University of Primorska marks the first Science Day with the UP Zois Awardees Gallery

In 2025, we will celebrate Slovenian Science Day for the first time. The Slovenian government approved this holiday in March 2025, and it will be celebrated every year on 10 November. To mark the first celebration of this important national holiday, which highlights the respect for knowledge as one of the fundamental values of Slovenian society, UP has chosen to establish and open a gallery of Zois awards and recognitions and Science Ambassador awards recipients who are employed at UP.

Knowledge is crucial for the development of society and the country, but scientific research and innovation achievements are not sufficiently recognized by the general public. Therefore, in order to raise awareness, the initiative for the holiday was launched by the prestigious scientific community – the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Rectors’ Conference of the Republic of Slovenia, the Coordination of Independent Research Institutes of Slovenia, the Slovenian Academy of Engineering, and the Slovenian Medical Academy, based on a proposal by the Committee of the Republic of Slovenia for awarding of prizes and recognitions for outstanding achievements in scientific research and development activities.

The date, 10 November, was chosen because it is associated with Žiga Zois, a Slovenian enlightener, economist, writer, and patron of the arts, and because it is UNESCO’s World Science Day for Peace and Development. The highest national awards in the field of science are named after Žiga Zois – on the eve of the event, the Zois and Puh awards and recognitions were presented in the Gallus Hall. Two UP employees were among the recipients: Dr. Tomaž Pisanski for his life’s work and Dr. Urban Bren for his special achievements.

Since its foundation, UP has been proud of the awards it has regularly received, so it was almost inevitable that the first anniversary would be marked by highlighting the award winners. The opening ceremony, with speeches and the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon by Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, Rector of the UP, and Prof. Dr. Štefko Miklavič, Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and Development at the UP, was a tribute to all those whom we have already congratulated and proudly listed as UP employees who have received these exceptional awards.

Among the recipients of the Zois Certificate of Recognition is also Dr. Andreja Kutnar, acting department chair of InnoRenew CoE, UP IAM, and full professor at the University of Primorska. She received the award in 2018 for her significant scientific achievements in the field of wood science.

The gallery is located in the library – a symbolic treasure trove of knowledge and science. In this way, future potential scientists – university students – will also be able to see the award winners, who will also serve as an inspiration to their colleagues. At the opening, there are 19 portraits in the gallery, and with such encouraging scientific excellence at UP, we all believe that there will be more every year. For now we congratulate all the award winners.

The following are presented in the gallery at the opening:

Dr. Dragan Marušič (Zois Award for outstanding achievements in scientific research in the field in the field of graph theory and algebra), 2002
Dr. Maja Čemažar (Zois Certificate of Recognition for important scientific achievements in the field of experimental oncology), 2006
Dr. Štefan Bojnec (Zois Certificate of Recognition for important scientific achievements in the field of economics), 2008
Dr. Štefko Miklavič (Zois Certificate of Recognition for important scientific achievements in mathematics), 2012
Dr. Dušanka Janežič (Zois Award for outstanding achievements in mathematics and science), 2013
Dr. Tomaž Pisanski (Zois Award for outstanding achievements in scientific research in the field of discrete mathematics and its applications), 2015
Dr. Sara Dolničar (The Ambassador of Science Award for significant achievements in the promotion and development of Slovenian scientific and development activities abroad), 2016
Dr. Martin Milanič (Zois Certificate of Recognition for important scientific achievements in the field of discrete mathematics), 2017
Dr. Andreja Kutnar (Zois Certificate of Recognition for significant scientific achievements in the field of woodworking), 2018
Dr. Enes Pasalic (Zois Award for outstanding achievement in field of cryptography), 2019
Dr. Lara Lusa (Zois Certificate of Recognition for scientific achievements, namely for scientific achievements in the development of the methodology of medical statistics), 2020
Dr. Vita Poštuvan (Zois Certificate of Recognition for important scientific achievements in the field of suicidology and mental health), 2021
Dr. István Kovács (Zois Award for outstanding achievement in algebraic graph theory), 2021
Dr. Bojan Kuzma (Zois Award for outstanding achievement in the field of linear algebra), 2022
Dr. Igor Klep (Zois Award for outstanding achievement in the field of algebra and its applications), 2024
Dr. Tomaž Grušovnik (Zois Certificate of Recognition for important achievement in the field of environmental and animal ethics), 2024
Dr. Vito Vitrih (Zois Certificate of Recognition for important achievement in the field of numerical mathematics), 2024
Dr. Urban Bren (Zois Certificate of Recognition for significant achievements in the field of biomolecular simulations), 2025
Dr. Tomaž Pisanski (Zois Award for lifetime achievement in the field of discrete mathematics), 2025