Start of the UNI.MINDS science and innovation festival
Bor Slana/STA
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The fifth UNI.MINDS Festival is taking place as part of Science Month. Its aim is to promote innovation and partnership between academia and business in Slovenia and the wider region. During the festival, which takes place from 14 to 22 October, faculties and enterprises will open their doors to the public, present their groundbreaking innovations, and outline the opportunities that exist for bringing universities and business together. The festival will conclude with the presentation of the Rector’s Award for Best Innovation at the University of Ljubljana by Rector Gregor Majdič.
The opening event of the festival was addressed by Professor Maja Klun, Vice-Rector for Knowledge Transfer, Digital Transformation and Sustainable Development. In her speech she emphasised the University of Ljubljana’s commitment to promoting social innovations and the social impact of academic research generally. This impact is becoming an increasingly important factor when it comes to evaluating domestic and international projects.
The opening discussion of the festival, which featured Professor Roman Kuhar from the Faculty of Arts and Jessica Meijer from Leiden University, stressed that it was important to begin with small steps if a social impact was to be achieved. It is vital that researchers already start considering the social impact, communicating actively and linking up with their stakeholders during the project design stage. The knowledge transfer offices at all three public universities in Slovenia are on hand to help with this process.
University of Ljubljana HUD Fund
As part of its efforts to promote social innovations, the University of Ljubljana this year set up the University of Ljubljana HUD Fund. Recipients of funds from the first HUD Fund call for applications presented details of their projects at the opening of the festival:
- Dr Dejan Ravšelj and Dr Matej Babšek from the Faculty of Public Administration
- Dr Špela Orehek from the Faculty of Social Sciences
- Dr Viktorija Pečnikar Oblak from the Faculty of Sport
- Pia Groleger from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design
- Dr Maja Petrič from the Faculty of Health Sciences
- Helena Šukljan from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television
- Nastja Grmek Sagadin from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering
Those attending the opening were treated to a tour of the Behavioural Laboratory at the School of Economics and Business by Professor Tomaž Turk. The laboratory provides a setting for interdisciplinary research into the behaviour of consumers, tourists, decision-makers in processes and supply chains, employees, managers and entrepreneurs.
Uni.minds Festival programme
A range of Uni.minds Festival activities have been announced. They include guided tours of Hidria, one of the leading international companies in the field of innovative automobile and industrial technologies, and Oljarna Lisjak, which is one of the oldest olive oil producers in Slovenia.
The festival programme also includes a Biotechnical Summit as part of Lek’s Researchers’ Day. This year’s summit examines biopharmaceuticals, with a focus on major achievements and best practices in the field of biosimilar medicines.
Those who take the opportunity to visit the University of Maribor’s Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transport Engineering and Architecture and the Marles company will learn about the very latest innovations in sustainable building construction.
Professor Gregor Majdič will present the Rector’s Award for Best Innovation at the University of Ljubljana at the closing event of the Uni.minds Festival, which starts at 6 pm on 22 October at the Faculty of Architecture. He will also announce the recipients of funding from the University of Ljubljana Innovation Fund.
The Uni.Minds Festival is organised by the University of Ljubljana, the University of Maribor, the University of Primorska and the SPIRIT Slovenija Agency. It is taking place as part of Science Month, which is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation. The main festival partners are Lek (Member of the Sandoz Group) and the Ljubljana University Incubator. The festival is also supported by Oljarna Lisjak and Novartis Slovenija.