, researchers from UP FAMNIT and UP IAM from (Department of Information Sciences and Technologies), visited the Department of Information Science of Stellebonch University in South Africa as part of the Erasmus+ project KA 171. It is a mobility program with partner countries or the so-called third countries not included in the programme.

Stellenboch University is a world-renowned university with which UP FAMNIT has established cooperation in the field of computer science and information technologies, and in the future we will strengthen cooperation with international exchanges of students and employees.

Our researchers were hosted by Prof. Dr. Daniel Le Roux, Head of the Cognition and Technology Research Group at the hosting university. He had visited UP FAMNIT in July and gave our students a lecture on media ecology, which is characterized by the omnipresence of mobile computing devices that offer a rapidly expanding range of gratifying online experiences.

At the Stellenbosch University, our researchers carried out seminars focused on recent advances in human-computer interaction through materials, the use of generative AI to support language learning in mixed reality environments and recent advances in physiological sensing.

»In the long run the expected result is a joint publication in a top tier journal and/or conference. If possible the publication will be also co-authored by a junior researcher or a student. The seminars should enable students to gain a deeper understanding of how technology can be used to enhance human ability, such as memory. They will get first hand experience on how mixed reality technology can be used effectively in this respect and how other technologies, such as generative AI can be integrated into this process. Finally the visit will enrich host and visiting students and researchers knowledge of key methodologies in HCI domain that can lead to higher quality of conducted research,« added Assoc. Prof. Kljun and Assoc. Prof. Čopič Pucihar.

Monday, 2 October 2023 Join us for ERASMUS DAYS - October 9 to October 14!

We are thrilled to announce and warmly invite you to join the exciting activities we've organized for Erasmus Days, taking place from October 9th to October 14th.

Discover the world of Erasmus mobility with two exciting workshops at UP FAMNIT:

Erasmus+ Student Mobility Workshop I: Traineeships

• Date: Monday, October 9
• Time: 14:00 - 15:15
• Location: FAMNIT VP3 and via Zoom

Erasmus+ Student Mobility Workshop II: Studies

• Date: Tuesday, October 10
• Time: 12:30 - 14:45
• Location: FAMNIT VP3 and via Zoom

Can't make it in person? No problem! These workshops are also accessible virtually through Zoom Meetings.

Our mission is to provide valuable insights into Erasmus mobility opportunities, focusing on practical advice from those who have been there. This is your chance to get answers to all your burning questions about Erasmus mobility.

For QR codes and comprehensive program details, please check out the following flyer:

Attention, Administrative Staff Members! We have something for you too.

• Join us for a Presentation on Erasmus+ Staff Mobility for training on Thursday, October 12, at 14:30 in UP FAMNIT VP1.

We can't wait to share the excitement of Erasmus mobility programs with you and answer all your queries!

For any further information, don't hesitate to reach out to us at international@famnit.upr.si.

Monday, 2 October 2023 More than 1000 students enter the new academic year at UP FAMNIT

The academic year 2023/24 began with the traditional reception of the freshmen students at the meeting of the mayors of P.I.K.A., the representative of the ŠOUP and the media with the management of the UP with the introductory speeches. This time we welcomed the freshmen live in Koper's newest faculty building - UP FM.

The students were addressed by the Rector of UP, Prof. Klavdija Kutnar, who wished them above all to offer new challenges to UP with their proposals and bold ideas (the full speech is available on the link). Afterwards, they were welcomed by the Mayor of the host municipality, the Municipality of Koper (MOK), Aleš Bržan. This year, MOK is also the co-organiser of the ŠtartUP event. The President of the Student Council was absent, but her address was read by UP student Žiga Leban.The UP FAMNIT freshmen followed the introductory speeches live online in Koper and Izola, and then continued with the meetings with the study programme coordinators.

Via a recorded speech, the dean of UP FAMNIT, Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović, also shared his thoughts at the beginning of the new academic year.

After the meetings with the coordinators, UP FAMNIT freshmen had the chance to meet with this year's tutors and representatives of the Student Council, who are available to the students to solve any problems and help them get started in student life.

The events at the beginning of the new academic year will continue on Saturday, October 7, when we will hold the Štart UP event at the Žusterna Park - a sports and social event for all UP students, where presentations will be made by various organizations from the University and from the local environment. Students will have the opportunity to win prizes for successfully completed activities at individual points throughout the day.

Some more statistics

At UP FAMNIT, we welcomed the 17th generation of students, the biggest so far.

The final enrollment statistics for the academic year 2023/24 will be definite by the end of this month, however, according to unofficial data, 1028 students are enrolled at the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, of which more than 50 % come from abroad. Foreign students come from 35 countries: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe.

420 students are enrolled in the first year for the first time this academic year; 305 of them in undergraduate study programmes, 104 in Master's programmes, and 11 students are enrolled in the first year of doctoral programmes.

We wish all students a successful, interesting and fun academic year!

Saturday, 30 September 2023 UP TOGETHER WITH PARTNERS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE LARGEST EUROPEAN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION PROJECT IN SLOVENIA

Yesterday, the University of Primorska and its partners marked an important milestone and celebrated the successful completion of the largest European research and innovation project in Slovenia. Representatives from the European Commission attended the event, where the main project results and the future plans of the InnoRenew CoE, were presented.

At the end of 2016, the University of Primorska, together with other project partners, successfully applied for a project to establish a new research institute, InnoRenew CoE, for research and innovation in the field of renewable materials and healthy built environment. The project was the only one from Slovenia to be selected for funding among 169 international projects.

The InnoRenew CoE was established following the above-mentioned successful submission of a project proposal to the Teaming call under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, led by the University of Primorska, with the advanced international partner from Germany – Fraunhofer WKI. It was officially established on 15 February 2017 and has been continuously growing and developing its activities since then, with the support and cooperation of all project partners and other relevant stakeholders.

»Over the years we have successfully built a research institute and today we are gathered here in our new building to celebrate a key milestone – the completion of the largest European research and innovation project in Slovenia,« said Dr. Andreja Kutnar, InnoRenew CoE director. She added: »The completion of the project does not mean that our work is over, but it directs us towards a new chapter in which we will continue to pursue our ambitions and research agenda. I am confident that we will continue to be as successful in this endeavour as we have been so far. Our excellent researchers, with their interdisciplinary skills and broad, international cultural background, and the rest of our staff are and will be the most important cornerstone of this success.«

Of the 51 researchers currently employed, 47% are foreign researchers who have moved to Slovenia. Additionally, the InnoRenew CoE obtained 169 new projects and implemented them in the period from 2017 to 2022, with a total value of €11.59 million, of which by far the largest amount of funding has been obtained from EU programmes (21 projects, €9,248,662.91), including the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) ARCHI-SKIN project (ERC Consolidator Grant 2021). Surprisingly, they were relatively less successful in obtaining national funding from the Agency for Research and Innovation (ARIS) (16 research projects, €2,043,449.35, and 22 bilateral research projects, €66,110.00) and several ministries (11 projects, €91,371.03). It is very encouraging to note that 102 projects (over €1.5 million) have been awarded for research projects from industry, both in Slovenia and abroad. All these successes, and especially the successes in cooperation with industry, are made possible by the advanced research equipment installed in the institute’s building. The largest wooden building in Slovenia and an example of good practice in sustainable construction, it is the result of the institute’s own research and engineering work and illustrates the principles of restorative environmental and ergonomic design (REED), which is being developed at the InnoRenew CoE, and thus also takes into account the principles of the New European Bauhaus and sustainable built environment.

»As the lead partner of the project and one of the four founders of the InnoRenew CoE, we have been happy to support the development of the institute at every step of the way and from the very beginning. We are extremely proud to be part of this successful project,«

 said Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, the University of Primorska’s rector, who is also convinced that the achievements of the project make an important contribution to the development of the research, academic and educational field in Slovenia.

Dr. Bohumil Kasal, director of Fraunhofer WKI is pleased that they had the opportunity to work in this project: »The Fraunhofer WKI had the opportunity to work with a team of young and dynamic researchers and staff and helped to transfer the best practices  while respecting the specific Slovenian environment. I am pleased to see that the InnoRenew is able to stand on its own and is well positioned to address future challenges. It has been a rewarding experience.«

InnoRenew CoE researchers have contributed to the latter by publishing over 560 scientific papers in scientific journals, half of them in collaboration with international experts, numerous scientific and professional monographs, and by organising and/or participating in national and international scientific, professional and popular conferences, roundtables and other events. They are the holders of 6 patent applications and co-authors of 9 patent applications. They are aware that international involvement and the development of excellent new researchers are essential for the development of Slovenian science, which is why the InnoRenew CoE has made PhD studies possible for 7 students and currently employs 17 PhD students (one-third of them are from abroad). They are also actively involved in the implementation of lifelong learning (“micro-credentials”) in the framework of the New European Bauhaus Academy Pioneer Hub for Sustainable Built Environments with Renewable Materials (NEBAP Hub) at the University of Primorska.

The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, together with the European Union was co-financing the InnoRenew project: “The InnoRenew project has certainly changed the research environment in Slovenia and this is just the beginning.”, said Dr. Tomaž Boh, Acting Director-General at the Science Directorate, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation.

At the event, the project partners and the founders of the InnoRenew CoE came together to form a wooden circle, symbolically showing that only together, with mutual support and cooperation, we can create great achievements. In addition, researchers from the InnoRenew CoE made trees for the guests out of pine wood, a symbol of wisdom and life.

The event featured a variety of videos, which gave guests the opportunity to learn about the history and major milestones of the InnoRenew project and research institute, its staff and some of its scientific achievements. Guests were able to walk around the building and the research laboratories, where researchers set up demonstration points for research groups and presented some of their research activities.

The event was hosted by Lorella Flego and the Žavbi Brothers provided the musical entertainment.

InnoRenew CoE is thankful to its project partners, the University of Primorska, Fraunhofer WKI, the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, the University of Maribor, the Pulp and Paper Institute, Zavod eOblak, the National Institute of Public Health and the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region.

Wednesday, 27 September 2023 Open Additional Call Under Erasmus+ KA131 For Student Mobility For Studies In The Academic Year 2023/24

We are pleased to announce that on September 22, 2023, an Additional call for co-financing student mobility within the KA131 program has been announced. This program is designed to facilitate overseas study experiences and provides support for both extended physical or combined mobility for students at all academic levels, as well as short-term mobility for PhD students.

This call is specifically targeting participation in the Erasmus+ mobility program for the second semester of the 2023/24 academic year.

• The deadline for submitting applications is Monday, October 9, 2023.

To apply for an exchange opportunity, students should make use of the ŠIS platform. You can find additional details about the tender, necessary attachments, and the application process on both the FAMNIT website and the UP website.

Seize this unique chance to broaden your academic and life horizons through Erasmus+ student mobility!

Wednesday, 27 September 2023 ROUND TABLE: BORDERS AND MIGRATION

WHAT? Round table "Borders and migration: (in)visibility?"

WHEN? 10 October 2023 at 18.00

WHERE? UP FAMNIT Lobby (Glagoljaška ulica 8, 6000 Koper)

Registrations: until 6 October via the form HERE

During the round table, invited experts will discuss the concept of migration and its evolution throughout history, as well as the current migration process in our region. The discussion will include the social impact of migration and an analysis of how citizens experience this phenomenon. Invited local associations will also participate and present their cooperation and activities on this issue. The event will be moderated by Dr Katja Hrobat Virloget and Dr Michaël Mrissa.

• MORE

The project is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation and the European Union – NextGenerationEU. The project is implemented in accordance with the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) under the development area Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, component Strengthening competencies, in particular digital competencies and those required by the new professions and the green transition (C3 K5), for the investment measure Investment F. Implementation of pilot projects, the results of which will serve as a basis for the preparation of a roadmap for the reform of higher education for a green and resilient transition to a Society 5.0: project Pilot Projects for the Reform of Higher Education for a Green and Resilient Transition.

Wednesday, 27 September 2023 Not just a pretty petal: a real cliffhanger in plant conservation

When we admire the breathtaking flora on cliffs and rocky slopes, little do we realize the silent struggle they undergo to ensure their survival. Recent international research has highlighted a glaring gap in our understanding of the plants we seek to conserve.

Plant survival, quite like a relay race, relies on the successful handover of the baton – in this case, the completion of the reproductive cycle for a new generation to emerge. A collaborative endeavour involving plant conservationists from across Europe, within the framework of COST Action CA18201 “Conserve Plants" aimed to determine the adequacy of our existing knowledge about plant reproductive biology, especially when it comes to those plants teetering on the edge of extinction.

     
                                                         Moehringia tommasinii, author: Živa Fišer

Pooling their collective expertise, the team, led by Professor Giovanna Aronne from the University of Naples, focused on 80 plant species residing precariously on cliffs and rocky landscapes. Drawing from scientific journals, technical reports, and first-hand expert observations, the team embarked on a mission to identify potential 'bottlenecks' – phases in the plant's life cycle that could be restricting its survival and regeneration.

     
                                                               Primula carniolica, author: Peter Glasnović                   

The results were eye-opening. Our existing knowledge predominantly orbits around the flowering phase of these species. Yet, intriguingly, flowering emerged as the least critical phase in these plants' life cycles. The real concerns lay elsewhere, with glaring informational voids around seed production, seedling establishment, and the ancient art of plant cloning.

     
                                                     Cerastium dinaricum, author: Peter Glasnović

This research isn’t just a clarion call to botanists but an appeal to the wider scientific community and policymakers. The essence of the discussion boils down to an urgent need to rethink our conservation strategies. The spotlight needs to shift – from mere blooming flowers to the intricate and lesser-understood phases of plant reproduction.

     
                                                   Campanula zoysii, author: Peter Glasnović

By fostering this dialogue, the research aims to develop innovative strategies ensuring these plants don't just bloom but thrive for generations to come. It's a race against time to furnish and implement knowledge that addresses the actual constraints limiting the survival of these breathtaking species. Because, in the world of conservation, every seedling counts.

The research article has been published in the October issue the peer-reviewed journal“Biological Conservation”

COST Action ConservePlants CA18201 “An integrated approach to conservation of threatened plants for the 21st Century” is led by Dr Živa Fišer from University of Primorska as Action Chair and Prof. Giovanna Aronne from University Federico III of Naples as Action Vice-Chair. Two other researchers from the University of Primorska have contributed to the present research: dr. Peter Glasnović and dr. Boštjan Surina, who are also (co)leaders of two working groups within the Action.

Tuesday, 26 September 2023 Conference on Applied Statistics brought together 90 experts from 12 countries

The 19th International Conference on Applied Statistics organised by the Statistical Society of Slovenia, UP FAMNIT and the University of Ljubljana, took place in Koper from 24 to 26 September 2023.  

The three-day event brought together 90 participants from 12 countries, besides Slovenia including also Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.

At the beginning of the conference, the participants were welcomed by Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, the Rector of the University of Primorska, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ademir Hujdurović, the Dean of UP FAMNIT and Prof. Dr. Matevž Bren, the President of the Statistical Society of Slovenia.  

Throughout the scientific program, successful researchers and experts in data analysis, data science, and statistics presented their research contributions. The conference was also enriched with interesting content by renowned speakers:  

»We are pleased to have successfully brought the 19th edition of the Applied Statistics conference to UP FAMNIT for the first time,« said Assist. Prof. Dr. Ana Zalokar from the Department of Mathematics, co-organizer of the conference. She also added that the international nature of the event brought together different perspectives and opinions, which is one of the main goals of the conference: »I noticed that the conference attendees were enthusiastic about the program's content. After all, it brought together 90 participants from around the world, with different views, which we can be very proud of.«

At the end of the conference, presentations that demonstrated scientific strength, clarity, and potential impact were selected for publication in a special issue of the Advances in Methodology and Statistics journal.

Monday, 25 September 2023 UNDERGRADUATE STUDY: Course schedules for Autumn Semester 2023/2024

We would like to inform you that the course schedules for all study programmes for the Autumn Semester 2023/2024 are published on our website (https://www.famnit.upr.si//en/student-pages/timetables). Lectures start on Monday, 2 October 2023 and last until Friday, 19 January 2024.

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 Saturday, 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. Students will receive the information about the group on their student university e-mail no later than Saturday, 30 October or on their personal e-mail if they are enrolled in the 1^st year of study.

We would like to inform you:

• SK3: the course Technologies for Food Processing in Agriculture will have consultations, the course leader will inform students about the it;
• BP2, BP3: the courses Psychology Practicum and Selected Biopsychological Topics in the English Language are not on the course schedule; students will be informed later.

Changes after that (from Monday, 2 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 Monday, 2^nd October. All information is published on our website (https://www.famnit.upr.si/en/news/monday-2nd-october). All lectures and tutorials start on Tuesday, 3^rd October.

Students of the 2^nd and 3^rd year start with lectures and tutorials on Monday, 2^nd (acording to the course schedule).

Meetings with study programme coordinators for students enrolled in English programmes (Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Mathematics) will take place during Orientation days at UP (for more info please check: https://welcome.upr.si/en/arrive/orientation).

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

Student Services UP FAMNIT

Monday, 25 September 2023 MONDAY, 2ND OCTOBER – MEETINGS OF FRESHMEN WITH COORDINATORS

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! The meeting with the study programmes coordinators will take place on 2 locations: in Koper (Glagoljaška8) and in the Livade 1.0 facility in Izola (Livade 6):

• KOPER – student gather at 9:30 in the park in front of the faculty, and from 10.00 to 11.30 there will be meetings with the study programme coordinators:
  • Mathematics (Slovene) and Mathematics in Economics and Finance: in classroom Famnit-MP1 (1st floor),
  • Computer Science (Slovene): in classroom VP3 (2nd floor),
  • Bioinformatics (Slovene): in classroom MP6 (2nd floor),
  • Biopsychology: in classroom VP2 (1st floor),
• IZOLA - student gather at 9:30 in front of the Livade 1.0 facility, and from 10.00 to 11. 30 there will be meetings with the study programme coordinators:
  • Conservation Biology: in classroom Livade-FAMNIT 3 (3rd floor),
  • Mediterranean Agriculture: in classroom Livade-Epsilon (ground floor).

Meetings with study programme coordinators for students enrolled in English programmes (Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Mathematics) will take place during Orientation days at UP (for more info please check: https://welcome.upr.si/en/arrive/orientation). You are kindly invited to apply, if you haven't so far.

We kindly ask you to come on time, as the meetings will start at 10.00 with the official welcome from the rector UP.

All courses will start on Tuesday, 3^rd October – please check the schedule here (https://www.famnit.upr.si//en/student-pages/timetables).

All notices from Student Services (changes of the course schedule,…) 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, 25 September 2023 POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Course schedules for Autumn Semester 2023/2024

We would like to inform you that the course schedules for all study programmes for the Autumn Semester 2023/2024 are published on our website (https://www.famnit.upr.si//en/student-pages/timetables). Lectures start on Monday, 2 October 2023 and last until Friday, 19 January 2024.

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 every week, because weekly schedules can differ.
• The schedule might change until Saturday, 30 September. Please check the schedule again before the beginning of the academic year.

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

• Mathematical Sciences – Slovene (PMA): Monday, 2 October at 14.00 in Famnit-MP2 (Glagoljaška 8, Koper, 2^nd floor);
• Computer Science (PRIN): Monday, 9 October at 12.00 in Brolo-B7 (Trg Brolo 12, Koper, 2^nd floor);
• Nature Conservation (PBI):  Monday, 2 October at 14.30 in Livade-Famnit 3 (University campus Livade Izola, Livade 4, 3^rd floor);
• Biopsychology (PBP): Monday, 2 October at 12.00 in Famnit-MP1 (Glagoljaška 8, Koper, 1^st floor);
• Psychology (UPSI): Monday, 2 October at 12.00 in Famnit-VP3 (Glagoljaška 8, Koper, 3^rd floor);
• Data Science – Slovene (PZ): Monday, 2 October at 14.00 in Brolo-B6 (Trg Brolo 12, Koper, 1^st floor);.

Meetings with study programme coordinators for students enrolled in English programmes (Mathematical Sciences, Data Science) will take place during Orientation days at UP (for more info please check: https://welcome.upr.si/en/arrive/orientation).

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

We would like to inform you:

• PBP2, UPSI2: the course Master Thesis – seminar is not on the course schedule; students will be informed later.

Changes after that (from Monday, 2 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.

Student Services UP FAMNIT

Friday, 22 September 2023 UP SENATE ADOPTS DECISION RELATED TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES

Following the floods in August, which affected a large part of Slovenia, UP has primarily established a policy to address the issue of students who were either affected by the floods or involved in various forms of post-flood assistance, and to put in place support mechanisms to assist them in completing their studies within the identified options.

However, at the beginning of September, the Law on Intervention Measures to Eliminate the Consequences of Floods and Landslides (ZIUOPZP; Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 95/23, 2.9.2023) was adopted, which allows the University to take measures to address the consequences of the floods and landslides in August 2023, which may affect the fulfilment of students' study obligations:

1. change the conditions for progression in the study programme or for repeating a year of study;
2. allow the extension of student status for those:

• who, as a direct result of the damage suffered as a consequence of the floods, have been unable to complete their study requirements regularly and on time,
• who have actively participated in the relief efforts as a result of the disaster and have therefore also been unable to complete their studies regularly and on time.

Any evidence of the inability to fulfil the study obligations (e.g. an appraisal, a report of the damage to the insurance company or the municipality, a decision of the Centre for Social Work on emergency social assistance, a certificate of intervention by the local fire brigade, etc.) is considered as proof.

At its 42nd regular session (20 September 2023), the Senate of the University of Primorska adopted a decision regulating changes to the conditions for advancement in a study programme or for repeating a year of study in accordance with the Act on Intervention Measures to Eliminate the Consequences of Floods and Landslides (ZIUOPZP), in summary:

In accordance with the UPALMPD, the conditions for advancement to a higher year of study for enrolment in the academic year 2023/2024 in individual study programmes of the UP will be amended. The study programmes are as follows:

- UP FHŠ (Undergraduate: Geography, Communication and Media, Intercultural Language Mediation, History, Geography – double-discipline; Master: Cultural Studies and Anthropology);

- UP FAMNIT (Undergraduate: Biopsychology; Master: Biopsychology, Sustainable Built Environment, Psychology);

- UP FTŠ TURISITCA (Undergraduate: Management of Tourist Destinations (full-time/ part-time), Management of Tourist Enterprises (part-time), Tourism; Master: Heritage Tourism, Tourism; PhD: Innovative Tourism);

- UP FVZ (Undergraduate: Applied kinesiology, Physiotherapy, Nutritional Counselling - Dietetics, Nursing; Master: Applied Kinesiology, Dietetics, Nursing; PhD: Applied Kinesiology, Prevention for Health);

- UP PEF (Undergraduate: Pedagogy, Pre-school Teaching, Primary School Teaching, Social Pedagogy, Visual Arts and Design; Master: Inclusive Pedagogy, Andragogy, Social Pedagogy, Early Learning; PhD: Educational Sciences, Early Learning and Teaching).

UP students who wish to exercise this right shall submit an application in the VIS/ŠIS system with document(s) proving their inability to perform their study obligations due to floods, landslides or the consequences of a disaster.

For information on adjustments to the individual conditions of the above study programmes, please contact the Faculty Students Office.

Thursday, 21 September 2023 Teaching computing and informatics in kindergarten and the first four grades of primary school: As part of the B-RIN project, we were visited by Prof. Ivan Kalaš from Comenius University in Bratislava

In the framework of the B-RIN project: Developing basic content and skills in computing and informatics in kindergartens and primary schools (from 1st to 5th grade), we were visited by Prof. Ivan Kalaš from Comenius University in Bratislava. Yesterday, September 20, 2023, he presented Slovakian experiences in teaching computer science and informatics in kindergarten and primary school at a day-long workshop. In Slovakia, computer and informatics lessons are a compulsory subject in both primary and secondary schools.

Computer science and informatics lessons in primary and secondary schools in Slovakia are based on the content-defined and clearly elaborated as well as didactically and digitally supported material "Computing with Emil", which was developed and evaluated by Prof. Kalaš with his research team. The materials, which have so far been translated and adapted for seven countries, contain didactic guidelines for educators and teachers, workbooks for children and students, and software adapted to this. At the workshop, we learned about the Emil system and took a closer look at materials for the 3rd and 4th grade of elementary school. The Slovakian experience will represent a basis for content and implementation, tested in at least five hundred schools so far, which will also be used as a pilot in the implementation of the B-RIN project. For this purpose, we will translate and adapt existing materials and pilot them in selected Slovenian kindergartens and elementary schools involved in the project.

University of Primorska members, who participated in the workshop, are Dr. Andrej Brodnik, Dr. Rok Požar and Dr. Nino Bašić from UP FAMNIT, Dr. Sonja Čotar Konrad, Dr. Andreja Klančar, Dr. Maja Lebeničnik, Dr. Blaž Simčič, Dr. Sanela Hudavernik and Dr. Karmen Drljić from UP PEF as well as Dr. Mirko Prosen and Dr. Sabina Ličen from UP FVZ.

Prof. Ivan Kalaš is a professor of Informatics education (Computing) at Comenius University, Bratislava, and since 2013 a visiting professor at UCL Institute of Education, London. His professional interests include development of constructionist interfaces for early computing education and research in the field of the impact of digital technologies on learning. He is a co-author of several programming environments for children, including Comenius Logo, Imagine Logo, Thomas the Clown and RNA (Revelation Natural Arts) adopted by thousands of schools, home and abroad. He is also an author or co-author of several books and textbooks on children programming and informatics, which have been published in several languages and countries in Europe and elsewhere. He has been active in several national and international policy efforts and initiatives. Ivan represents Slovakia in the IFIP Technical Committee for Education. From 2008 to 2013, he was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Microsoft Partners in Learning initiative. From 2014 till 2016 he was a member of the UCL ScratchMaths project, focusing on the development of innovative programming content and corresponding pedagogy for English pupils aged 9 to 11.

The B-RIN project is implemented within the development area Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, with the components Strengthening competences, in particular digital competences and those required by the new professions and the green transition and for investment measure E: Comprehensive transformation (sustainability and resilience) of green and digital education.  The projects are co-funded by the Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Education, and the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

University of Primorska is the leading partner of the project and the project leader is dr. Sonja Čotar Konrad from UP PEF.

Wednesday, 20 September 2023 Presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation – Nuwan Tharanga Attygalle

We invite you to the presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation Improving interaction with radar-based gesture recognition when sensing through materials of the student Nuwana Tharange Attygalleja, enrolled in the doctoral study programme Computer Science.

The presentation will take place on Friday, 29 September 2023 at 13.00 on Zoom:      

https://upr-si.zoom.us/j/85150315452?pwd=SEFOMDY4cDhaQ1JVVDFEdzkxbFhIQT09
Meeting ID: 851 5031 5452
Passcode: 502765

Cordially invited!

Tuesday, 19 September 2023 IASP CONGRESS IS OFFICIALLY OPEN

On Tuesday, 19 September 2023, the Congress of the World Alliance for Suicide Prevention (IASP), which this year is organised by the University of Primorska - UP IAM, Slovenian Centre for Suicide Research, officially opened. The acquisition of the organisation is an honour and a recognition of the work of the Centre so far. 

The main theme of this year's congress, hosted by the UP IAM SCRS, is "The Power of Togetherness". The IASP Congress is a multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral event that provides an opportunity to exchange knowledge and local, national and international strategies for suicide prevention. The Congress will bring together renowned experts in the field of suicide research and prevention, as well as other individuals with their own experience of suicidal behaviour or who have lost a loved one to suicide, and all those actively working in the field of suicide prevention.

The Congress, which is held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Nataša Pirc Musar, was opened by Dr Rory O'Connor, President of IASP, who emphasised the importance of the Congress for the European and international professional community. The opening ceremony was also addressed by the Rector of UP, representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Municipality of Piran, WHO, the American Association of Suicidiology. The closing address by Dr. Diego De Leo, who welcomed the participants on behalf of the Slovenian Centre for Suicide Research, emphasised the importance of research and study of both suicide and the creation of new forms of help, support and improvement of mental health.

The Congress was attended by over 700 participants from more than 80 countries, mainly from Australia, India, the USA, the UK, India, Morocco and Pakistan, and of course Slovenia. The congress, which runs until Friday, will address the broadest topics in the study and prevention of suicide, and will conclude on Saturday, 23 September, with a Day of Connecting, dedicated to the local community, as it is the translation of knowledge into practice that can help prevent death by suicide and help in cases of bereavement, helping loved ones and all those affected. The event is free of charge.

Friday, 15 September 2023 ŠTART UP - meet and greet event for all UP students

 FIRST DAYS AT UP

• Online preparatory days - August & September 2023

• Orientation days - 27. 9.- 30. 9. 2023 

An event full of sports activities organized by SportUP, socializing, meeting and making new connections among UP students, presentations of local organizations, and activities organized by UP faculties will keep us entertained until late afternoon. 

• When?  7. 10. 2022, od/ from 10.00
• Where? Obmorski park Žusterna, Koper  
• What? Meet - Socialise - Games – Fun

- ​APPLY HERE -

The EVENT SCHEDULE will be as follows:

10.00  - Registration for the event, at which you will receive a wristband, an activity card and a UP T-shirt and official start of the event with a speech by the UP Rector Prof. Klavdija Kutnar

10.00-13.00  - SportUP sports and social activities, activities at different presentation points around the venue

13.00  - Lunch

14.00-17.00  - SportUP sports and social activities, activities at different presentation points around the venue

EVENT INSTRUCTIONS:

There will be drinking fountains with running water at the venue, so please bring your own water bottle for hydration.

Lunch will be provided for all participants, but in the interest of "zero waste” sustainability, we encourage you to bring your own cutlery and a deeper plate or bowl.

The location of the event provides ample opportunities for lounging in the sun, so keep a bath towel or picnic blanket in your rucksack or bag.

At registration, you will also receive an activity card to collect stamps at the various presentation points. Each student with 20+ stamps (out of 30) will be entered into a raffle with generous prizes, so we encourage you to actively collect and participate.

Alcohol and other illegal substances are not allowed on site. Violators will be asked to leave by security.

All participants are responsible for the order and cleanliness of the venue, so please dispose of your rubbish in the designated areas.

Check last year event >

>>> UP INFORMATION FOR SUCCESSFUL STUDIES <<< (click on flyer)

TUTOR SYSTEM AT UP

Every beginning is difficult, but it's easier if you're not alone. Student tutors and teacher tutors will help you find information and integrate into student life.Every beginning is difficult, but it's easier if you're not alone. Student tutors and teacher tutors will help you find information and integrate into student life.

If you want your own tutor, write to us at: welcome@upr.si

DORMITORIES

The UP student dormitories will help you with accommodation. We are waiting for your questions: info@sd.upr.si

SCHOLARSHIP FUND 

We are the only public Slovenian university with its own scholarship fund. it is intended to reward the most promising students and establish contacts with potential employers already during their studies. Are you interested? Look at this > website and call us. At the UP Career Center, we offer you all the support you need.

STUDENT COUNCIL UP

The UP Student Council invites you to join its members. With us, you will take care of extracurricular activities and help organize various events. More at upr.si  upr.si

Friday, 15 September 2023 Kenny Štorgel, new Doctor of Science

Today, 15 September 2023, we welcomed another doctor of science at UP FAMNIT.

Kenny Štorgel, student of the doctoral study programme Mathematical Sciences at UP FAMNIT has successfully defended his doctoral thesis Certain Graph-Theoretic Invariants and Decompositions: From Structure to Bounds and Algorithms; under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Borut Lužar, PhD and co-mentorship of Prof. Martin Milanič, PhD.

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

Thursday, 14 September 2023 Erasmus+ Open Call Ka131 For Applications for Co-Financing of The Mobility for Teaching Has Been Announced

We are thrilled to announce the release of the ERASMUS+ KA131 call for co-funding staff mobility for teaching, which was made available on September 11, 2023.

This Open Call provides an opportunity for participants to engage in mobility experiences within Program countries. These countries encompass all EU member states, along with Liechtenstein, Turkey, Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia, Norway, and Iceland. Mobility can be pursued at higher education institutions that hold an Erasmus+ bilateral agreement with UP or UP FAMNIT.

The deadline for submitting mobility applications is September 25, 2023.

For comprehensive information, including specific details regarding the mobility duration, terms and conditions, mobility grants, and the application procedure, we encourage you to consult the Open Call directly. Furthermore, you can find all pertinent information on the UP webpage as well as the FAMNIT webpage.

Should you have any additional inquiries or require further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at international@famnit.upr.si.

Thursday, 14 September 2023 Presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation – Katja Žagar

We invite you to the presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation A human-centric approach to assess and improve comfort in buildings based on occupants’ responses and use of artificial intelligence of the student Katja Žagar, enrolled in the doctoral study programme Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments.

The presentation will take place on Monday, 25 September 2023 at 11.00 in InnoRenew CoE, Livade 6a, 6310 Izola, room Tilia.

Thursday, 14 September 2023 UP Famnit students successfully concluded the Biological-Psychological Student Conference for the third time

The third edition of the Biological-Psychological Student Conference took place at UP FAMNIT on the weekend of September 14-16, 2023.

The conference was divided into two modules, psychological and biological, which ran place in parallel. The participants presented contributions from the fields of biology and psychology. UP FAMNIT students participated in the organization of the event as part of the Association of Biopsychology Students, and the expert committee consisted of researchers from our faculty: dr. Alenka Baruca Arbeiter and dr. Matjaž Hladnik from the Department of Applied Natural Sciences, dr. Peter Glasnović, dr. Vladimir Ivović and dr. Felicita Urzi from the Biodiversity Department, Katarina Kocbek, dr. Vlasta Novak Zabukovec, dr. Vesna Jug and dr. Tina Tinkara Peternelj from the Department of Psychology and dr. Dean Lipovac from InnoRenew CoE and the Andrej Marušič Institute.

The program was enriched by the lectures of four invited speakers:

• dr. Urška Battelino with the lecture PSYCHOANALYTIC WORK WITH METAPHOR IN OCD,
• dr. Jurij Dolenšek with the lecture MOUSE MODEL OF TYPE 2 DIABETES DISEASE AND REMISSION AFTER SHORT-TERM CALORIE RESTRICTION,
• dr. Dean Lipovac with the lecture BUILT ENVIRONMENT THAT CONSIDERS PEOPLE'S NEEDS and
• dr. Borut Toškan with a lecture BEYOND BARE BIOLOGY. ON THE TRACE OF THE ROLE OF THE HORSE IN THE RITUALS OF THE EARLY IRON AGE COMMUNITIES OF THE SOUTH-EAST ALPINE AREA.

The book of abstracts of the 3rd Biological-Psychological Student Conference has already been published and is available here.

The students would like to thank UP FAMNIT forall the support, and within the faculty, especially the Department of Psychology and the Student Council. The organizers were also supported by Marjetica Koper, Luka Koper and GOLD ISTRA TARTUFI.

Thursday, 14 September 2023 Researchers from 6 coutries exchange findings in entomology

The 6th Slovenian Entomological Symposium with international participation took place in Izola at the Livade 1.0 facility from 15 to 16 September. The symposium brought together 63 participants from six countries - in addition to Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands and Russia. 

It was organised by the entomologists of the Biodiversity Department of UP Famnit and the Slovenian Entomological Society of Stefan Michielli - a scientific and professional association of members involved in entomology, the science of insects. The symposium was a forum for the exchange of interesting findings, achievements, results and visions in different fields of entomology: insect taxonomy and phylogeny, forest and agronomic entomology, conservation entomology, insect diversity and entomological methodology.

»The meeting was organized for the first time by entomologists from the Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT in cooperation with the Slovenian Entomological Society of Štefan Michieli. On this occasion, we would like to sincerely thank the organizers for the trust and honor shown when handing over the baton. Sincere thanks to the organizers of the previous implementation of this event from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Maribor, as well as to the members of the expert committee for their help in planning and conducting the symposium. The organization of the event would not have been possible without the financial support of UP FAMNIT, for which we are extremely grateful. Thanks also to all the authors, whose contributions formed an important part to shaping the content of the symposium,« summed up the organizers. They also announced the next symposium, which will be held again at our faculty again: »The symposium is an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues, exchange opinions, continue existing and conclude new collaborations. We look forward to the next meeting, i.e. the 7th Slovenian Entomological Symposium with international attandance in 2025, to be held at our faculty again.«

The book of abstracts, which includes publications as well as posters and other contents, has been published by UP Publishing and is available electronically at the link.

Thursday, 14 September 2023 Conference in Bled and 150th anniversary of the birth of the father of Slovenian mathematics

The conference of Slovenian mathematicians, with around 100 registered participants, was held on September 15 and 16, 2023 in the Bled Festival Hall. The event was organized by the Mathematics Committee of DMFA in co-organization with UP FAMNIT, the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Ljubljana and the company Abelium. The event was carried out under the auspices of the The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (by short SASA).

The conference also marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of the father of Slovenian mathematics, Josip Plemelj, to whom the first part of the conference was dedicated, when speacher about Plemelj and his legacy were given by Prof. Milan Hladnik, Prof. Franc Forstnerič and Assoc. Prof. Željko Oset.

• dr. Boštjan Kuzman with the lecture "Professor Josip Plemelj - the life story of an extraordinary man",
• Prof. Milan Hladnik with the lecture "Professor Plemelj and solving Hilbert's 21st problem" and
• Assoc. Prof. Željko Oset with the lecture "Intellectual network of dr. Josip Plemelj".

At the beginning of the mini-symposium about Plemelj, the conference participants were addressed by prof. Peter Štih, president of SASA (The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ), prof. Gregor Majdič, UL rector, and Mr. Anton Mežan, mayor of Bled.

In the research-applicative part, the most important achievements of Slovenian mathematics in recent years were presented, as well as the research work of successful researchers of the younger generation. In addition, one of the goals of the meeting was also the presentation of achievements in various fields of mathematics, including applied ones. The pedagogical part included the presentation of professional topics in the field of of teaching mathematics and physics. There were 16 contributions in the research application section, and 17 in the pedagogical section.

UP IAM and UP FAMNIT researcher from the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, Dr. Nino Bašić, Dr. Karla Ferjančič, Dr. Nastja Cepak, Prof. Štefko Miklavič and Prof. Vito Vitrih, also attended the conference.

All papers will be published in the conference proceedings.

Prof. Štefko Miklavič, Dr. Karla Ferjančič, Prof. Vito Vitrih, Dr. Nastja Cepak and Dr. Nino Bašić (from left to right)

Wednesday, 13 September 2023 Presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation - Filip Majstorović

We invite you to the presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation Free Volume Studies of Lignocellulosic Cell Wall Polymers of the student Filip Majstorović, enrolled in the doctoral study programme Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments.

The presentation will take place on Thursday, 28 September 2023 at 16.00 via link:

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MWQ1Mjk1NmMtYmE1NC00ZTc4LWJhMmEtZDBlN2U3YWNiYmRj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22f930300c-c97d-4019-be03-add650a171c4%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%224fd02270-c5aa-46f2-bd44-f6f2ad317b4e%22%7d

Tuesday, 12 September 2023 29th Slovenian Science Festival Space-Earth-People

The event will be held between September 26 and 28 in Ljubljana and Koper with international participation.
The festival is organized by the Slovenian Science Foundation (SZF) and the University of Primorska.
The honorary patron is the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Igor Papič.

The event organizers want to encourage festival participants to think about the connection between man and the universe through science.

With the help of natural science and humanities experiments, shows, workshops, lectures, talks, exhibitions and field trials, the Slovenian Science Festival will present what it all represents about people's connection to nature and how our actions affect our planet.

In Ljubljana, the festival will take place on the premises of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana. At our university, the festival events will take place in two locations, namely on the premises of the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies.

Location: classroom UP FHŠ

Workshop:  Science from a Suitcase

Performance: 26., 27., 28.9. – 10 am -11:00 am  and 26., 27.9. – 1 pm – 3pm  

Researchers: Prof.  Irena Lazar, Asist. Prof. Zrinka Mileusnić, Andrej Preložnik

Tuesday, 12 September 2023 The doctoral thesis defence of the student Kenny Štorgel

Kenny Štorgel, student of the doctoral study programe Mathematical Sciences at UP FAMNIT will defend his doctoral thesis Certain Graph-Theoretic Invariants and Decompositions: From Structure to Bounds and Algorithms; under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Borut Lužar, PhD and co-mentorship of Prof. Martin Milanič, PhD.

The defence will take place on Friday, 15 September 2023 at 14:00 in the classroom FAMNIT-VP1. The defence can also be viewed on zoom: https://upr-si.zoom.us/my/fam.vp1?pwd=Q1o0b3RnS2dVT1Z4c2ZRbkk4K25YQT09

The doctoral disertation is available in the library at UP.

Monday, 11 September 2023 Doctoral position: Exploring Biobased Multipurpose Materials

The University of Primorska in collaboration with InnoRenew CoE is seeking a dynamic and motivated PhD candidate to work on development of biobased multipurpose materials, aligned with ongoing projects conducted at University of Primorska. The researcher will be employed at the University of Primorska and collaborate with the InnoRenew CoE, Materials Group. They will become a doctoral candidate at the University of Primorska (doctoral study program Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments). The candidate will work in Izola and Koper, Slovenia.

Goals and Tasks

The candidate will be responsible for designing and conducting experiments to evaluate the barrier properties, biodegradability, and the performance of biobased multipurpose materials. The applicant should be proactive and motivated to perform interdisciplinary research. Key tasks will cover biomass and material analysis using various techniques, including chemical, biochemical, physical, optical, spectroscopic and chromatographic methods. The applicant should have a good knowledge of English, both orally and in writing.

Preferred qualifications

• The ideal candidate should possess a master's degree in biotechnology, chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, wood science, or related fields. Further requirements include:
• excellent communication skills in English,
• the ability to interact with the industry and other researchers,
• and the ability to formulate and communicate new research ideas (research proposal preparation).

The candidate is expected to have an interest in interdisciplinary work and the capacity to work in an international environment. The applicant must also fulfill the requirements for doctoral students at the University of Primorska. For more details, see:

• www.famnit.upr.si/en/education/doctoral/renew-mat
• www.famnit.upr.si/en/education/enrolment

What we offer:

• 1-year contract with an option for renewal (recommended duration for doctoral studies is 3 years)
• Competitive salary with possible performance-based raises
• Opportunity to work with established researchers and with state-of-the-art research equipment

Employment opportunities, admissions policies, activities, services, and the facilities of the University of Primorska do not exclude any person based on race, color, age, sex, gender, religion, national origin, or disability. In processing your application, the GDPR will be respected and your information will not be shared outside of the relevant staff at the University of Primorska. By submitting your application, you agree that the data you provide be reviewed by these organizations.

How to apply

• Interested applicants should send:
• Curriculum vitae
• Motivation letter for this doctoral position (maximum one A4 page)
• Summary (track record) of previous research experience (master’s thesis for example)
• Certified copy of master’s degree certificate and official transcript of records, and their translations, if the originals are not in English Please mention PhD Multipurpose Materials in the title (subject) of your email.

All materials should be in English and submitted in PDF format no later than 15 of September 2023.

The candidate should clearly state if graduating in 2023. For any additional information, you can contact us by email: info@iam.upr.si

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. For further information about the research topic, please contact Dr. Rene Herrera at rene.herdiaz@innorenew.eu.

The expected start date of the PhD enrolment is 1st October 2023.

Please send applications to: info@iam.upr.si

Friday, 8 September 2023 UP FAMNIT part of the cross-border project that strengthens cross-border ties for the preservation and restoration of Natura 2000 areas in the wider border area

Ljubljana, September 7, 2023 - The cross-border project E-NAT2CARE, which started in September 2023, has the main goal of preserving and restoring a high level of biodiversity and the richness of ecosystems, from the Alps to the Karst landscape, in the area of ​​the Veneto and Friuli-Julian regions and Western Slovenia.

Foto: D. Tome

The E-NAT2CARE project is a continuation of the excellent results of the NAT2CARE project from the previous Interreg Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 program period, which showed that cross-border areas need coordinated management in order to stop the decline of biodiversity and the deterioration of the conservation level of habitats and species. Forests consisting of old-growth trees and containing large amounts of dead wood are among the most diverse ecosystems. They ensure the survival of many plant and animal species, have an important economic value, an educational and aesthetic role, and contribute to mitigating climate change. Due to felling, climate change and unpredictable and violent natural events, such as fires and floods, such forests are in serious danger, even in the area of ​​the Alps and the Karst. This also endangers many species that need such a forest to survive. On the other hand, there is a growing need for sustainable management of water resources.

The specific goals of the E-NAT2CARE project are:
 

• To establish innovative, joint cross-border monitoring approaches of indicator groups of animals, insects attached to dead wood and owls, which are good indicators of the state of forest conservation. These approaches will enable the coordinated collection of important information on the biology, ecology and distribution and threat of target species and habitats in the transboundary area. The information obtained in this way is crucial for designing, implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of conservation measures, as well as for determining guidelines and nature conservation priorities in protected areas and beyond.
• Strengthen community awareness of ecosystem services. We will achieve this by creating an atlas of ecosystems and ecosystem services in the Karst area and developing a system for evaluating ecosystem services and tools for defining the economic amount for creating a payment scheme for ecosystem services, with an emphasis on water.
• To strengthen cooperation between science and society, at the local and regional level, with the aim of revealing the exceptional biotic diversity of the wider cross-border area, strengthening the understanding of biotic diversity and ecosystem services, their involvement in the planning and implementation of nature conservation measures with an emphasis on protected areas.

Foto: A. Žunič Kosi, D. Tome, M. Di Lenardo

The partners of the project, which will last until 2025, are: National Institute of Biology (NIB) (lead partner of the project), Parco Naturale regionale delle Prealpi Giulia (PNPG), Park Škocjanske jame (PŠJ), Università degli Studi di Udine - Dipartimento di Scienze Agroalimentari , Ambientali e Animali (UNIUD) and the University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (FAMNIT).

You can read more about the project at the link: https://www.ita-slo.eu/en/e-nat2care

Contact: responsible person of the project, phone, email: dr. Alenka Žunič Kosi, +386 59 232 774, alenka.zunic-kosi@nib.si.

Thursday, 31 August 2023 Open Call Under Erasmus+ KA171 for Staff Mobility and Student Exchanges to Partner Institutions

On August 30, 2023, the Call for Co-Financing Mobility of Students for Study Purposes and Mobility of Staff for Teaching and Training Purposes at partner universities within the Erasmus+ KA171 (2023) program was announced.

The application deadline is designated as an OPEN APPLICATION PERIOD and commences on the day of the call's announcement, lasting until funds are exhausted or revoked. Mobilities must be carried out by July 31, 2026.

Detailed information regarding partner universities, mobility grants, and the application process is available in the respective announcements:

CALL FOR ERASMUS+ KA171 FOR STAFF MOBILITY

• More detailed information about the call is also accessible on the FAMNIT website and UP website.

CALL FOR ERASMUS+ KA171 FOR STUDENT EXCHANGES

• More detailed information about the call is also available on the FAMNIT website and UP website.

For any additional inquiries, you can reach us at the email address international@famnit.upr.si.

Thursday, 31 August 2023 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 8TH EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF MATHEMATICS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED

The European Congress of Mathematics, held every four years, is a well-established major international mathematical event. Following those in Paris (1992), Budapest (1996), Barcelona (2000), Stockholm (2004), Amsterdam (2008), Kraków (2012), and Berlin (2016), the 8th European Congress of Mathematics (8ECM) took place in Portorož, Slovenia, June 20–26, 2021. The event, co-organized and hosted by UP, was attended by about 1700 participants from all over the world, mostly online due to Covid pandemic.

In July this year, the proceedings of the 8ECM were published. They provide a permanent record of current mathematics of highest quality by presenting extended versions of seven plenary, six prize, and fourteen invited lectures as well as eleven lectures from minisymposia keynote speakers, all of which were delivered during the congress.

The editors of the proceedings are Ademir Hujdurović, Klavdija Kutnar, Dragan Marušič, Štefko Miklavič, Tomaž Pisanski, all from UP, and Primož Šparl from the University of Ljubljana.

The proceedings will soon be available in the UP University library.

8ECM hosted the biggest names in the field of modern mathematics, among others the Abel laureate Prof. László Lovász and the President of the European Research Council, Acad. Prof. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon. 1,058 talks, lectures and mini-symposia, a wide range of accompanying cultural events and eight exhibitions were organised, while in May Slovenian Post issued also a special stamp.

Thursday, 24 August 2023 From animated movies to Rubik's cube: This year's 'Matematika je KUL' summer camp

We spent the last days of August in the company of young enthusiasts of mathematics, who participated in the summer camps Matematika je KUL. In this year's edition, 6 elementary and high school students joined us with a united desire to discover mathematical riddles.

During the lectures, which took place from 20 to 24 August at UP Famnit, the participants of the camp learned about the principles of animation and how virtual objects can be moved in computer graphics with the help of various curves, they tried their hand at the challenge of finding consensus, which in recent years has also emerged as a key pillar of decentralized technologies, e.g. blockchain technology (Blockchain). They faced the problem of finding the shortest distance on a given surface and touched on all the "little tricks" that can allow us to assemble a Rubik's Cube in less than a minute, 30 seconds, maybe even less than 10 seconds. They even learned about the human brain from a mathematical point of view.

Participants used the newly acquired knowledge in group workshops to prepare final products, which they presented to their parents on the last day of the camp.

The entertainment part was, of course, also taken care of. We hung out over various mind games and sports activities, visited the 54 meters high Bell Tower of Koper, also called the City Tower, and took a trip to the neighboring charming old fishing town of Izola.

UP FAMNIT organizes camps with the aim of popularizing mathematics, as we strive to show young people with examples from practice that these fields can be fun, interesting and, above all, useful. The participants who return to the camps are proof of the achieved purpose and success of the camps.

Thursday, 10 August 2023 FAMNIT students once again successful at the 30th International Student Mathematical Competition (IMC)

At the end of July, the 30th International Mathematics Competition for University Students (IMC) took place in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. The competition brought together more than 400 students from numerous universities worldwide to showcase their mathematical knowledge and problem-solving skills.  

Traditionally were part of the competition also UP FAMNIT students, who together with their team leader Blas Fernández from the Department of Mathematics, faced all the challenges presented by the competition.

This time, the University of Primorska (UP FAMNIT) was represented by Dren Neziri (a 2nd-year student of the Mathematics) and Diar Gashi (a 3rd-year student of the Mathematics), who received an honorable mention, and Yllkë Jashari (a 1st-year student of the Mathematics) and Dmytro Tupkalenko (a 1st-year student of the Mathematics), who received a certificate of achievement. 

The IMC spanned two days of intense mathematical examinations. Each day, participants were tasked with solving five exercises, with each exercise proposed by different team leaders. On the second day of the competition, a particular problem proposed by Slobodan Filipovski from the University of Primorska, was selected for the participants to tackle. 

The competition exercises covered a wide range of mathematical topics, testing not only the students' depth of knowledge but also their creativity, logical thinking, and problem-solving abilities.  

The competition was organized under the auspices of University College London and hosted by the American University in Bulgaria. 

We congratulate our students for their achievements and wish them a lot of success in their future endeavours! 

More information on the IMC, as well as problems and solutions, is available here. 

Tuesday, 1 August 2023 19th International Conference on Applied Statistics 2023 (AS 2023)

Between 24 and 26 September the International Conference on Applied Statistics will take place at UP FAMNIT. 

***

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE 

The conference will bring together researchers and experts from all around the world in the field of data analysis, data science and statistics, to present the latest research and exchange knowledge.  

The scientific program at AS 2023 includes invited talks as well as oral and poster presentations of accepted abstracts. The two-day main conference will be preceded by a workshop day.

Conference topics

AS 2023 welcomes abstracts of 300 words for oral or poster presentations on topics related to applied statistics in the broadest sense. These include, but are not limited to:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Biostatistics
• Data science and data mining
• Econometrics
• High performance computing in statistical applications
• Mathematical statistics
• Measurement
• Modeling and simulation
• Network science, social networks, collective intelligence
• Sampling methods
• Social science methodology
• Training in statistics

Invited Speakers

Dankmar Böhning​ - University of Southampton

Abstract: The talk will focus on how capture-recapture methods based upon uni-list approaches can tackle questions of population size in health and society. Starting with typical count data modelling approaches such as zero-truncation of Poisson, geometric or negative-binomial count densities the talk will continue introducing the more flexible ratio regression approach for capture-recapture applications. Among case studies considered will be the completeness of contact-tracing of Covid-19 in Thailand, the amount of drink-driving in Great Britain and the completeness of a meta-analysis on completed suicide after a specific surgery to reduce obesity.

Richard De Veaux​  - Williams College

Abstract: The ethical use of data may sound simple, but data can have unintended consequences, sometimes causing great harm. In this talk I will present several real examples of breaches of data ethics, both intentional and unintentional. From these, I hope we can all learn how to think about the impact of data in our own work and arrive at a set of principles that can guide us better in the ethical use of data. 

Cécile Proust-Lima - University of Bordeaux

Analysis of multivariate longitudinal and survival data: From joint models to random forests

Abstract: Health studies usually involve the collection and analysis of variables repeatedly measured over time. This includes exposures (e.g., treatment, blood pressure, nutrition) and markers of progression (e.g., brain volumes, blood tests, cognitive functioning, tumor size). When interested in modeling how these variables are associated with clinical endpoints such as death in survival models, some statistical challenges arise. > MORE

IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday, 1 August 2023 The 9th Student Computing Research Symposium (SCORES)

 The 9th Student Computing Research Symposium (SCORES) will take place on 5 October 2023, at UP FAMNIT

The Student Computing Research Symposium is an annual research conference organized by the University of Primorska, the University of Ljubljana and the University of Maribor. The conference aims to encourage students to present and publish their research works in the field of computer science, thereby fostering their collaboration and creativity.

We invite both BSc and MSc students to submit research papers from all fields of computer science. The length of the paper is limited to 4 pages. MSc students must write their papers in English, while BSc students may choose either English or Slovene. If your paper passes the acceptance threshold, it will be designated either for oral presentation or for poster presentation. >> More 

Having a paper presented at a conference and published in the conference proceedings is a reward in itself. Nevertheless, the authors of best papers, posters and/or presentations will receive additional awards contributed by the organizers and our industry partners.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES

• 31 AUGUST Submission Deadline 
• 10 SEPTEMBER Registration Deadline
• 22 SEPTEMBER Author Notification
• 29 SEPTEMBER Camera -Ready Paper

5 Oct - Conference Start

Keynote speakers

• Marko Grgurovič: CEO of Triternion. Lead programmer on Triternion’s first game, Mordhau, which reached the top of the Steam sales charts while selling 500,000 copies within first week. PhD student at UP FAMNIT.

• Marko Grobelnik: An expert researcher in AI. Co-leads the AiLab at IJS. Collaborates with major European academic institutions and major industries such as Bloomberg, British Telecom, European Commission, Microsoft Research, New York Times

Website and info>>> HERE  

Monday, 31 July 2023 UP FAMNIT students successfully conducted the international student conference SymBioSE 2023

On Saturday, 29 July 2023, the international student biology conference SymBioSE 2023 concluded at UP FAMNIT, which was successfully brought to Slovenia for the first time in 27 years by (former) UP FAMNIT students.

“Two years ago, together with my (now former) classmates from the Faculty, we applied to host SymBioSE, which back then seemed like a good opportunity for further bonding while working on a joint project. When we were voted by the participants, we were truly thrilled and proud to bring SymBioSE to Slovenia for the first time in 27 years. The symposium was a great success, both from the organizational aspect and also from the satisfaction of the participants. The final result is beyond our expectations. We are genuinely grateful for anyone who joined the organization team, who worked very hard all week to reach our common goal. They were always available, always smiling, and had good spirits, despite the lack of sleep. Without such a dedicated team, the event simply couldn't have been successful as it was,” summed up the experiemce presidents of SymBioSE 2023,Taja Pajmon Rak and Luca Privileggio, 

The International Conference was opened on 23 July 2023 by Assoc. Prof. Dr Ademir Hujdurović, the Dean of UP FAMNIT, and Assoc. Prof. Dr Vladimir Ivović from the Department of Biodiversity at UP FAMNIT, who welcomed the participants and presented the activities of the Faculty and the Department.

SymBioSE: made for students by students

The conference brought together 75 participants from 24 different countries and 26 different faculties and institutions. Participants gave 36 oral presentations, 13 posters and 6 workshops, where organisers from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Russia prepared 2 guest lectures on biology.

Besides the rich programme, the event was highlighted by the treasure hunt, where young enthusiasts learn about Slovenia and its characteristics. For a comprehensive experience, attendees explored the wonders of the Triglav National Park, where unforgettable adventure awaited them, alongside the natural wonders of the area. 

In addition, they went to the Innorenew Coe in Izola and the Pira aquarium, concluding the week full of new knowledge and moments with a concert.  

We would like to special thank all the companies and organizations that expressed interest in supporting the event: Municipality of Koper, Intesa Sanpaolo, Luka Koper d.d., Dolina Soče, Tourist Association Portorož, Triglav Insurance, Delamaris, DŠD Koper, Borzen - Sustainable Energy, Hrastnik 1860 and Mikropol. The conference was organised under the auspices of UP FAMNIT, the Marezige Youth Association and the Association of Conservation Biologists - BIODIVA, and also supported by the UP FAMNIT and UP Student Council. 

What is SymBioSE?

The international conference brings together future scientists in the entire field of biology, and fosters friendship and collaboration.

SymBioSE - Symposium of Biology Students in Europe - was founded in 1996 by members of the German student association. The uniqueness of the conference lies in its non-hierarchical structure, which offers an excellent opportunity for connecting students from all over Europe. Through presentations and excursions, they broaden their horizons, exchange information on current topics, and get new friendships.

Friday, 28 July 2023 Artificial intelligence brought together more than 600 participants from Europe, North and Latin America, and Asia

The first European Summer School of Artificial Intelligence successfully ends today.

As part of the one-week ESSAI & ACAI summer school, where we hosted over 600 participants from Europe, North and Latin America and Asia, a wide range of courses, workshops and lectures took place, which enabled the participants to spread knowledge, gain experience and establish useful connections in the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence.

»Recent applications of artificial intelligence available to the general public have sparked an important public debate about the far-reaching implications of this technology. In the EU, we are taking the role of a global leader in regulating the field of artificial intelligence, and we can be proud of this, because we must protect our values ​​and way of life and not be dependent on large companies driven by specific goals and private interests. We must not be afraid of this responsibility,« emphasized the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, in her address at the opening of the event. Just like at the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), which UP co-organized in April this year, the president also highlighted the importance of encouraging girls to enroll in the so-called STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

The University of Primorska is also co-organising the summer school together with the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Society (SLAIS), the University of Ljubljana and the Jožef Stefan Institute.

Dr. Vida Groznik from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies of UP FAMNIT and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at UL FRI chaired the local organizing committee. »We are glad that such a large number of participants applied for the summer school. We have over 630 participants, about 50 of whom are following us online. We have 60 lecturers who will give 36 lectures held in seven parallel sections. All in all, we have participants from 42 countries, so they came to Ljubljana from all over the world, which makes us very happy,« she summed up at the start of the week.

Strengthening the development role of UP in the field of artificial intelligence

UP has been actively involved in research about artificial intelligence technologies for many years and strives for its further development.

Thus, as part of the GDI UP (Green, Digital & Inclusive University of Primorska) project, we strive to improve the digital skills of teachers and students in the context of digital transformation. As part of one of the three pilot programs of GDI UP, we are also starting a pilot implementation of the Master's study program Data Science in the 2023/24 academic year. Candidates for enrollment in the first year of the study programme Data Science in English in the academic year 2023/2024 can also apply for the advertised position J037003 Technical Worker VII/1, which is published on the Employment  service of Slovenia website. Students selected for the advertised position within the pilot project will be directly involved in research and development projects at the University of Primorska through an employment contract. More details are available here.

In recent months, UP FM has been awarded the ThinkXR project, which will allow augmented reality technology to enter Slovenian schools and companies. Within this project, which aims to establish a curriculum and new teaching modules in the field of augmented and virtual reality, we have acquired several pieces of high-quality equipment that will be used for demonstration purposes and will also be available for the students' own innovative work.

Three laboratories operate within our HICUP Lab (“Humans Interacting with Computers” Lab at University of Primorska): Cognition, perception and behaviour analysis lab, Cognition, perception and behaviour analysis lab  and Maker Studio. With the results of new research, a young and ambitious group of UP researchers is successfully striving towards the goal of making the digital world more suitable for humans.

At UP FAMNIT, we run the Computer Science study programme at Undergraduate, Master’s and Doctoral level, and students already have many opportunities to acquire practical knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence during their studies. They often participate in research and events organized by our Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, thus, some students also attended the ESSAI & ACAI summer school. The Google Developers Club of the University of Primorska (GDSC Primorska) has also been very active at UP for the last two years, enabling students to upgrade their knowledge and skills in the field of modern technology.

Our university is also cooperating with the Ministry of Digital Transformation in the preparation of the future Slovenian center for artificial intelligence, with the aim of connecting in the field of artificial intelligence in Slovenia.

UP group at the first European Summer School of Artificial Intelligence

Tuesday, 25 July 2023 Launch of the FIRST European Summer School on Artificial Intelligence ESSAI & ACAI

Artificial intelligence has undergone radical changes in a very short period, which affects different areas of our lives. Some perceive this as a great opportunity, while others as a threat to humanity. Learning about the unknown is therefore crucial in adapting, coping with fear, and discovering the possibilities which AI brings to people. 

    
                                                                             Source: STA

The Faculty of Computer and Information Science of the University of Ljubljana launched the 1st European Summer School on Artificial Intelligence, of which the University of Primorska is co-organised. The Summer School will inaugurate the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Nataša Pirc Musar, who is also attending some of the courses. At the opening ceremony the Rector of the University of Primorska, Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar and the Chair of the Local Organising Committee assist. prof. dr. Vida Groznik from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, UP FAMNIT will greet the paricipants.

     
                                                                            Source: STA

Until 28 July, AI enthusiasts will have the perfect opportunity to join 36 different courses on artificial intelligence. There will be experts from world-renowned universities (e. g. Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford, Yale, KU Leuven, Sapienza, etc. ), research institutes (e. g. CNRS) and companies (e. g. Google DeepMind, Microsoft Research, VMware). 

The courses will be based on areas such as planning and investigating, machine learning automatization, large language models (e. g. ChatGPT), incentive learning, impartiality, fairness and privacy in AI, etc.  

The ACAI section “AI for Science” will be dedicated to the use of artificial intelligence to discover new knowledge in the different fields of science, e. g. biology and genetics, earth and life sciences, knowledge formalization, automatization of scientific research, quantum machine learning, etc. 

Introductory lectures will be given by Prof. Dr. Jure Leskovec from the University of Stanford. 

     
   Prof. Dr. Jure Leskovec from the University of Stanford
Source: ŠOU 

On Tuesday 25 July, at 6 pm, a roundtable on Artificial Intelligence for Society will took place, where five renowned experts in various fields will participate alongside the President of the Republic of Slovenia. On Thursday, 27 July, at 6 pm, a roundtable Artificial Intelligence for Science will take place, where eminent experts will discuss the field of AI and its specific challenges. 

ESSAI & ACAI 2023 is hosted by SLAIS - the Slovenian Society for Artificial Intelligence. The organizers of the summer school are the University of Primorska (UP), the University of Ljubljana (UL) and the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS).The Chair of the Local Organising Committee is assist. prof. dr. Vida Groznik from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, UP FAMNIT and the Vice-Chair of the Local Organising Committee is Dr. Alexander Sadikov, President of SLAIS.

More about the programme > HERE

Tuesday, 25 July 2023 ESSAI & ACAI-2023 SUMMER SCHOOL BRINGS TOGETHER EXPERTS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

On Monday, 24 July 2023, the new and first European Summer School on Artificial Intelligence took place at the Faculty of Computer and Information science of the University of Ljubljana, bringing together top experts from a number of world-renowned universities. Among the speakers at the opening was prof. dr. Klavdija Kutnar, Rector of the University of Primorska. The event was honoured with the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar.

       
                                            The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar
                                                                            Photo:  STA/Bor Slana

Until 28 July, the ESSAI & ACAI 2023 Summer School will be a central space for topical discussions and exchange of views among students, young researchers in the field of artificial intelligence. There will be 24 one-week courses in different areas of AI and its sub-disciplines.

    
                                            Prof. dr. Klavdija Kutnar, Rector of the University of Primorska
                                                                       Photo:  STA/Bor Slana

ESSAI and ACAI are organised as a single event with 6 parallel tracks. ACAI-2023 will bring together 10 sessions on AI and science, while ESSAI-2023, together with the third TAILOR Summer School, will offer 24 courses on all the topics of AI selected by an International Programme Committee. The main organising committee is chaired by assist. prof. dr. Vida Groznik, an employee of UP FAMNIT.

  
    Assist. prof. dr. Vida Groznik from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, UP FAMNIT
Photo:  STA/Bor Slana

The lectures will be delivered by top researchers from a number of world-renowned Universities such as Stanford (USA), University of Washington (USA), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia) and other renowned EU Universities. To ensure that the breadth of skills is truly inclusive, a number of AI companies will be present, one of which is DeepMind.

The University of Primorska is also co-organising the summer school together with the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Society (SLAIS), a member of EurAI, the University of Ljubljana and the Jožef Stefan Institute.

    
                                                                     Photo:  STA/Bor Slana

Monday, 24 July 2023 PILOT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MASTER STUDY PROGRAMME DATA SCIENCE

INNOVATIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MASTER STUDY PROGRAMME DATA SCIENCE AT UP FAMNIT

In the academic year 2023/2024, the University of Primorska is announcing the innovative implementation of the Master study programme - Data Science in English at the UP Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (UP FAMNIT) as part of the "Green University of Primorska"; project, which is one of the three pilot projects of the investment project "Green, Digital & Inclusive University of Primorska (GDI UP)". It is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, and the European Union - NextGenerationEU. The project is implemented in accordance with the plan within the development area Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, component Strengthening of competences, especially digital and those required by new professions and the green transition (C3 K5), for investment measure F. Implementation of pilot projects, the results of which, will be the basis for the preparation of the starting points for the reform of higher education for a green and resilient transition to Society 5.0: the project - Pilot projects for the renovation of higher education for a green and resilient transition.

Candidates for enrollment in the first year of the study programme Data Science in English in the academic year 2023/2024 can also apply for the advertised position J037003 Technical Worker VII/1, which is published on the Employment service of Slovenia website, before the application deadline. The application, together with the CV need to be sent to the e-mail address: referat@famnit.upr.si. Candidates for employment will be selected in accordance with the Employment Guidelines at the University of Primorska. More below.

Students selected for the advertised position within the pilot project will be directly involved in research and development projects at the University of Primorska through an employment contract. Their primary task within the framework of employment will be to study (similarly to the primary work task of young researchers), but their studies will be different compared to the ones of students of the same study programme in the Slovenian language in the form of contact hours, which are defined in the implementation curriculum.

Students will complete practical training in the second year of study in the university's research laboratories. Classic contact hours, such as lectures, seminar exercises, laboratory exercises, etc. in some courses, will be partially replaced by other forms of study, in the framework of which students, as laboratory assistants or technical colleagues will actively participate in the work on research and development projects and the professional work of the university information service. During the course of their studies, students will upgrade the acquired theoretical knowledge and acquire important competencies of practical application in the business environment, as well as competencies of critical judgment and responsibility towards work and colleagues. They will also acquire practical knowledge in the management of mass data through work on concrete tasks in practice, and in this way develop the ability to solve concrete problems related to data science in business processes.

Due to the close cooperation with the university on research and development projects, graduates employed at the UP will during their studies obtain references for obtaining the title of development associate in salary group H and the possibility of employment as developers both within the University of Primorska and at other Slovenian and foreign research institutions.

Graduates of the master study programme Data Science can be employed as data science experts in research institutions, IT companies, banks, insurance companies, transport organizations and other companies that collect large amounts of data. In addition to the title of data scientist, other job titles are data architect, data manager, data analyst, business analyst, business intelligence manager, etc.

The UP invites those who are looking to apply for the position of technical associate at UP and will be enrolled in the first year of English version of the master study programme Data Science UP FAMNIT in the academic year 2023/2024, to read more about the job offer at the link below and submit their application!

• Vacancy announcement at Employment service of Slovenia: (application until August 25, 2023)
• Vacancy announcement - expanded description on the UP website!
• The call for enrollment in the master study programme Data Science.

Non-Slovene speaking candidates will be included in the Slovenian language course organized by the UP during the first year due to their involvement in the university and wider social environment.

In case of more applications than the advertised positions, job candidates will be selected according to the conditions for enrollment in the study programme, which are specified in theCall for enrollment in the master study programme Data Science for the year 2023/24 in the case of restrictions on enrollment, namely the candidates will be selected according to the average grade of the undergraduate studies.

The employment relationship will be concluded for a fixed period from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024 for full-time work, 40 hours per week, or for foreign nationals from obtaining a work permit until September 30, 2024, also for full-time work, 40 hours per week.

The project is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and the European Union – NextGenerationEU. The project is implemented in accordance with the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) under the development area Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, component Strengthening competencies, in particular digital competencies and those required by the new professions and the green transition (C3 K5), for the investment measure Investment F. Implementation of pilot projects, the results of which will serve as a basis for the preparation of a roadmap for the reform of higher education for a green and resilient transition to a Society 5.0: project Pilot Projects for the Reform of Higher Education for a Green and Resilient Transition.

Monday, 24 July 2023 Presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation - Niki Hrovatin

We invite you to the presentation of the topic of the doctoral dissertation Enabling Decentralized Privacy Preserving Data Processing in Sensor Networks of the student Niki Hrovatin, enrolled in the doctoral study programme Computer Science.

The presentation will take place on Monday, 24 July 2023 at 15.00 via Zoom on link:

https://upr-si.zoom.us/j/5389732484?pwd=bUxySzZhRkFmUjMrekozdFE5NTBwUT09

Monday, 24 July 2023 UP FAMNIT students successfully opened the international conference SymBioSE 2023

Several students from the Conservation Biology program at UP FAMNIT have participated in the SymBioSE conferences before. However, since it had not been organized in Slovenia, now (former) UP FAMNIT students successfully brought the conference to Koper for the first time in 27 years.

Yesterday, on July 23, 2023, the Assoc. Prof. Dr Ademir Hujdurović, the Dean of UP FAMNIT, and Assoc. Prof. Dr Vladimir Ivović from the Department of Biodiversity at UP FAMNIT welcomed the participants of the international conference SymBioSE 2023. Throughout the event, the organizers have prepared a rich daily program, with not only engaging content from the field but also activities which encourage social interactions, knowledge exchange, and unforgettable memories.

The international student conference will last until Saturday, July 29 2023.

What is SymBioSE ?

SymBioSE is a Symposium of Biology Students in Europe. It was founded in 1996 by members of a German student association. The main purpose is to broaden the horizons of the participating students by lectures and excursions, to share information about current university matters and to connect people by discussions and cultural exchange.

Friday, 21 July 2023 Appointment of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ademir Hujdurović as Dean of UP FAMNIT

We would like to inform you that Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ademir Hujdurović has been appointed as the Dean of UP FAMNIT for the next four year term by the Rector of the UP, Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, based on the elections held and the proposal of the Senate of UP FAMNIT. His four year term of office will begin on 23 November 2023 and end on 22 November 2027.

You can find more information on the elections and the results thereof here.

Friday, 21 July 2023 Notice of Closure of UP UK from July 24, 2023, to August 13, 2023

We are informing you that the University of Primorska Library will be closed for users during the collective vacation from July 24, 2023, to August 13, 2023. Both units will reopen on Monday, August 14. Late fees will not accrue during the time the library is closed for users.

Thursday, 20 July 2023 Geckos AMONG US: "Have you spotted a gecko?"

In the last two decades, geckos have also started to appear in our places. They were first observed in anthropogenic environments, especially in larger port cities such as neighboring Trieste, where geckos have become common representatives of the urban fauna. In the last few years, they have also been observed around Koper, and information about their presence also comes from other coastal areas. We expect to see three species of geckos in Slovenia – Tarentola mauretanica and Hemidactylus turcicus have been seen several times, and the Mediodactylus kotschyi, which is known to have already inhabited some European cities, is also likely to appear.

                                                 Hemidactylus turcicus                                    
Source: Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT

In order to better understand the spread of geckos, we conducted several field visits to potential locations, where we spotted geckos several times. The presence of geckos in our country is therefore confirmed with certainty, but we would need the help of the general public to monitor their appearance. Since geckos most often spread with the help of humans, we can expect them near human habitations. We expect the most data from Slovenian Istria, where geckos spend the winter more easily, but accidental sightings are not rare even in the interior of Slovenia.

  
                                     Tarentola mauretanica                                        
Source: Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT 

About geckos

Geckos are a group of lizards that are widespread mainly in warmer places - in Europe they are indigenous to the Mediterranean. Larger species can reach up to 15 centimeters in length, and the species found here rarely exceed 10 centimeters. They can be distinguished from other lizards by the different coloration and shape of the scales, the upright pupil, which indicates a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle, and the absence of the eyelid, which prevents the animal from closing its eyes. In addition, they have an extremely effective adaptation for climbing - the tips of the toe pads are equipped with specially designed scales called lamella. They enable geckos climbing on relatively smooth, vertical surfaces. So we often see them high up on walls, especially where they have the possibility of quick retreat or hiding in the immediate vicinity - cracks, window sills, gutters. It is also interesting that they are one of the few reptiles that make sound.

They are not dangerous for humans and are even useful, as they feed on insects and other invertebrates. If you see them near your home, there is no reason to be afraid. They are mainly active at night, when they are easiest to observe when they hunt for prey near lamps. They also rarely enter homes.

We can therefore expect three types of geckos in the area of ​​Slovenia: Tarentola mauretanica, Hemidactylus turcicus and Mediodactylus kotschyi. 
Tarentola mauretanica is the largest European gecko and can reach a size of up to 15 cm, but they are mostly up to 10 cm in size. It can be recognized by its relatively stocky body and wider toe pads.
Hemidactylus turcicus is slightly smaller, at first glance slimmer and more colorful than the Tarentola mauretanica.
In our country, we could also potentially meet the Mediodactylus kotschyi, the smallest of the three species, which can be easily distinguished from the first two by its "bare toes", which do not have characteristic pads with lamella.

          Mediodactylus kotschyi
Source: Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT

How can you help?

Considering the presence in our surroundings and the predicted climate changes, we can expect that geckos will become more numerous in the future. Since we are probably in the period of strengthening of gecko populations, the Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT is addressing you to help with the survey of the spread of geckos. They ask you to report the locations where you have seen geckos in Slovenia. It would be very helpful to have pictures or videos of the animals, based on which the animals could be unequivocally identified. Your information about geckos is collected at gekoni@famnit.upr.si.

Ajda Auersperger, Peter Glasnović and Martina Luznik from the Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT 

Thursday, 20 July 2023 Assistant young researcher (m/f)

The University of Nova Gorica is offering position of assistant young researcher.

Deadline for applications: 19. 8. 2023

We welcome candidates for assistant young researcher (doctoral candidate) position at the student-friendly and research-oriented University of Nova Gorica. Successful candidate will join research activities in the dynamic research environment supported by state-of-the-art infrastructure through involvement in international research collaborations. Successful candidate will enroll in the postgraduate study program Mathematical Sciences at the University of Primorska.

The position pertain to the following PhD adviser: 1. mentor: prof. dr. Irina Elena Cristea: 1 position

Research Topic: Algebra

The chosen candidate will be enrolled in the doctoral study programme Mathematical Sciences at University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia and employed as an assistant in the Centre for systems and information technologies and applied mathematics, at the University of Nova Gorica , conducting research on hypercompositional algebra. This new branch of discrete mathematics represents both an independent research line and a tool of investigation in other fields like: Geometry, Graphs and Hypergraphs, Topology, Cryptography, Code Theory, Automata Theory, Probability, Theory of Fuzzy Sets, etc. The candidate will focuss on new combinatorial aspects of hypergroups related with arithmetic functions, graphs, fuzzy sets, aiming also to analyze the similarites and diferences with similar topics in the classical algebra. The theoretical results will be motivated by their future applicability in various complex engineering and environmental systems.

Candidates for this position are required to meet the conditions for young researcher as stated in the Rules on selection and funding of young researchers at University of Nova Gorica.

Conditions for the selection of a young researcher candidate:

• Has not yet completed a doctorate in science or obtained the title of doctor of science;
• Has not yet been employed as a young researcher;
• No more than four years have elapsed since the year of completion of their second cycle programme of study or the programme of study leading to eligibility for admission to the doctoral programme. In the event of absence due to parental care after the completion of the study programme, with which they have enrolled/will enrol in doctoral studies, this period shall be extended for the duration of the justified absence. In the case of justified absence determined in the health insurance regulations, after the completion of the study programme, with which they have enrolled/will enrol in doctoral studies, this period shall be extended only in the case of continuous absence of more than six months (absence of more than six months means at least six months and one day), and only for the duration of the justified absence.

Prior to the beginning of the funding of the training, the young researcher shall obtain the habilitation title assistant. Conditions for obtain the habilitation title assistant are set out in the Article 4 of Regulations concerning conditions and appointment procedures for research and teaching positions at University of Nova Gorica.

Criteria for the evaluation and selection of young researcher candidates:

• Assessment of the interview with the candidate (up to 5 points); Published papers (up to 3 points);
• Participation in research work (up to 3 points);
• Awards or recognitions received (up to 1 point);
• The average grade of the second cycle study programme or the study programme which qualifies the candidate for admission to the doctoral programme (1 point for an average grade between 9 and 10 inclusive and 0.5 point for an average grade between 8 and 8.99
  inclusive).

The selected young researcher not having completed his second cycle study when applying to the tender must complete his study by 15 September at the latest.

University of Nova Gorica shall conclude employment contract with the selected young researcher candidate.

Young researchers' training shall be funded until they have obtained a PhD or for a maximum of three years.

The provisions of the Act on Scientific Research and Innovation Activities (UL. RS., 186/2021), the Employment Relations Act ZDR-1, the Rules on the Selection and Founding of Young Researchers and Regulations concerning conditions and appointment procedures for research and teaching positions at the University of Nova Gorica shall be applied in the selection process of young researchers.

The following must be attached to the application:

• a short motivational letter;
• CV;
• a copy of your degree certificate, list of passed exams, grade point average and other relevant documents.

Please send your application, along with the required attachments which evidence the fulfillment of the formal requirements by e-mail to careers@ung.si no later than 19 August 2023.

The application should be sent as a single PDF e-mail attachment.

Attachments

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Contact

Tea Stibilj Nemec
phone: + 365 5 6205 822
e-mail: careers@ung.si

Nina Cotič
phone: +365 5 6205 817
e-mail : careers@ung.si

Friday, 14 July 2023 Dr. Blas Fernández is the laureate of the International Stefan Banach Prize – edition 2023

Young doctors of mathematics from Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldavia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine took part in this year's  competition for the International Stefan Banach Prize. Dr. Blas Fernández from the Department od Mathematics at UP FAMNIT is the laureate!

Promoting mathematics and providing financial supports to the most talented young researches from Central and Eastern Europe is the mail goal of the International Stefan Banach Prize competition for a doctoral dissertation in the mathematical sciences, organized by the Polish Mathematical Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Matematyczne–PTM).

He defended his doctoral thesis entitled »On certain problems related to Terwilliger algebras and distance-balanced graphs« under the mentorship of Prof. Štefko Miklavič and co-mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović on 1 February 2023. The contribution by Dr. Fernández relies on an interpretation of certain properties of Terwilliger algebras in terms of combinatorial properties, and these results are considered very original by Prof. Terwilliger himself. Full disertation is available here.

»I am proud and happy to have received international recognition from fellow mathematicians for my research on Terwilliger algebras and distance-balanced graphs that I did during my PhD studies under the guidance of Štefko Miklavič and Ademir Hujdurović. I must express my heartfelt gratitude to the professors and colleagues from UP FAMNIT who have supported me throughout these years. Without their unwavering support, this achievement would not have been possible,« said Dr. Fernández.

More about the prize is available here.

We congratulate Dr. Fernández and wish him many more successes!

dr. Blas Fernández

prof. Štefko Miklavič, dr. Blas Fernández and izr. prof. Ademir Hujdurović (left to right)

Wednesday, 12 July 2023 Prof. dr. Elena Bužan appointed as a new member of the Expert Council for Animal Protection

The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Irena Šinko, appointed the following members to the Expert Council for Animal Protection (Strokovni svet za zaščito živali – SSZŽ):

• Severina Iskrač, Society for Animal Protection Maribor,
• prof. dr. Alenka Dovč, University of Ljubljana, Veterinary Faculty,
• assoc. prof. dr. Ožbalt Podpečan, University of Ljubljana, Veterinary Faculty,
• Asst. dr. Tina Klenovšek, University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics,
• dr. Janko Skok, University of Maribor, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
• assoc. prof. dr. Manja Zupan Šemrov, Biotechnical Faculty,
• prof. dr. Elena Bužan, University of Primorska, Department of Biodiversity.

The Expert Council for Animal Protection is an advisory body to the Minister in the field of animal protection and welfare. The tasks of SSZŽ are to monitor the state and scientific findings in the field of animal protection and to propose measures and activities, to provide opinions and proposals in the preparation of regulations on animal protection, as well as opinions on the appropriateness of placing an animal species on the list of permitted animal species at the request of the competent authority. In addition, SSZŽ proposes criteria for issuing permits for experiments on animals, gives opinions and proposals in other matters for which it is requested by state authorities, and performs other advisory tasks in the field of animal protection.

Membership in SSZŽ, which consists of recognized experts in the fields of veterinary medicine, medicine, pharmacy, biology and zootechnics, as well as active representatives of non-governmental organizations working in the field of animal protection, lasts for 4 years from the date of issue of the decision, with the possibility of re-appointment.

The SSZŽ will organize the first session of the new composition in September.

Wednesday, 12 July 2023 Second extension of the Call for Young Researchers at UP in 2023

The University of Primorska has again extended the deadline for applications to the Call for Young Researchers who will be trained over the next four years in a research and study programme. 

Assoc. Prof. Jakub Sandak – research field Forestry, Wood and Paper Engineering; Materials, research programme P1-0404 Matematično modeliranje in enkripcija: od teoretičnih konceptov do vsakodnevnih aplikacij, UP Andrej Marušič Institute (UP IAM).

Candidates must have completed a second-level degree programme within the last four years and have an average grade in all final assessments and examinations, including the Master's thesis, of at least 8.

Only one candidate can be selected per mentor. The candidate will be offered a full-time contract for up to four years. If there are several applicants, they will be ranked according to their overall score. The candidate with the highest score will be selected. In the event of two candidates scoring the same number of points, preference will be given to the candidate from the under-represented gender in the specific research field, if the research field is characterised by a gender imbalance of researchers at UP (more than 60 %/40 % in favour of/to the detriment of one gender).

Applicants should submit their applications and supporting documents in electronic format (scanned PDF documents) to the following e-mail address: razpis.mr@upr.si.

The submission deadline is extended to August 21, 2023.

•  Call for Young Researchers at UP 2023
•  Application Form MR 2023 

Tuesday, 11 July 2023 UP FAMNIT is part of the first European Summer School on Artificial Intelligence ESSAI & ACAI

The first European Summer School on AI is approaching, where well-known researchers from world-renowned universities will gather at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, and discuss current issues in the field of artificial intelligence. 

The University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technology (UP FAMNIT), together with the University of Ljubljana and the "Jožef Stefan '' Institute, is also being part of this exciting event and contributing to the organisation and a rich lineup of experts who come from various universities such as Stanford, Yale, Washington, Oxford, Cambridge, KU Leuven, TU Darmstadt, Sapienza University of Rome, French CNRS, and companies Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and VMware Research.

    
                                Source: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science

The opening will be initiated with a warm welcome by Nataša Pirc Musar, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, who will greet all participants of the summer school.

Throughout the five-day event 34 different courses on artificial intelligence will be offered in seven parallel sections with three different levels of difficulty (from introductory to advanced). 

We are kindly inviting all AI enthusiasts interested in the latest developments to join the Summer School, which will take place from 24 to 28 July 2023 at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana.

You can apply at: https://essai.si/registrations/ (registration for online attendees are now open)!

More about summer school: essai.si

European summer school on Artificial Intelligence (ESSAI) is a new and first summer school, held under the auspices of the European Association for AI (EurAI). The core goal of the event is to become the central meeting place for students and young researchers in Artificial Intelligence to discuss current research and share knowledge. Furthermore, the format of the ESSAI is comparable to the European Summer School on Logic, Language and Information (ESSLLI), which has been running since 1989.

Friday, 7 July 2023 On Monday RIN seminar prof. dr. Daniel le Roux from the University Stellenbosch in South Africa

On Monday, June 19th, as part of the Monday RIN seminar, a lecture by visiting professor Daniel Le Roux from Stellenbosch University, South Africa was given. The professor hosted by Assoc. Prof. Matjaž Kljun from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies UP FAMNIT within the Erasmus+ programme until 23 June. 

Dr. Daniel le Roux is head of the Cognition and Technology Research Group at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He studies various dimensions of the interaction between humans and technology with emphasis on the cognitive and behavioural processes by which humans, both individually and collectively, adopt and adapt to technologies, and how this impacts their performance and well-being. 

Within the Monday RIN seminar titled: "Digital Distraction, Online Vigilance and the Goldfish Hypothesis: Making Sense of the Impacts of Technology on Attention" the lecturer emphasized a media ecology, which is characterized by the omnipresence of mobile computing devices that offer a rapidly expanding range of gratifying online experiences. In addition, some of the studies also suggests that our behaviour with technology may lead to the shortening of our attention spans, which was also through empirical evidence presented by professors where he exposed both the short and long-term effects of digital technology use on cognitive control.

Thursday, 6 July 2023 UP in cooperation with the Pennsylvania State University

The US Embassy in Ljubljana supported the project "Building Capacity for Sustainable Virtual Exchange Partnerships: The Pennsylvania State University and The University of Primorska".

Together with the Pennsylvania State University, we will implement the course Data Engineering and Distributed Information Systems in an online format.

Pennsylvania State University is ranked 101 - 150 in the ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities).

We look forward to further successful cooperation.

Photo: Sarah Lynn DeCarlo | Onward State

Wednesday, 5 July 2023 DR. DEAN LIPOVAC RECEIVED THE GEORGE MARRA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN WRITING

Dr. Dean Lipovac, the first PhD student to complete the studies at the Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments doctoral program at UP FAMNIT, received the George Marra Award for Excellence in Writing at the 66th SWST International Convention, held 25-30 June 2023 in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.

He received the award that recognizes excellence in writing and research for the published article “Perception and evaluation of (modified) wood by older adults from Slovenia and Norway.”

The committee that consist of at least three members, judged all papers based on a previously stated criteria, among which also the clarity and completeness of the introductory section, conclusion that speaks to objective, clarity of exposition so that it is understandable to those not familiar with the field, research quality, complexity of the problem, originality and the impact on present knowledge of the subject.

“I am honoured to receive this award as it recognizes our research, and our endeavour for disseminating the results with the broader audience,” said Dr. Dean Lipovac.

Congratulations!

Monday, 3 July 2023 The Department of Biodiversity visited prof. dr. Marina Nonić from the University of Belgrad

Between June 18th and June 30th Prof. dr. Elena Bužan from the Department of Biodiversity hosted visiting professor Dr. Marina Nonić,  from the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Forestry, within the "Central European Exchange Program for University Studies" (CEEPUS). During her visit, she delivered several good practices to professors, researchers, and students.

“I worked in modern and fully equipped laboratories and discussed future collaboration and potential project proposals. The host and her team presented me with their results and current activities, which I found very interesting and useful. My teaching activities were related to the conservation of forest genetic resources in protected areas of Serbia, where the methodology and some of the results of our team from the Faculty of Forestry were presented. The main focus was on National Park “Kopaonik”, as an example of good practice, as well as other protected areas. I would like to share various achievements related to my stay at UP FAMNIT with my students and colleagues at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Forestry. I hope this visit is just the beginning of our future cooperation, ” summed up her experience. 

Sunday, 2 July 2023 Rector of UP among the invited speakers at the First Balkan Mathematics Conference in Romania

Yesterday, 1 July 2023, the First Balkan Mathematics Conference (BMC) was held in Pitești, Romania. 

With the purpose to bring together world experts and junior participants, learn about new research trends and increase mathematical collaborations in the Balkan area, the first BMC was launched by the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and hosted by The Tenth Congress of Romanian Mathematicians.

Prof. dr. Klavdija Kutnar, the rector of UP, contributed to BMC as an invited speaker with the talk entitled »Hamiltonicity in Vertex-transitive Graphs«.

Other invited speakers were: 

• Iakovos Androulidakis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece,

• Laura Ciobanu, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK,

• Aleksey Kostenko, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia & University of Vienna, Austria and

• Monica Visan, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.

The scientific program of the conference and proposal of invited speakers was formed by the Steering Committee, whose members were Volker Mehrmann (EMS former president), Betül Tanbay, (EMS former Vice-President) and Karine Chemla (Chair of the EMS Committee for European Solidarity).

The rector of UP was also appointed to the Scientific Committee, which will decide on the invited speakers for the next BMC.

Besides EMS, other organizers of this regional meeting were: Romanian Mathematical Society, Simion Stoilow Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy, University of Pitesti and Mathematical Society of SouthEastern Europe.

Friday, 30 June 2023 A student of the undergraduate programme Conservation Biology successfully presented her work at the international conference "Knowledge to Health - SANUS 2023"

Teodora Dalmacija, a student of the undergraduate program Conservation Biology at UP FAMNIT, participated in the international conference "Knowledge to Health - SANUS 2023" held in Bosnia and Herzegovina from June 23rd to 24th, 2023, where she successfully presented her research titled "Traditional use of Cannabis Sativa L. in the Balkans."

Within the conference, Teodora presented an analysis of available data on the traditional use of cannabis in the Balkan Peninsula. The results showed that traditional cannabis use in the Balkans involved the production of fibers for medicinal purposes as well as food use, where they commonly used seeds, stems, and fibers. She summed up her experience as a big success. "I am pleased to have been part of another international conference and to have presented my work and my faculty."

Cannabis is known as one of the most versatile plant species in terms of its uses. Humans have been utilizing it for various medical applications for millennia. However, many studies on cannabis today focus primarily on its medical purposes, often overlooking the various other compounds that are valuable in industries such as textiles and food. Despite the ongoing development of its various applications, particular aspects of traditional uses are currently fading away.

This research was part of the larger WECANN project, which explores the multi-purpose use of cannabis. To reach their goals, they established the CANNUSE database, for researchers and all who are interested in indifferent aspects of Cannabis use. The database includes over 2,300 entries from 649 publications related to medical, nutritional, fiber-related, and other uses of cannabis from various geographical regions and cultures around the world.

Thursday, 29 June 2023 Record attendance at the 11th PhD Summer School in Discrete Mathematics in Koper

The last week of June is marked by the successful implementation of the 11th international Doctoral Summer School in Discrete Mathematics, jointly organized by UP FAMNIT, UP IAM, SDAMS and IMFM. A record number of 92 mathematicians registered for this scientific meeting, which had been held in Rogla in the previous years, but was organized at UP FAMNIT in Koper for the first time this year. So far, more than 700 professors, researchers and students from all over the world have attended the summer school.

Dr. Cheryl E Praeger, invited lecturer and honorary doctor of UP, who has been working with our university since 2003, summed up her impression of this year's summer school as follows: »I am very happy to be here. It's such a wonderful environment for math, especially for students. Two students from my university in Australia are here and say they are having a great time meeting other students and attending all the lectures. Such experiences broaden their minds and help them connect with other colleagues. It's so exciting for them to know that all this math is happening all over the world. It is an excellent initiative and I am glad that Slovenia supports it. People from the University of Primorska contributed so much to the development of mathematics in this area.«

Dr. Cheryl E Praeger

Two mini-courses were lectured by:

• Karen Meagher, University of Regina, Canada: »Algebraic Graph Theory: an introduction to eigenvalues and the ratio bound with a focus on examples« and
• Ted Dobson (University of Primorska, Slovenia): »Wreath products and double coset graphs«.

While invited speakers were:

• Simeon Ball, Polytechnic University of Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain: »The geometry of error-correcting codes«,
• Marston Conder, University of Auckland, New Zealand: »Some helpful things I have learnt over my career«,
• Misha Muzychuk, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel: »On Jordan schemes«
• Cheryl E Praeger, The University of Western Australia, Australia: »Edge-transitive Cayley graphs and graph quotients«,
• Gabriel Verret, University of Auckland, New Zealand: »(k, t)-regular graphs« and
• Jinxin Zhou, Beijing Jiaotong University, China: »On mixed dihedral groups and 2-arc-transitive normal covers of $K_{2^n,2^n}$«.

Among the students, who had the opportunity to give a 15-minute presentation this year, were also three UP FAMNIT alumni. Eda Kaja and Đorđe Mitrović (both graduates of Master's study programme Mathematical Sciences at UP FAMNIT) as well as Todor Antić (graduate of undergraduate study programme Mathematics at UP FAMNIT) like to return to our faculty, as they continued their journey at universities abroad: Eda at TU Darmstadt in Germany, Đorđe at University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Todor at Charles University in the Czech Republic. Đorđe and Eda, who attended the summer school in Rogla in 2019 as well, noticed that the group of participants is much larger this year: »There are many more people and the group is also more international. The competition for the prize, which is awarded for student presentations, is very strong.«

Left to right: Todor Antić, Đorđe Mitrović, Eda Kaja

Also this year, the students competed for the Best Student Talk Award. The winner was decided by the committee members Michel Lavrauw, Aleksander Malnič and Cheryl Praeger, and the award was given to Kamilla Rekvenyi for the talk entitled »The Orbital Diameter of Primitive Permutation Groups«. She received free participation at the next year’s 12th PhD Summer School in Discrete Mathematics.

The winner, Kamilla Rekvenyi, a mathematician from Hungary who is currently a PhD student at Imperial College London, praised the organization of the event and the climate she felt at our faculty: »I think the courses are very well done and it is very nice that there are so many connections, that we can explore. Everything is organized very well. So many social events, that bring everybody together, makes it such a nice thing. We have been having ideal days: meeting up, doing maths, having some chats, going to the beach and having social time. I really like the building as well and how everybody is so open and friendly. I can see how this would be a very nice place to also work. I am really enjoying it.«

Left to right: Aleksander Malnič, Cheryl Praeger, Kamilla Rekvenyi and Michel Lavrauw

Read more about this year's program and participants here.

Thursday, 29 June 2023 UP FAMNIT Dean Election Results

The elections for the Dean of UP FAMNIT were held at UP FAMNIT on Thursday, 22 June 2023 for early elections and today, 29 June 2023 for regular elections. The Electoral Committee has released its final report, indicating the voter turnout for each group of voters as follows:

• University teachers and researchers recorded a turnout of 81.4% (105 voters),
• Students had a turnout of 2.4% (22 voters),
• Other employees had a turnout of 81.5% (22 voters).

A total of 149 voters turned out to vote in the elections.

Based on the valid ballot papers counted, candidate Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović received 79.2% of the valid votes, while candidate Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Ivović received 20.8% of the valid votes. As a result, Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović will continue to serve as the Dean of UP FAMNIT for the next four-year term of office.

In the first half of July 2023, the Senate of UP FAMNIT is expected to hold an extraordinary meeting to adopt a decision on the election results. They will propose the appointment of Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović as the Dean of UP FAMNIT for the next term of office (23 November 2023 - 22 November 2027) to the Rector of the UP.

We would like to congratulate Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović on his re-election and wish him continued success in leading the Faculty in the next term of office, along with many rewarding experiences and opportunities for growth.

Tuesday, 27 June 2023 UP FAMNIT invites young enthusiasts of computer science or mathematics to two summer camps

The Faculty UP FAMNIT (University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies) is organizing two summer camps Math is Cool and ORADA computer workshop, intended for all students who finished elementary school (students who have finished the last year of elementary school and high school students) and have an interest in mathematics or computer science. This year's summer camps will take place from August 20 to August 24 2023.

Summer camp “Math is Cool” 

This year the Faculty is organizing its 12th edition of the FAMNIT summer camp "Math is Cool". The camp is designed for students who have finished elementary school (students who have finished the last year of elementary school and high school students) and have an interest in mathematics. Simultaneously, the camp will also be conducted in English.

The summer camp includes:

• lectures and workshops about interesting mathematical topics,
• project work in groups, and
• social and sports activities.

More information about the camp you can find on the website.

Email:  tabor@famnit.upr.si.

You can apply HERE. 

Summer camp “ORADA computer workshop”

Summer camp ORADA is designed for students who have finished elementary school (students who have finished the last year of elementary school and high school students) and have an interest in computer science. 

The summer camp includes:

• Workshop: Poker in Python 
• Workshop: Rubik's Cube: From group theory and Algorithms to Speed-solving 
• Group project work and
• Various social and sports activities.

More information about the application you will find on the following website page: https://tabor.dist.famnit.upr.si/sl/prijave

More detail about the camp is available on the website of the camp.

Email: tabor.dist@famnit.upr.si.

In addition, we offer both camps a 70% discount to participants who have attended the national Vega competition (or Bober for ORADA camp). 

There is a limited amount of funds available to cover the participation full-costs for participants who meet the following criteria:

• Provide proof of participation in the International Mathematical Olympiad upon registration, or
• Provide proof of a Gold VEGA Award in Mathematics or the highest recognition at the national level in a logic competition (or Bober for ORADA camp) in the years 2021, 2022, or 2023 upon registration.

The deadline for application for both camps is 31 July 2023. 

Some moments from last year's camp you can find HERE. 

Friday, 23 June 2023 More than 330 mathematicians in Kranjska Gora for the 10th Slovenian international conference on graph theory

This week, the “10th Slovenian international conference on graph theory”, also known as the "the Bled conference", took place in Kranjska Gora for the tenth time.

This was already the 10th edition of the international conference, which takes place every four years, and this year it was once again one of the world's largest events in the field of graph theory. From the very beginning, conference organizers have been the most prominent Slovenian researchers in the field of graph theory: prof. Tomaž Pisanski, prof. Dragan Marušič, prof. Bojan Mohar and prof. Sandi Klavžar. The main organizer of this year's conference was UM FNM (University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics), which cooperated with IMFM (Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics), UP (University of Primorska), UM (University of Maribor) and company Abelium d. o. o.

Over 330 mathematicians participated at the conference. Increasing number of participants is the proof that the Slovene international conference has become one of the most important global conferences in the field of graph theory, which has repeatedly attracted established researchers and prospective young doctoral and postdoctoral students from around the world. It is offering a platform, where they can exchange the most important findings and insight into the most current problems in the field of graph theory.

During the conference, more than 300 lectures were offered, of which 11 were plenary lectures delivered by top mathematicians from all over the world. Among them were also recipients of the most prestigious mathematical awards.

Plenary speakers:

• Csilla Bujtás, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Zdeněk Dvořák, Charles University, Czech Republic
• Michel Lavrauw, University of Primorska, Slovenia
• Karen Meagher, University of Regina, Canada
• Torsten Mütze, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
• Dieter Rautenbach, Ulm University, Germany
• Gordon Royle, University of Western Australia
• Pablo Spiga, University of Milano--Bicocca, Italy
• Edwin R. van Dam, Tilburg University, Netherlands
• David Wood, Monash University, Australia
• Anders Yeo, University of Southern Denmark

Next week, June 26, the traditional and 11th International Doctoral Summer School from Discrete Mathematics starts in Koper. 95 mathematicians applied, among them both university professors and researchers as well as doctoral students. The summers school offers another important platform for connecting young people and experienced mathematicians.

Photo by: Katja Berčič

Thursday, 22 June 2023 What is the genetic and chemical diversity of Slovenian and Corsican immortelle?

At the beginning of June, our faculty was visited by Prof. Marc Gibernau and Prof. Félix Tomi from the University of Corsica as part of the bilateral project »Genetic & chemical diversity of Slovenian & Corsican immortelle«.

The implementation of the project started on January 1 this year, and in the collaboration between UP and the University of Corsica (CNRS - Laboratoire Sciences Pour l'Environnment), the leading institution in Slovenia is UP FAMNIT.

The department of UP FAMNIT, within which the project is implemented, is the Department of Applied Natural Sciences.

It was the first visit as part of the project, a team of Slovenian researchers will visit the University of Corsica this fall, and two more meetings will follow next year.

Presentation of the project:

Immortele (Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don) represents a bio-factory of natural phyto-compounds, therefore the holistic study of the plant is extremely important, which enables the achievement of the desired quality of plant extracts and essential oils, the discovery of targeted natural compounds and their potential in industry. Bioactive properties have contributed to its attraction and introduction into agricultural production, especially in Corsica, Spain and the Balkan countries. Corsican immortelle essential oil is the most recognized and appreciated worldwide in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry, while Slovenia is a pioneer in the field of immortelle cultivation, since only family farms that offer various immortelle products deal with immortelle.

The main problem of the countries in the Adriatic area is the uncontrolled flow of planting material and inappropriate declarations without precise identification of subspecies/species, therefore the main purpose of the project is the valorization and authentication of genetic resources of immortelle from different areas of the Mediterranean with the help of biochemical and genetic profiling. The researchers of UP FAMNIT and UC-CNRS (University of Corsica – CNRS, Laboratoire Sciences Pour l'Environnment) have not cooperated until now, so the project opens up new possibilities for the establishment of long-term research cooperation between universities that are focused on the holistic study of Mediterranean plants.

The project is managed by dr. Alenka Baruca Arbeiter, and the financer is the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARRS).

The project will last until 31 December 2024.

Tuesday, 20 June 2023 Assoc. Prof. Andraž Legat at ETH Zürich

Assoc. Prof. Andraž Legat from the Department of Applied Natural Sciences attended the Doctoral Examination of Lucas Michel at ETH Zürich (ETHZ) on 5th of June as a member of PhD Committee. Supervisor of the thesis entitled »Automated Localized Electrochemical Characterization (ALEC) as a new investigation method to study localized corrosion of steel« was Prof. Dr. Ueli Angst, ETHZ. Members of the Committee were also Dr. Patrick Schmutz, EMPA, and Dr. Stefano Mischler, EPFL. In the afternoon Prof. Legat held at the Institute for Building Materials, which is part of ETHZ, a lecture entitled »Monitoring and characterization of stress-corrosion cracking processes under various conditions«.

Thursday, 15 June 2023 Researches from the Department of Biodiversity visited Institute Nina in Norway: Knowledge and best practices exchange for a sustainable future

Researchers from the Department of Biodiversity visited the prestigious Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) in the picturesque city of Trondheim, Norway, at the end of May as part of the ReNature project. The NINA Institute is known as a leading institution in Norway for applied ecological research, with expertise in genetics, populations, species, ecosystems, and landscape levels in terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal marine environments.

The visit was carried out between May 30th and June 1st, during which the Department of Biodiversity from UP FAMNIT, together with the hosts and other Slovenian partners (Škocjan Caves Regional Park, Pivka Intermittent Lakes Landscape Park, and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ljubljana), visited various wetland renaturation projects. The focus was primarily on highly significant peat bogs.

The team was excited by the opportunity and exchanging knowledge with the Norwegian experts and witnesses of the unique efforts in preserving and restoring wetlands. Throughout their fieldwork, they were introduced to the latest methods and techniques used in renaturation and also understood the importance of these types of ecosystems for biodiversity conservation. 

The outcome of the visit brings in the exchange of new ideas and best practices, which are crucial for future collaborations and for the more effective management of future environmental challenges to ensure a sustainable future.  

Thursday, 15 June 2023 InnoRenew CoE hosted researchers from Valencia Polytechnic University

Today, researchers Ignacio Guillén Guillamon and Ana Isabel Jimenez from Valencia Polytechnic University participated in a meeting at InnoRenew CoE as part of the Erasmus+ exchange programme.

Professor Ignacio Guillén Guillamon presented his research area on sustainable built environment during the weekly staff meeting at InnoRenew CoE. The presentation focused on new technologies for GHG-neutral urban planning. 

During their visit, they met and discussed also with several researchers from the Department of Applied Natural Sciences UP FAMNIT and toured the building and research laboratories of InnoRenew CoE.

Wednesday, 14 June 2023 Elective Courses

The University of Primorska offers students elective courses from various fields. The Rules of electiveness at the University of Primorska (in the Slovenian language) enable students to select courses at other faculties of the University of Primorska. Students can complete their study obligations at other faculties and collect credit points that will be recognized as completed study obligations at their own faculty.

CALL FOR ELECTIVENESS AMONG UP MEMBERS FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2023/2024

The deadline for submitting application form for electiveness among UP members for the academic year 2023/2024 is Thursday, 5 October 2023.

More information on the application and selection options is available in the links below.

LEAFLET

• Call for electiveness 2023/2024
• Information package 2023/2024
• Application form 

For more detailed assistance please contact the Student Office of the individual faculty of the University of Primorska.

Monday, 12 June 2023 Young enthusiasts visited UP FAMNIT

Today, 12 June, 45 talented primary school students from Primary School Oskar Kovačič Škofije, Solkan and Dušan Bordon gathered in sunny Koper for a Natural Science Day and had fun.

After the warm welcome, the students and their teachers began with the first workshop entitled  "From snakes and ladders to share prices", under the auspices assist. Ana Zalokar with PhD, from the Department of Mathematics UP FAMNIT. Within the workshop, she introduced students to the Markov chain, named after the Russian mathematician Andrei Markov (1856-1922). Especially educational and fun were the boarding games, where they counted the routes, predicted the weather and watched what was happening on the stock market. 

After the 1st workshop, they moved from the mathematical to more computational topics, entitled “How almighty is the almighty computer,” held by Dr. Nino Bašić from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, UP FAMNIT.  The lecturer gave an introduction to the functional and historical features of the computer. The students also found out the order in which their favourite ice cream can be found and when the world will end. 

During the end of the workshop, the students had a short break with the sandwiches we prepared for them and then continued with the Natural Science Day in Livade 1.0 in Izola.

Dr Katarina Šoln from the Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT broad students to the workshop entitled “ What is hiding under the microscope?" into the mysterious world of plants and animals. Throughout the workshop, the lecturer familiarizes students with the function of the light microscope and its fresh preparation as well as independent microscopy. Besides, they determined the presence of starch in a banana and marvelled together at the fascinating world under the microscope. The workshop was held as part of the World Federation of Scientists (WFS).  

Young enthusiasts took part in the workshop “Online safety,” under the auspices of Assist. Tjaša Ogrizek, from the Department of Psychology UP FAMNIT, Matija Zagoranski, an MSc student of Biopsychology and Matej Kržišnik, an MSc student of Psychology, who introduced students to the fascinating world of social networks and their wonders and hidden features. Lectures aimed to encourage and empower students to act responsibly and safely, while using social media. Thereby reducing the negative consequences that are often the result due carelessness or ignorance. 

Friday, 9 June 2023 The Molecular Ecology Group of the Department of Biodiversity becomes part of the European BEPREP project

How important is nature conservation for the recovery of biodiversity? Can it help in preventing future outbreaks of epidemics, or pandemics?

With the related question, the Department for Biodiversity will meet, which is now part of the European project BEPREP. The project aims to prevent the future pandemic by studying and identifying best practices for biodiversity restoration and public health measures, which reduce the risk of highly communicable diseases.

Within the project, their focus will be on effective and strategic communication during its performance. While addressing key stakeholders, various communication tools will be used such as posters, slides, templates and additional materials - leaflets, infographics - tailored to the various stakeholders and the project results.

Epidemics and pandemics have been threatening the health and well-being of people around ever since. Because of its sudden appearance, prevention of their outbreaks will be crucial for our future - at both European and global levels.  Biodiversity has appeared as a crucial paradigm in disease risk reduction,  which is also identified as the main tool for its reduction in disease risk. 

The BEPREP project is funded by the EU UNION HORIZON 2020 programme, which aims to reduce knowledge gaps and also provide practical directions for its future. In this context, the project seeks to find answers and provide information directly from the environment. Where the findings of the project will significantly contribute to further actions and infections.

Thursday, 8 June 2023 13th generation of UP FAMNIT graduates

On Thursday, June 8, UP FAMNIT celebrated the thirteenth generation of graduates - there have been 126 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, data science,  computer science and sustainable built environments.

The 13th generation of graduates was addressed by the Vice Rector for Research and Development of the University of Primorska, Prof. Dr. Štefko Miklavič, as well as the UP FAMNIT Dean, Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović. Congratulations on the completion of the studies were also given by Martina Mrakovčić, youth worker at Zavodu Nefiks.

Two students shared their memories and thoughts at the end of their study experiences at the faculty: Karolina Trajkovska, graduate of the undergraduate study programme Computer Science and Petra Slavinec, graduate of the master’s study programme in Nature Conservation.

Harpist Bilka Peršič brought a charming musical atmosphere to the ceremony.

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.

Recipients of the Faculty rewards are:

• Tilen Gimpelj, undergraduate study programme Bioinformatics, reward for study/research work,
• Sara Milovanova, undergraduate study programme Bioinformatics, reward for study/research work,
• Kaja Vereš, master's study programme Nature Conservation, reward for study/research work,
• Hana Hanžek Turnšek, master's study programme Nature Conservation, reward for study/research work,
• Dr. Blas Fernandez, doctoral study programme Mathematical Sciences, reward for study/research work,
• Dorotea Redžepi, undergraduate study programme Mathematics, reward for study/research work,
• Katarina Marjanović, undergraduate study programme Biopsychology, reward for study/research work,
• Katarina Ćosić, master's study programme Biopsychology, 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:

• Lucia Nikolić, master's study programme Nature Conservation,
• Pavle Mihailovski, undergraduate study programme Computer Science.

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

Monday, 5 June 2023 Internationally coloured May at UP FAMNIT

In May the Department of Mathematics, Department of Information Sciences and Technologies and Department of Biodiversity UP FAMNIT, hosted professors and researchers from various universities and countries, who got introduced to our university, teaching process, and opening possibilities for future cooperation.

Knowledge sharing, exchanging views and gaining experiences are just some of the main motives for visiting professors and researchers. Below, they told us more about their visit and all the impressions they were particularly excited about.   

Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović hosted, within the Erasmus + programme, assist. Prof. Elvis Baraković, from the University of Tuzla, between 15 - 22 May 2023.  In a short statement, he confessed that this is not his first visit here: “A few years ago I was involved in the bilateral project between Bosnia and Slovenia. However, during the week I will give courses in the field of Mathematics to PhD and BSc students, which I am looking forward to. I'm glad that this time I am here with my family, whose I would like to share my experience and show them Koper and its surroundings. I also have a few very good friends here, who I also intend to visit, and go with them for a coffee or two.” summed up.  

Assoc. prof. Jasna Prezelj from the Department of Mathematics UP FAMNIT hosted  Prof. Chiaro de Fabritiis from the University of Ancona, Italy - who already cooperated with our professors - from 15 to 22 May. She described her experience as the following: “I have been in very good relations with the professor here, therefore I took advantage of the Erasmus + exchange and got the opportunity to meet them again. The main purpose of my visit is above all to start a mutual collaboration between the faculties, besides, I am looking forward to one day my colleagues from here also visiting me in Ancona, where we can continue our work.   

Asoc. Prof. Russ Woodroofe, from the Department of Mathematics, hosted Prof. Hilong Dao from the University of Kansas, USA, from 13 to 17 May 2023. Professor Hilong's visit was part of the project, which started a few months ago in Canada. The project particularly aims to combine combinatorics and algebra. In a short statement, he described his very first impressions of his visit. “I have to admit that I am enjoying the week here, besides, Professor Russ is a great interlocutor. For instance, just a regular conversation brings us to interesting and productive debates. However, this is also my first visit to Slovenia, and I'm fully impressed. It's for sure one of my favorites. In my opinion, the biggest advantage is the size of the country, and also the people who are incredibly friendly and among all it is not touristy. Your cakes are tasty as well!” he added in a laugh.

A researcher at UP IAM and professor at UP FAMNIT, assist., Aleksandar Tošić with PhD, from the Department of Information Science and Technology, hosted Assoc. Dr Nagh Naghmeh Ivaki from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, from 21 to 26 May. During its visit, Dr Naghme Naghmeh already gave a seminar as part of the ERASMUS+ exchange programme. In a brief statement, she also described why she visit UP FAMNIT. “I wanted to get to know your university, particularly the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, where I believe we will find opportunities for future collaboration. If I look back, I will rate this visit as a great success. Besides my formal visit, I was also impressed by your country, university and people from the department. I have to admit that the Department here is much smaller but very professional, which pleasantly surprised me.” 

Dr. Živa Fišer and Dr. Peter Glasnović from the Department of Biodiversity, hosted Joana Costa from the Institute of Superior de Agronomia, who finished her STSM on the invasive Oxalis pes-caprae. The main objective of the visit was to investigate the reproductive strategies and population structure of the invasive plant species Oxalis pes-caprae in the Mediterranean basin. Now the researchers of the University of Primorska can start with morphometric analyses of Mediterranean populations and analyses of pollen loads. 

Exchanges at UP FAMNIT

Establishing new links with professors and research from prestigious universities is one of the most important objectives of the faculty. Within that, we can grow and create important connections for future development.

Besides, we promote mobility within existing schemes (Erasmus+, CEEPUS) and within bilateral agreements on different levels (national, university, faculty), as well as possibilities outside formal programmes, in individual arrangements  

The close cooperation with the Andrej Marušić Institute (UP IAM), in the field of research, is an additional advantage, as it attracts various researchers and professors from foreign universities, who participate in the study programme implementation, conferences and scientific meetings. Namely, every year over 70 visiting professors and researchers attend our events. 

Friday, 2 June 2023 PROMETHEUS OF SCIENCE AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATION FOR 2022

The Slovenian Science Foundation (SZF) awarded the Prometheus of Science Awards for 2022 at a ceremony held at the Prešeren Hall of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences (SAZU) on Tuesday, 30 May 2023. Among the winners of the University of Primorska are the UP Faculty of Education (UP PEF), together with Radio Koper, and the InnoRenew CoE research institute. The Communicator of Science Award for 2022 was awarded to Dr. Lovrenc Lipej.

The Prometheus of Science Award was given to the InnoRenew CoE (Centre for Research and Innovation in Renewable Materials and Healthy Living Environments), which the University of Primorska and a consortium of project partners established in 2017. It now brings together 68 experts from 20 different countries in five research groups in a highly interdisciplinary way.

Their excellence is best illustrated by their new institute building, which combines cutting-edge expertise in several fields to achieve sustainable construction, including architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, psychology, ergonomics, information technology, wood science, and the expertise of multidisciplinary researchers in the field of healthy living environments.

More than 2,300 people of all generations have visited the building in the meantime.

Since its foundation, they have continuously worked to popularise the science of wood and sustainable construction in various ways – through national and international associations, by participating in trade fairs, round tables, and conferences, by teaching at the faculties of Slovenian and foreign universities, by workshops at primary and secondary schools, and by active participation in the co-creation of study programmes such as »Sustainable Built Environment« and »Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments«.

They use many channels to inform the Slovenian and international general public - social networks, websites, publications in various regular columns, newsletters, newspapers and magazines, TV and radio programmes, conferences, by organising various events, exhibitions, ceremonies and international conferences, as well as through the activities of the InnoRenew CoE Living Lab.

Among the recipients of the highest and only award of its kind - the Prometheus of Science, which has so far been introduced for those researchers, artists, teachers and journalists who stand out in communicating science to different audiences, is also the UP Faculty of Education (UP PEF), the Department of Class Education and Radio Koper for the joint radio programme »One cat, four mice«, which consists of eight series.

This popular science programme explains one of the most important sciences - mathematics - to the general public through a narrative interweaving, dating back to the earliest civilisations (Late Neolithic, Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, India, Ancient Greece and the Arab world). The audience is further engaged by the anecdotes, the musical background and the unique style of the presenter/editor. The contributions to the show were prepared by Prof. Dr. Mara Cotič (didactics of mathematics), Prof. Dr. Darjo Felda (professor of mathematics), and Asst. Daniel Doz. The show was aired every Monday in April and May, in the year 2022 (archive of the show).

The honorary title of Communicator of Science for 2022 was awarded to Dr. Lovrenc Lipej, full professor at UP FAMNIT, where he shares his knowledge with students of the courses »Marine Biodiversity«, »Biotic Globalisation in the Oceans«, »Ecology of the Sea« and »Selected Chapters in Zoology of Marine Animals«.

Congratulations to all the award winners!

Thursday, 1 June 2023 Registrations for the 32nd IASP World Congress are now open

The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the University of Primorska, Andrej Marušič Institute, Slovenian Centre for Suicide Research are organising the 32nd IASP World Congress, which will take place at the Bernardin Congress Centre, Slovenia, 19-23 September 2023.

>>> Early bird registration is open until 30 June 2023 at the following link.

We are honoured that the event will be held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Nataša Pirc Musar.

The Congress is a traditional biennial event that seeks to position the issue of suicide at a global and regional level, with the aim of demonstrating the need for action at local levels as well. This one-week event is an opportunity to engage with a highly diverse community of academics, researchers, clinicians, crisis workers, people with lived experience, volunteers and all those involved in suicide prevention or working in related fields.

The 32nd IASP World Congress offers a rich scientific and social programme, lectures and workshops for early career researchers, and an event dedicated to the local community. The latter is called Dan povezovanja: za ljudi z izkušnjo samomorilnega vedenja, bližnje in žalujoče and will take place on 23 September 2023 at the Bernardin Congress Centre, in the Aurora, Daphnia and Nautilus halls.

The event is aimed at the general public, in particular bereaved people, individuals with lived experience and professionals, with the purpose of raising awareness about suicidal behaviour, mental health and bereavement after suicide. It offers a variety of activities, including short lectures on the topics of bereavement and recognition of distress, panel discussions, a Living Library and a workshop titled »The Beneficial Power of Sound«.

>>> The event is free with registration as places are limited. For more information, please follow this link.

Wednesday, 31 May 2023 UP FAMNIT students successfully carried out the 29-hour-long event - Famnit Hackathon 2.0.

On 27 and 28 May 2023 GDSC Primorska - Google developer Student Club at the University of Primorska successfully concluded 2nd Famnit Hackathon!

    
                                                                Members of GDSC Primorska

A Hackathon is a social coding event that brings computer programmers and students from other programmes together to improve upon or build a new software program. 10 teams of 3 students from Computer science and Bioinformatic study programmes participated in the event. The teams had been either formed on their own or at the Hackathon Team Building event before the Hackathon.

There were represented 3 main categories: (A) Innovative solutions for financial inclusions (B) Gamified systems (C) and The best use of data

Throughout the 29-hour event, participants demonstrated their creativity and teamwork skills where they showed their ability to solve challenges from one of the three introduced issues. Organizers in cooperation with sponsors also provided a rich breakfast, to straighten their energy throughout the competition.

Category winners:

(A) Team Dev Lords, who with their impressive skills and exceptional ideas impressed the judges. 

(B) Team Boshko and the Girls, whose teamwork and innovative approaches through the competition convinced the judges. 

(C) Team Goodbacks, who showed exceptional problem-solving skills and technical knowledge.

  
                                                                         3rd place: Team Goodbacks

  
                                                              2nd place: Team Boshko and the Girls

 
                                                                   1st place: Team Dev Lords

The winners received generous prizes from the sponsors in the total amount of 1500 €, where the first place won 700€, the second 500€ and the third place 300€. While the best idea award went to ARN d.o.o.

Other teams also showed great effort and produced amazing solutions, moreover, some of them were also invited to further meetings with sponsors to discuss possible internships.

We would like to thank all the companies and organizations that have shown interest in networking with our students: Outbrain, Gamanza, Dinit, Epilog, HICUP lab and Project IP. Some of their representatives have taken on mentoring roles during the competition and formed the jury team for the final project evaluation.

A special thanks go also to assist. Jordan Aiko Deja, assist. Uroš Sergaš and assist.Matej Arsen Golubovikj from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, who carried out the introductory workshops for students, and gave them the support they needed.

A special thanks go also to assist. Jordan Aiko Deja, assist. Uroš Sergaš and assist. Matej Arsen Golubovikj from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, who carried out the introductory workshops for students, and gave them the support they needed.

»The hardest part of organizing was coming up with a competition concept that would be interesting both to students and companies involved. Also got sponsors, but we were glad to have had a lot of companies dedicate their otherwise free time to our Hackathon. What made us happy is that the company representatives were happy with the work Famnit students produced and we helped students network with potential employers,« said the GDSC representatives.

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 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.

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.

Wednesday, 31 May 2023 UP FAMNIT students successful at the Primatijada

Between 28 April and 3 May 2023, students of UP FAMNIT had once again perfect opportunity to participate at the Primatijada, where they presented their scientific works, competed in sports and had fun.

Throughout the Primatijada our students presented four scientific projects - three of them in the field of computer science and one from chemistry, where Angela Radmanovik, a student of Bioinformatics, at UP FAMNIT, won first place.  

Their enthusiasm was also shown in the basketball match, where they faced a very special challenge, therefore they had only five players with no substitutions, despite that they kept their confidence and team spirit till the very end. 

Good company and cooperation are excellent incentives for further succesful participation, which is also emphasized by Pavel Jolakovski, a vice president of the UP FAMNIT student council, from the undergraduate study programme Computer Science: “Looking ahead, I am confident that next year's Primatijada will provide us with the opportunity to demonstrate our true capabilities. With the memory of this year's competition fresh in our minds, we are fueled with even greater motivation to return stronger, more prepared, and ready to showcase our talents to the fullest," he summed up. 

A mixture of both of it - knowledge and sports activities - were two things that particularly impressed one of the Famnits students: “Primatijada was an awesome sports and science event that left me with some great memories and unforgettable moments. It was so interesting to hear the student's scientific presentations from other universities and cheer loudly for our team during the sports competitions. The only thing that was missing was more of our FAMNIT students.”

The positive response from the students is proof that the event was a great success. "Primatijada was amazing. Amazing team, amazing company. See you next year!" 

"This year Primatijada was amazing, I got a chance to present one of my favorite projects and also compete in numerous sports events. The amount of new and amazing people I met in those 5 days is unbelievable. I can't wait for next year's Primatijada." 

About Primatijada

Primatijada is an international sports-scientific manifestation that has been gathering students of the faculties of Natural Sciences and Mathematics from Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro for almost half a century.

Friday, 26 May 2023 A highly successful TRIPLE i in Suicidology 2023 conference

The 14th edition of the TRIPLE i: Intuition, Imagination and Innovation in Suicidology conference is organised by Andrej Marušič Institute, Slovenian Centre for Suicide Research (UP IAM SCSR). The two-day event was held virtually from 23-24 May 2023, thus allowing the participation of listeners from a wide variety of backgrounds who might not have been able to attend a traditional conference format, due to financial or time constraints.

Lectures by internationally renowned experts in the field of suicidology Dr. Karl Andriessen, Dr. Vita Poštuvan, Dr. William Feigelman, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas, Dr. Yossi Levi-Belaz, Dr. Alexandra Pitman and Dr. Diego De Leo were attended by 310 participants from 38 countries.

All participants were welcomed by Prof. Dr. Diego De Leo, Head of the Slovenian Centre for Suicide Research, Prof. Dr. Vita Poštuvan, Deputy Head, and Prof. Dr. Vito Vitrih, Director of the Institute.

The aim of this year's conference was to bring the experience of the bereaved closer to the participants and to find together effective ways of help and support. We raised awareness of the pervasive tragedy of suicide, which affects not only those who experience the distress of suicide, but also all those who have lost a loved one or a person with whom they were connected in one way or another through suicide. Research shows that around 135 people are affected by suicide every year, and many of them are deeply affected.

We invite you to visit www.zivziv.si, where experts and people with personal experience write about mental health and suicide.

Friday, 26 May 2023 UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS ANNOUNCED

On Monday, 22 May (preliminary) and today, 25 May (regular) 2023, the elections for the Rector of the University of Primorska were held at the UP.

***

After the closure of the three polling stations, the Electoral Committees verified the validity of the ballot papers, counted the valid votes, and then converted them into points. Afterwards, the Chair of the Election Committee, Associate Professor Dr Mihael Perman, presented the unofficial results.

The voter turnout (by groups) was:

- among higher education teachers, researchers, research assistants and higher education associates, 81 %;

- among other UP employees, 84 %; and

- among students 6,4 %.

On the basis of the valid ballot papers counted, the candidate Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar received 62,85 % of the valid points, and the candidate Prof. Dr. Matjaž Novak received 37,15 % of the valid points.

The results have to be confirmed by the Senate of the University, until then they are considered unofficial.

Friday, 26 May 2023 INTRODUCING THE NEW WELCOME.UPR.SI WEBSITE: AN ESSENTIAL RESOURCE FOR UP MOBILE AND FOREIGN STUDENTS

The newly launched website is designed to assist mobile and foreign students in their academic journey and challenges associated with moving and studying at UP.

The website provides access to a wide range of information and advices on how to integrate into a new environment, how to apply and enrol at UP, on finding accommodation, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities, how to connect with other with peers, how to access healthcare services and much more.

The new online resources provide future UP students with all the information they need to succeed in their academic endeavors, from the very beginning of the application process to the end of their studies.

Thursday, 25 May 2023 Prof. Victoria Gould visited UP FAMNIT - an influential member of the Executive Committee of the European Mathematical Society

On Thursday, a lecture by Prof. Victoria Gould, a prominent figure in the field of mathematics and an influential member of the Executive Committee of the European Mathematical Society from the University of York, was given. Throughout the lecture entitled Ethics in Science – what about Mathematics? Raising awareness Prof. Gould explained the topic of ethics in science, with a focus on mathematics, which is also becoming increasingly important in our daily lives but on the other hand it seems to be underestimated.  

About the lecture:

For any scientific endeavour, the discussion of ethics tends to fall into two categories. One is ethics in the practice of science; the other is ethics for academics in their conduct and as regards the publication and dissemination of their work. Many universities have well-thought-through policies and training for their students and staff.

Gradually, the world is realizing that mathematics is essential in almost every walk of modern life. Yet, often, mathematics is omitted from discussions on ethical issues. Frameworks for providing training in ethics to our mathematics students are often lacking, particularly regarding the practice of mathematics outside academia.  

She has been a member of the Ethics Committee of the European Mathematical Society since 2018. This has opened her eyes to some issues, which she explained throughout the Thursday lecture.

Thursday, 25 May 2023 UP FAMNIT students gain new knowledge and experience through the fieldwork

On Friday 19 May, first and second-year students of the Mediterranean Agriculture and Conservation Biology and MSc students of the Nature Conservation programme participated in the student fieldwork. 

They visited the company Ocean Orchids, where they observed their greenhouse and orchid breeding with a following tour on tomato production and degustation at Lušt company. Towards the end, they went to the pumpkin seed oil mill where they tasted oil and other delicious products from the pumpkin seeds.

A few days later, 23 May 2023, student of Mediterranean Agriculture and Bioinformatics study programmes went to the fieldwork on the Belajevi homestead. 

In a home spice plantation, they have had direct contact with Mediterranean seasonings, where they did several chores, such as gardening. In addition, they pruned bushes of lavender and sage, cut thyme for tea and transplanted herb seedlings. At the very end, they took home their new knowledge from herbalism and new memories.

Tuesday, 23 May 2023 Visit at UP FAMNIT and InnoRenew CoE by Eric Hansen from Oregon State University

InnoRenew CoE hosted professor Eric Hansen from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, USA. He presented to the InnoRenew CoE and University of Primorska employees about the wood science department at Oregon State University, and about cooperative possibilities and their extension activities.

Further he held a two-day workshop about innovation, and he attended a lecture where PhD students presented their research plan. He provided important feedback and comments that students will integrate in their PhD topics.

Eric Hansen visited UP FAMNIT as part of the project GOST UP – Gostovanja tujih strokovnjakov in visokošolskih učiteljev na Univerzi na Primorskem / Hosting foreign experts and professors at the University of Primorska - GUEST UP.

    
The investment is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Social Fund.​

Monday, 22 May 2023 The successful conclusion of the second Career Fair of the University of Primorska

On Wednesday, 17 May 2023, the University of Primorska (UP) hosted the second Career Fair of the University of Primorska, organized by employees of the UP Career Center, in cooperation with colleagues from other departments of the UP Rectorate and UP members.

Its main purpose is to connect the university with the environment, presenting employers' organisations, university partners and potential employers of graduates. On the other hand, the fair is important for raising awareness of the importance of lifelong career orientation, for connecting and strengthening existing contacts between UP and its partners and for finding new opportunities for cooperation.

The UP Career Fair was opened by the Rector of the University of Primorska, prof. Klavdija Kutnar, PhD. She emphasised the importance of networking for the university and the opportunities that such an event offers to students and graduates on the one hand, and to employers and partners on the other.

Students and graduates had the opportunity to talk to employers within the Employment Café. Many students, graduates and random visitors got the information they needed regarding the activities of the employers present, the possibilities of cooperation in the form of a study placement, project work or even a job. On the other hand, the representatives of employer organisations gained a number of contacts of promising young people who might be able to integrate them into their work environment.

The University of Primorska would like to thank all our partners for a pleasant day, who took part in the UP Career Fair programme and provide our students and graduates with an insight into what is happening on the labour market. 

We thank: Actual I.T. d.d., Adecco H.R. d.o.o., Banka Intesa Sanpaolo d.d., Center za razvoj in prenos znanja UP, Debeli rtič Zdravilišče, Dinit d.o.o., Epilog d.o.o., GEN-I, d.o.o., Kulturno izobraževalno društvo PiNA, Lidl Slovenija d.o.o., k.d., Ljudska univerza Koper, Luka Koper d.d., Mladinska zveza Brez izgovora Slovenija, Park Škocjanske jame, Republika Slovenija Ministrstvo za obrambo, Robotina d.o.o., SloAM Agencija za mlade, Univerza na Primorskem and Zavod RS za zaposlovanje Območna enota Koper.

Also to all colleagues at the UP Rectorate and other UP members who helped in various ways to co-create another success story at UP.

Sunday, 21 May 2023 The List of Candidates for the position of the Dean of UP FAMNIT

We would like to inform you that the Electoral Commission for the Election of the Dean, at its first regular meeting on 18 May 2023, confirmed the LIST OF CANDIDATES for the position of the Dean of UP FAMNIT.

Two candidates have been nominated for the office of the Dean, namely (in alphabetical order of surnames):
- Assoc. Prof. Ademir Hujdurović (WORK PROGRAM), nominated by three departments of UP FAMNIT - the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Applied Natural Sciences, and the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies;
- Assist. Prof. Vladimir Ivović (ACTION PLAN), nominated by the Department of Biodiversity.

The public presentation of the candidates for the position of the Dean of UP FAMNIT will be held between 25 and 31 May 2023. The exact date of the presentations will be published in the following days.

All relevant materials, as well as additional information on the election procedure, can be found on the Faculty website.

Friday, 19 May 2023 Two Newly Acquired International Postdoctoral Projects at UP FAMNIT

UP FAMNIT has received a notice on the selection of applications for funding projects and programmes to strengthen the international mobility of Slovenian researchers and research organisations and to promote the international participation of Slovenian applicants within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The application to funding the research project number MN-0002, titled "New food product with enhanced bioactivity to minimize food byproducts from Brassica vegetables," led by doc. Dr. Ana Miklavčič Višnjevec, from the Department of Applied Natural Sciences UP FAMNIT, has been accepted into the funding process and will run from 30. 6. 2023 to 30. 6. 2026.

Postdoctoral researcher doc. Dr. Ana Miklavčič Višnjevec fulfilled all the conditions of the public call, including in the review process of the highly rated Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) project since it was not accepted for funding by the European Commission due to budgetary constraints. As the application for the project was given the Seal of Excellence, the European Commission recommended it for funding from other sources.

The international postdoctoral project will consist of two actions. Firstly, the research activity of two years will be carried out at the University of Udine under the mentorship of Prof. Sabrina Moret. Secondly, one-year reintegration activity at UP FAMNIT will follow.

Assistant Professor Dr. Ana Miklavčič Višnjevec will investigate discards of brassicas rich in bioactive compounds that can be used as natural antioxidants, and preservatives in food and cosmetics and the pharmaceutical industry. The main objective of the project is to develop a new fermented sustainable food product using discards of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli with increased bioactivity. Together with the advanced training, support and interdisciplinary expertise offered by the University of Udine and the food industry involved in the project, the accepted project will have a significant impact on the further academic and research career of the researcher doc. Dr. Ana Miklavčič Višnjevec. In addition, the project is crucial for further understanding the modification of bioactive compounds by the fermentation of lactic acid bacteria.

The public call for (co)funding of projects also accepted the project number MN-0003 entitled "Neuromuscular impairment and transcriptomic profiles of sarcopenic muscle in humans," led by assist. Dr. Felicita Urzi from UP FAMNIT Department of Biodiversity. 

Part of the project entitled "Neurosotic disorders and transcription profile of sarcoptic muscles in humans" is an assist. Dr. Felicita Urzi devoted a thorough study of sarcopenia syndrome. 'Sarcopenia is a condition where 'reduced muscle strength, low muscle volume/quality and impaired physical performance' are observed. It is one of the health conditions that older adults face and is recognized as an age-related and/or related disease. Sarcopenia has a strong impact on ensuring independence, disability, the need for long-term care and even mortality. Given its impact on the lives of older adults, limiting their ability to care for themselves and participate in social life, the study, which aims to investigate the molecular causes of the neurogenic contribution to sarcopenia, is extremely important.

In this study, the researcher will focus on the biological changes that influence the extent of neuromuscular impairments in sarcopenia. Using molecular analyzes and electrophysiological measurements, the functional integrity of the neuromuscular junction will be examined to determine the factors that lead to muscle dysfunction. To better understand these changes, they will use single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), which enables obtaining information about the transcriptomic network of genes that influence muscle function at the level of individual cells. Given the current lack of information on the transcriptomic profile of individual cells in skeletal muscle, this ambitious work is key to a better understanding of cell dynamics, intrinsic factors, and new markers related to muscle and its environment under pathophysiological conditions. The molecular understanding of this condition and the ability to modulate cellular dysfunction will open a new window for pharmacological approaches using mRNA/miRNA technology in the coming decades.

The postdoctoral researcher met all the conditions for co-financing projects and programs to strengthen the international mobility of Slovenian applicants within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The intended start of the project is October 1, 2023.

Thursday, 18 May 2023 Student BIP Mobility: UP FAMNIT in the organisation of the Erasmus+ project

As part of the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) university lessons on Sustainable Computing: Creating an interdisciplinary enabling space for the Future 2023-2025 were held at the University of Applied Sciences FH JOANNEUM Kapfenberg (Austria) in collaboration with the following participating universities: University of Applied Sciences Haaga-Helia (Helsinki, Finland), University of Alcala (Alcala de Henares, Spain), Bordeaux Institute of Technology (Bordeaux, France) and University of Primorska (Koper, Slovenia).  

The intensive programme took place from 8 May to 12 May 2023, where 3 different courses were offered: Mobile App Development, Data Analytics & Big Data, and Sustainable Computing Startup: Creating an interdisciplinary enabling space for the Future - accredited with ECTS - credits. 

On the workshop Computing Startup: Creating an interdisciplinary enabling space for the future Dr. Branko Kavšek from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies, UP FAMNIT was one of the coordinators. 

Throughout the workshop digital pollution was presented, the so-called “silent polluter, ” which is due to its invisibility overlooked many times. Therefore attendees learned about energy consumption, e-waste recycling and Initiatives and legislation. In short, the main aim was to raise the problem itself, thus, participants with short videos or other methods presented their contributions on the problem of reducing their digital footprint and addressing the issue among others.  

This course based on the eBook result of the efforts of the European project “GreenCo-GREEN Computing App and MOOC for awareness -raising on digital pollution”. 

Data Analytics & Big Data are significant in today's world. The course itself explained all about data mining and machine learning algorithms, with a focus on the analysis of so-called big data. The workshop consisted of three different parts, where participants begin with a basis of content and a description of the process, followed by the tools on which they create parallel algorithms that process large amounts of data. 

Their creative side was shown interactively at the workshop Mobile App Development: UX & Accessibility, where they entered the world of mobile apps and their development. 

The Erasmus intensive programme also attended  BsC and MsC students of the Computer Science programme at UP FAMNIT: Pika Povh, Srđan Tomić, Amar Ustavdić, Marko Stošić and Valeryia Bazhko, who besides the valuable knowledge they gained through the week, got also an excellent opportunity to attain new experiences in the new environment and acquire connections and acquaintances as well. 

Before the intensive week, online workshops were held, which started on 27 March 2023. 

About BIP: Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes offer university lessons based on innovative ways of teaching and learning, encompassing virtual components as well as physical mobility, delivered by several universities from different EU countries. Next year UP FAMNIT will host the ERASMUS+ programme. 

Thursday, 18 May 2023 The elections of the Rector of UP: Consult to the ELECTORAL REGISTER for UP staff

We would like to inform you that, in accordance with the Election Procedures Manual, it is possible to access and consult the ELECTORAL REGISTER.

The Electoral Register will be available from Thursday, 18 May 2023 from 8.00 am until Friday, 19 May 2023 at 12.00 noon, at the Legal and Human Resources Department of the Rector's Office at UP (3rd floor, office No. 13), Titov trg 4, Koper. The Legal and Human Resources Department has the right to ask for an identification document to consult the Electoral Register.