Highlights of 2021
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The University of Primorska continued to pursue excellence in all fields in 2021. With the adoption of the Mid-Term Development Strategy of UP 2021-2027 in December 2020, UP gained new guidelines for future development and especially set a number of very ambitious goals that strengthened the enthusiasm of staff. As a result, the quality of research and pedagogic work increased significantly and tangible results have been obtained in all areas. UP researchers increased their scientific production and published a third more articles in journals indexed in international databases compared to 2020. UP was also successful in obtaining national and international research projects.
UP hosted renowned names and important scientific meetings – the 8ECM was not only the most important scientific event in Slovenia in 2021 but also the biggest European Mathematical Congress to date. A strong focus on internationalisation at all levels and active cooperation with partners from around the world, yielded an improved reputation of the university globally. For the fifth consecutive year, UP staff received the highest national awards for achievements in the field of scientific research – both the Zois Award and the Zois Recognition were awarded to UP colleagues. Additionally, UP staff were honoured with two awards for outstanding achievements in higher education.
We continued to focus on the development of interdisciplinary study programmes addressing the challenges and needs of modern society and the environment. The quality of studies was also at the center of our focus in the pandemic year 2021. Numerous adaptations to the implementation of studies resulted in a quality and safe study process. Study and research conditions have significantly improved in 2021 with new and renovated spaces open. The university also placed greater emphasis on cooperation with the local environment, which is accepting us as an important partner in the regional development and beyond.
Efforts to establish the university as a modern international research and educational institution are also achieved through ongoing updates of existing, or the introduction of new, strategic documents, such as the UP Gender Equality Plan and the Integrity Plan, as well as through the work of committees and groups that are active in the field of ethics.
Click here and read more about our achievements in 2021.
In the current academic year 2021/2022, 5,805 students are enrolled at UP. Among them, 1,016 (17.5%) students come from abroad.
UP has 707 employees (284 men and 423 women). 467 are higher education teachers and researchers, 15 are part of the executive staff, while 225 are administrative employees.
In 2021, 1,014 students graduated from the first and the second cycle, 8 completed their doctoral studies.
41 scholarships were awarded for the 2021/2022 academic year within the UP Scholarship Fund scheme.
Read more about our employees, students and graduates at this link.
University and its members
In 2021, UP was ranked 801/1000 in Physical Sciences in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2022.
Aniello Aliberti, president of the high-tech company Technix S.p.A., was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of Primorska for his contributions in the field of strengthening interpersonal relations.
During the first wave of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, UP FVZ received a special recognition by the Military Schools Centre for having provided professional and technical support in online training.
In 2020, UP FTŠ – Turistica commemorated the 25th anniversary of its activities in the field of research, development and education in tourism.
UP FTŠ – Turistica, with its presented project, stood alongside the other 13 organisations selected among more than 800 applicants within Google.org Impact Challenge for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
OECD and the European commission are coordinating a project LMRO - (Enhancing) Labour Market Relevance and Outcomes of Higher Education, and they invited the University of Primorska to join as a case study. On the last day of their visit, they presented their findings and emphasised the good practices noted at UP.
Employees
Students
In March and in October, 23 new Doctors of Science of the University of Primorska were promoted. The following graduates completed their studies between March 2020 and October 2021: dr. Helena Vidović (UP PEF), dr. Tine Bertoncel (UP FM), dr. Katarina Merše Lovrinčević (UP PEF), dr. Petra Kunc (UP FM), dr. Rado Pezdir (UP FM), dr. Nataša Kobal (UP FM), dr. Manica Remec (UP PEF), dr. Manca Volk Bahun (UP FHŠ), dr. Matic Batič (UP FHŠ), dr. Tamara Štemberger Kotnik (UP PEF), dr. Maja Gržina Cergolj (UP FHŠ), dr. Aleksandar Jašarević (UP FHŠ), dr. Andrej Jerman (UP FM), dr. Micael Alexi Toledo Roy (UP FAMNIT), dr. Jamolbek Mattiev (UP FAMNIT), dr. Jure Tičar (UP FHŠ), dr. Ana Bogdan Zupančič (UP PEF), dr. Matej Ipavec (UP FVZ), dr. Karin Birk Tot (UP FM), dr. Uroš Perko (UP FVZ), dr. Žiga Kozinc (UP FVZ), dr. Felicita Urzi (UP FVZ), dr. Marina Dobnik (UP FVZ).
During the Week of the University, the following new full professors were appointed: prof. dr. Sandra Bašić Hrvatin, prof. dr. Elena Bužan, prof. dr. Tadeja Jere Jakulin, prof. dr. Peter Korošec, prof. dr. István Kovács, prof. dr. Martin Milanič, prof. dr. Maja Uran Maravić, prof. dr. Amalija Žakelj, prof. dr. Nives Zudič Antonič, prof. dr. Ksenija Vodeb, prof. dr. Nejc Šarabon, prof. dr. Jožica Škofič, prof. dr. Brigita Skela Savič, prof. dr. Andreja Kutnar, prof. dr. Žiga Čepar, prof. dr. Vito Vitrih, prof. dr. Gaj Vidmar, prof. dr. Tina Vukasović, prof. dr. Vlado Kotnik.
Awards and Recognitions of the University were also delivered for the years 2029 and 2020. Read more here.
Study programmes
In the academic year 2021/2022, 81 study programmes are being implemented at all three levels, of which 7 are higher professional programmes, 23 are university study programmes, 33 are master's and 18 are doctoral study programmes. 15 study programmes are offered in English.
FIBAA (Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation) has extended the accreditation of the Master's programme Management at UP FM for seven years.
New study programmes
In January 2021, the accreditation process for the Master's study programme in Physiotherapy was completed. In March 2021, the national agency NAKVIS accredited the doctoral study programme Suicidology and Mental Health at UP FAMNIT.
In the academic year 2021/2022, UP started the implementation of two new study programmes: the undergraduate study programme Visual Arts and Design (UP PEF) and the doctoral study programme Suicidology and Mental Health (UP FAMNIT).
New premises
With the academic year 2021/2022, UP FVZ transferred the implementation of the undergraduate study programme Nursing from Nova Gorica to new premises of the dislocated unit in Vipava.
Implementation of the study process
In 2021, numerous adjustments in the organisation of the study process occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The academic year 2021/22 started fully live and it is continuing in this form, with occasional and brief switches to online study for single groups of students.
A safe and quality implementation of the study process always came first. All stakeholders in the field of higher education came together: public universities, the Student Organisation of Slovenia, trade unions and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport agreed that vaccination allows for safe and quality work in person. They also agreed to introduce the vaccine/test/recovery system. Students and employees were enabled to use IT tools, e-environments and digital databases to perform their work. Psychological support was offered to all, we organised lectures and meetings on the topic of SARS-CoV-2 disease, and self-testing points were organised as well as vaccination.
At the beginning of the 2021/2022 academic year, we organised a series of events called ŠtartUP, with the aim of helping freshmen, international and other students to settle in the new environment.
The university is a member of 5 national and 15 international associations or networks. In 2021, UP successfully concluded its presidency of the UniAdrion Association of Universities of the Adriatic-Ionian Region.
UP FHŠ, in partnership with the Škocjan Caves Park, acquired the UNESCO Chair of interpretation and education for enhancing integrated heritage approaches.
UP employed 53 researchers and professors from abroad, which represents 11.4% of all employed research and pedagogical staff.
Currently, UP has 71 international agreements with institutions from all around the world. A new agreement on cooperation in education and research has been signed with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, while the agreement with Oregon State University in the USA has been extended.
Active participation in the implementation of various international programmes such as Erasmus+ (Capacity building, Jean Monnet, strategic partnerships), Interreg, ERA-NET, Horizon 2020 continued.
Student and staff mobilities were carried out as part of the following programmes: Erasmus+, ARRS Bilaterals, CEEPUS, GUEST UP, and VU MOBILITY. 66 international experts visited UP, while 79 UP employees went abroad.
We have successfully obtained the new Erasmus Charter for Higher Education - the ECHE Charter, which is awarded by the European Commission to institutions with an appropriate and successful Erasmus+ Mobility Implementation Strategy, thus enabling them to participate in the Erasmus + programme.
UP participated in the 6th International Fair EUSAIR - Networking Fair, which was intended to connect higher education institutions with companies and other organizations, students, researchers and other interested public.
Several scientific meetings and international conferences were organised, both online and live. The 8th European Congress of Mathematics was the largest scientific event in 2021 in Slovenia and, in terms of the number of participants and organised events, the largest European Mathematical Congress in history. The scientific meeting, which was held both virtually and live, was attended by 1,771 mathematicians from 77 countries; more than 100 of them decided to come to Portorož and attended the lectures in person. 8ECM hosted the biggest names in the field of modern mathematics; 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.
Other important conferences organised in 2021:
In 2021, 221 projects were implemented, including 76 ARRS research projects and 56 bilateral projects. UP was lead partner to 5 of 11 research programmes. We acquired 57 new national and international research projects co-financed by ARRS, Horizon 2020, Erasmus+ and Cosme programmes, and the European Regional Development Fund.
UP has established the Slovenian consortium of the European Reference Genome Atlas SI (ERGA.SI) (together with: UM, UL, Environmental Protection College, ZRC SAZU, NIB, Slovenian Museum of Natural History) and joined the consortium LifeWatch-SI (led by ZRS SAZU; other members: NIB, GIS, UL, UNG, Škocjan Caves Park, PMS, Society for Cave Biology) are also participating. The National Consortium for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research LifeWatch-SI is a full member of the European LifeWatch ERIC. With Slovenia's full membership in the European biobank BBMRI-ERIC, the Slovenian biobank consortium BBMRI.SI (of which UP is also a member) has become a national hub of the European Strategic Research Structure (ESFRI).
Detailed descriptions of all projects can be found at this link.
Horizon programmes
UP is implementing 9 Horizon 2020 projects, two of which started this year, namely Science transformation in Europe through citizen involvement in health, conservation and energy research - STEP CHANGE (UP FAMNIT) and Owners of a Common Heritage. Commons, Environment and Rights in European Mountains (18th – 20th century) (UP FHŠ) funded by the MSCA - Marie Skłodowska Curie Action.
Click here to read about H2020 projects >>>
ARRS projects
In 2021, UP implemented 76 ARRS research projects – 11 more than in the previous year. Among the newly acquired projects, most were basic (18). UP participates in three large projects out of a total of eight co-financed by ARRS – UP FHŠ is the leading institution in one of them.
Within the Target Research Program, we acquired three new research projects, and within the complementary ERC ARRS scheme, three new projects in the field of mathematics were co-financed.
All ARRS research projects >>>
Research mobility projects
In 2021, 57 bilateral projects were implemented, of which 8 were new. Most collaborations are carried out with organisations from the USA (34%) and Russia (14%). Among the 37 universities with which bilateral cooperation has been established, 12 (32%) rank among the top 500 on ARWU.
Under the leadership of UP, one COST action was implemented, CA18201 - An integrated approach to the conservation of endangered plants for the 21st Century, which involves 68 partners from 37 countries. Our researchers also took part in activities organised by other organisations as part of other COST actions.
Erasmus+ projects
In the field of education, UP acquired 6 new Erasmus+ projects in 2021, namely: Promoting Digital Higher Education by Introducing Immersive Learning into Educational Studies - XR4Ped (UP PEF), InCompEdu -Innovative Competence in Online Higher Education (UP FAMNIT), TOVID- Teaching Online: Video Initiatives in Digital and Module Learning (UP FVZ); DigiChild -Developing skills in teachers to educate pre-school CHILDren with and through DIGIital technologies (UP PEF), Hi-TEACH: a new trainer teaching framework in the post-covid era (PEF), Rural Women’s Empowerment through GREen Social ENtrepreneurship (UP FM).
Young researchers
In 2021, 5 new young researchers started their training, and a total of 18 young researchers were trained at UP. 3 are active in the field of social sciences, 4 in the field of medicine and 11 in the field of natural sciences. In 2021, they were co-authors of 18 scientific publications in scientific journals included in the WoS or SCOPUS database, thus doubling the number of publications in these databases compared to 2020.
In cooperation with InnoRenew CoE, UP also trained 17 doctoral students - researchers (10 at UP FAMNIT, 4 at UP FVZ, 2 at UP PEF and 1 at UP FHŠ). In 2021, they were co-authors of 15 publications in scientific journals included in WoS or SCOPUS. In this case, they doubled the number of publications compared to the previous year.
Internal projects
In order to increase quality and relevant scientific production, to improve the material conditions for research and enable younger researchers to obtain funds in niche fields, 8 internal projects were financed from the UP Rector's Fund, of which 5 were internal research programme groups and 3 internal postdoctoral positions.
More about internal projects >>>
UP researchers have significantly increased the number of publications in the international WoS and SCOPUS databases. 361 papers were published in journals with an impact factor indexed by SCI, SSCI and A & HCI, i.e. 30% more than in 2020. The number of publications also increased 30% in the SCOPUS database.
In 2021, the number of articles included in the WoS database written in collaboration with researchers from other universities increased by 70% (151 articles in total). Our researchers cooperated with 54 universities, which are ranked 1-500 on ARWU – Academic Ranking of World Universities.
Elsevier, a global information analytics business, has created a publicly accessible database of more than 100,000 top scientists. There are 165 scientists coming from Slovenia on a single year impact scale for the most frequently cited authors in 2020, among them are researchers from UP Famnit and UP IAM, Dr. Dragan Marušič, Dr. Štefan Bojnec, Dr. Marko Tkalčič, Dr. Andreja Kutnar and Dr. Tomislav Levanič.
Assoc. Prof. Martina Blečić Kavur, PhD from UP FHŠ Department of Archaeology, is one of the authors of the article Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age, which was published in Nature, one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world.
Publishing activity
In 2021, the University of Primorska Press published 22 scientific monographs, of which 10 were in printed form and 12 in digital form, four textbooks, and 30 other monographic publications, among which we would like to mention the Book of abstracts of the 8th European Congress of Mathematics.
UP Press publishes eight scientific journals, namely: Ars Mathematica Contemporanea – AMC, The Art of Discrete and Applied Mathematics – ADAM, Academica Turistica, Managing Global Transitions, Stati inu obstati, Studia Universitatis hereditati, and Journal of Elementary Education. AMC is included in the list of journals indexed by SCI, while three other journals are indexed in the SCOPUS database (ADAM, Academica Turistica and the Journal of Elementary Education). More about scientific journals >>>
The quality of all eight scientific journals published by UP is also confirmed by the fact that all of them received co-financing from the Slovenian research agency – ARRS for 2021 and 2022.
Connecting with the environment is very important for successful educational and research work. Therefore, UP is constantly expanding its network of local, national and international partners in the field of education, culture, research, and the economy, and to non-governmental organisations and the local community. We would like to highlight the excellent cooperation with all four Istrian municipalities in creating a friendly environment for our students and researchers. Individual faculties thus cooperate with other educational institutions in activities in the field of popularisation of science, practical training, voluntary activities, visits of experts, etc.
Visits
Numerous renowned scientists as well as representatives of international institutions, embassies and ministries visited the university. In April, InnoRenew CoE and UP were visited by the President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor and the President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
In July, we hosted the President of the European Research Council (ERC), Acad. Prof. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, whose visit in Slovenia was part of a wider event dedicated to science and research in the frame of the Slovenian presidency of the EU Council. The panel discussions with Prof. Bourguignon about research in Europe in view of the pandemic was attended by UP leadership, and by representatives of other Slovenian scientific research institutions.
In October, as part of a visit to the Obalno-kraška Region, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia met with representatives of the university and its members.
Cooperation with economy
An excellent and also a unique form of cooperation with the society is the UP Scholarship Fund, which brings together companies, municipalities, and other institutions that financially support students during their studies and enable them to integrate into the labour market. Since its beginning, we have provided scholarships to an average of 40 students every year, and we are very happy that the number of our partners is increasing every year.
UP was actively involved in the first edition of Social Impact Award Slovenia which is led by the Slovenian Youth Agency (SLOAM). Various events for raising awareness and training on social entrepreneurship among young people were organised during the year.
On the 75th anniversary of the founding of Lek, Novartis in Slovenia has allocated EUR 25,000 to UP FAMNIT to participate in the development and implementation of new research projects.
UP Board of Trustees
In 2020, the UP Board of Trustees was re-established as a bridge between the university and the economy, municipalities and public institutions. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were unable to meet live, but we managed to carry on different strategic partnerships bilaterally.
The university continued organising cultural activities independently or in collaboration with other institutions from the local environment. Several exhibitions were hosted in the Armeria Palace, among which we highlight: POLYLEG 0.1 - time matrix of depiction (Dr. Tilen Žbona and Dr. Boris Kavur), Charm of Wood 2021, Mesečev odsev (Dr. Tilen Žbona), Women in Mathematics in Europe – Gallery of portraits (as part of the 8ECM).
Another interesting initiative is the project Loose Cells, which aims to create and innovate through the integration of science, art, technology and education. The interdisciplinary exhibition "A Cup of Humanity" – Tea Culture and Tourism, is still on view at UP FTŠ - Turistica.
The SPEKULA III manifesto continued also in 2021. As part of the project Developing communication competences through cultural-art education, numerous trainings and events were held, UP PEF higher employees participated in the Couch Festival, while students were active in the PUF festival, in the international Kamishibai Festival White Dolphin, they set up the first online exhibition Artrum, and organised storytelling benches.
In 2021, the Register of Lifelong Learning Professionals was established, which included 30 employees, and a new Lifelong Learning Programme for UP employees was created, which offers the opportunity to acquire additional competencies. A catalogue of Lifelong Learning content is published at this link.
The Career Center of the University of Primorska, the Center for Lifelong Learning and Career Orientation (KC UP) held 62 events for 464 participants as part of a comprehensive personal career management programme. More than 100 individuals took part in informative and individual in-depth counselling, and an additional 150 individuals searched for different information within the UP Student Point. In 2021, KC UP involved 35 partners from the environment in its activities, thus strengthening cooperation and establishing new partnerships with the economy and knowledge users.
The network of Alumni clubs of UP faculties was unified into an organised model Alumni UP, within which numerous activities were carried out in order to connect and socialise members of the association. Graduates were involved in lifelong learning programmes, research, reaccreditation procedures and career storytelling as part of promotion of the UP study offer.
In 2021, in addition to the regular maintenance work on our premises, we also:
At the end of the year, UP took over the management of the Piran Aquarium, which thus became one of the units of the newly established Science Center of the University of Primorska. The House of Science and the San Simon Archaeological Park in Izola also operate within the center.
UP ŠD activities were carried out in accordance with the implementation of measures to contain the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic. A new model of providing accommodation for students in partnership with public organisations from the local environment has been developed.
With the co-financing of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, between June and November major renovation work on the dormitories in Koper and Potorož were carried out. At the end of the year, a new building in Prisoje was acquired.