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Irregularities in hydrogen fuel cell catalysts
The increasingly evident consequences of climate change are a major motivation for the development of low-carbon technologies, among which fuel cells, using hydrogen as fuel, hold great promise. One of the obstacles to the wider commercialization of the technology is the use of expensive and rare platinum in catalysts, which is why effort goes into trying to reduce the amount of platinum used while preserving the relevant properties of these materials. For the oxygen reduction reaction, one of the reactions in a fuel cell, we use catalysts with alloyed nanoparticles containing platinum and cheaper transition metals. Since certain defects in the nanoparticle structure can occur during the preparation of the catalyst, the effects of all aspects of the structure on the performance in the fuel cell need to be studied in detail.
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The DIACOMET Project has Begun: Dialogue Expands Horizons
A new EU-funded project DIACOMET, involving ten European universities, media companies, non-governmental and research organizations, started with a kick-off meeting at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) in Lithuania.
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The thin line of sheet metal forming
The production of thin-walled components from sheet metal is an integral part of the automotive, aerospace and other industries. Forming the initial sheet metal into the desired final shape of the product requires overcoming reaction forces and thinning of the sheet metal, which can lead to fractures. Knowing the influence of many parameters of the forming process allows controlled change of the shape of the workpiece, thus achieving the target shape of the final component.
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Project »FEATURE«: Far-from-Equilibrium ATtractors at Ultra-Relativistic Energies
One of the grand challenges facing the high-energy physics community is understanding the far-from-equilibrium evolution of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). This new postdoctoral Marie Skłodowska-Curie project, carried out at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, will take the critical step to bring theoretical understanding to the level of complexity required for realistic phenomenology, by fully characterizing the properties of the QCD attractor without resorting to simplifying assumptions done in the current preliminary studies. This will be done via the inclusion of fermionic degrees of freedom and by relaxing simplifying spatial symmetries.
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Mathematical physicist Prof. Dr. Tomaž Prosen has become the first in Slovenia to receive his second prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant (ERC ADG)
The awarded ERC AdG, which is aimed at established researchers, is undoubtedly the most prestigious scientific project that an individual researcher can receive. For Prof. Dr. Tomaž Prosen, this is already his second such project, this time titled QUEST (Quantum Ergodicity: Stability and Transitions). In addition to being a top-level success on a global scale for the researcher, it is also an outstanding achievement for the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Ljubljana - primarily for its exceptionally high-quality research environment that it provides for researchers and their groups.
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Selected projects under the EUTOPIA-SIF call for postdoctoral fellowships
The University of Ljubljana participates in the EUTOPIA-SIF project with the original partners of the EUTOPIA Alliance, where postdoctoral fellowships for young researchers are offered each year.
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Treating wastewater through cavitation and understanding the effects of bubbles on bacterial cells
Increasing environmental pollution and drinking water shortages are a growing socioeconomic problem, in which cavitation technology can contribute to a cleaner and greener approach to wastewater treatment. Cavitation is a physical phenomenon that describes the phase change from liquid to vapour and back at constant temperature. The mechanical, thermal and chemical effects of cavitation can be utilised for various purposes, including to inactivate microorganisms in drinking water and wastewater. It has been proven that cells are subjected to damage in the immediate vicinity of a bubble. Further numerical analysis has identified the formation of microjets as a possible mechanism of bacterial cell damage.
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New method for predicting adult height
Researchers from Jožef Stefan Institute and Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, developed a new method for predicting adult height of children and adolescents. The method uses large population data collected in the framework of the SLOfit program over decades. It compares the growth curve of a child with those of the most similar individuals and substantially outperforms the existing height predicting methods.
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Hydrodynamic cavitation can be used to inactivate enveloped viruses
Researchers from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ljubljana, led by Prof. Dr. Matevž Dular, have shown in an experimental study that the phi6 virus, which belongs to the viruses with a lipid envelope, can be successfully inactivated using hydrodynamic cavitation. The study is significant in that it shows that hydrodynamic cavitation has the potential to inactivate pathogenic enveloped viruses in water under ambient conditions. Although the primary mode of transmission for enveloped viruses is not water, the recent pandemic has reminded us that we need to be prepared for the worst, given the possibility of the emergence of enveloped viruses or virus strains that can be transmitted through water in the future.
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Eutopia MORE Universities and the Rectors' Forum of South-Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans on internationalisation strategy
On 12 and 13 June 2023, the first workshop on internationalisation strategy was held at the University of Montenegro in Podgorica, in the framework of the European Association of Universities Eutopia More and the Rectors' Forum of South-Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. The workshop was also attended by the Rector of the University of Ljubljana, Prof. Dr. Gregor Majdič.
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Teden Zveze EUTOPIA v Lizboni: registracije so odprte!
Z izhodiščem v premisleku Za boljšo Evropo (For a Better Europe), bo med 19. in 23. junijem 2023 potekal izbran nabor dogodkov za študentke in študente, raziskovalke in raziskovalce ter zaposlene na partnerskih univerzah EUTOPIE – učne in raziskovalne skupnosti desetih evropskih univerz, ustanovljene z namenom aktivnega sodelovanja pri ustvarjanju in prenovi skupnega visokošolskega prostora. Srečanje zveze desetih evropskih univerz EUTOPIA bo gostila Univerza NOVA v Lizboni. Dogodki bodo potekali v živo in prek spleta.
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Eutopia Week in Lisbon: registrations are open!
With For a Better Europe as the starting point, a selected set of events for students, researchers and staff of EUTOPIE partner universities - a learning and research community of ten European universities established to actively participate in the creation and renewal of a common higher education area - will take place between 19 and 23 June 2023. The meeting of EUTOPIA, the Union of Ten European Universities, will be hosted by NOVA University in Lisbon. The events will take place live and online.
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A research breakthrough in the dating of historical books
Heritage scientists can now date historical paper using only infrared light and computational analysis of spectroscopic data. In the research of postdoctoral researcher Dr. Floriana Coppola and colleagues, which is published in the top scientific journal 'Journal of the American Chemical Society', shows that it is possible to date paper extremely accurately, even to 2 years. An uncertainty this low is not possible with any other method, much less with a non-destructive method.
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Using cavitation to break down invisible water pollutants
Researchers from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the National Institute of Chemistry conducted an experimental study in which they achieved the degradation of a water-soluble synthetic polymer - poly(vinyl alcohol) PVOH - by acoustic and hydrodynamic cavitation. The use of PVOH is rapidly increasing, and as a result, increasing amounts of this material are being released into the environment. PVOH is widely used in the textile and paper industries, as well as in households, for example in the form of detergent pods. It is estimated that thousands of tons of it are washed into the aquatic ecosystem every year.
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Prof. dr. Slavko Splichal has received the 2023 Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award
Academy member Slavko Splichal has received the 2023 Media and Democracy Karol Jakubowicz Award for his book Datafication of Public Opinion and the Public Sphere: How Extraction Replaced Expression of Opinion, which was published last year by Anthem Press in London and New York.
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Chronic disease risk prediction with artificial intelligence
Project SmartCHANGE - an innovative solution for drastically reducing the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases.
Although the future may seem like something we can only speculate about, the Jožef Stefan Institute, in collaboration with the SLOfit research group of the Faculty of Sport of the University of Ljubljana, within the Horizon Europe program, is starting to develop an innovative solution that would enable better prediction and drastic reduction of the risk of developing chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs; e.g. cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, various forms of cancer) with the help of artificial intelligence. -
Building a stronger Europe: EUTOPIA universities recommit to European unity on Europe Day
Ten universities of the EUTOPIA Alliance, of which the University of Ljubljana is a member, are coming together on Europe Day to renew their commitment to shaping the future of higher education and research in Europe.
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EUTOPIA Urban Education Week in Brussels
The Urban Education Week, complemented by previous weeks of online work among EUTOPIA students, took place in Brussels at the end of March. The week, which was full of networking between research and practice across the city, was also attended by representatives from UL.
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The innovative solutions for the use of flexibility in the power system
The increasing share of renewable distributed energy resources (DERs) in the power system is becoming a key for the decarbonization of the European energy sector and thus achieving the EU's energy and climate change policy objectives. The variability and uncertainty of the DERs generation present significant risks and challenges related to the stability and reliability of the entire interconnected European power system, as well as national and even small local networks while opening new opportunities for the development of new energy concepts and solutions.
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New method for treating the cardiac arrhythmias through electroporation
Slovenian scientists have contributed significantly to the development of treating heart arrhythmia using electroporation. This involves a procedure of ablation of the heart muscle with high-voltage electric pulses, in which researchers from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana under the leadership of Professor Damijan Miklavčič are collaborating with the American company Medtronic, one of the leading medical equipment companies in the world. The results of the clinical study were presented at the beginning of March by Dr. Atul Verma, head of clinical research at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, at the congress of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans, USA.
