University of Ljubljana at ZOTKS Talents 2026: Talent needs opportunity. The University of Ljubljana creates opportunities.

A crowd of visitors in the lobby of Cankarjev dom

Kaja Skrbinšek/STA

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On Saturday, 6 June 2026, the University of Ljubljana (UL) joined forces with the country's best young competitors, their parents, and mentors at the ZOTKS Talents 2026 event held at Cankarjev Dom. The event, organised by the Association for Technical Culture of Slovenia (ZOTKS), is dedicated to young people who have excelled in national knowledge competitions and the young researchers' meeting. This year, it brought together more than 1,300 primary and secondary school pupils, their parents, mentors and other guests.

Thirteen UL member faculties and the UL Rectorate took part in the University’s exhibition area. The faculties prepared interactive presentations of various study, research, and professional fields, while the Rectorate’s stand invited young people to reflect on their interests, talents, and the possibilities for collaborating with the university even before enrolling in their studies.

The central message of the presentation was: Talent needs opportunity. UL creates opportunities. It was intended to emphasise that the University of Ljubljana is a place of knowledge, research, creativity, mentoring and opportunity, where young people can further develop their talents.

“At the University of Ljubljana, we recognise the importance of providing a supportive environment for young talents. These individuals are part of a generation that drives social development and our collective future, inspiring others by their example. We are therefore introducing a series of innovations at the University, through which we will begin, as early as the upcoming academic year, to intensively build a network of mentors and launch activities aimed at strengthening their knowledge and jointly developing creative curricula and career paths,” said Prof. Dr Ksenija Vidmar Horvat, Vice-Rector of the University of Ljubljana.

At the UL Rectorate stand, secondary school pupils told us what matters to them when choosing a degree programme and responded to an invitation to complete a short questionnaire about their interests, talents and opportunities to engage with the University before enrolling.

"Today we celebrate top-tier knowledge and the exceptional domestic and international achievements of young talents, which are the result of persistent, long-term, and in-depth learning, excellent mentorship, and dedicated parental support. Because we believe that optimal talent development is possible within a supportive, learning community, ZOTKS has now been striving for eight decades to connect all the key parts of the environment that influence the development of gifted youth, co-creating paths from early research and competitive experiences to peak achievements. We are particularly pleased about the prospect of closer cooperation with the University, as we believe this will provide young people with even better conditions for development and facilitate their transition into research, development and academic environments,” said Prof. Dr Mojca Juriševič, President of ZOTKS and Head of the Centre for Research and Promotion of Giftedness at the UL Faculty of Education.

The following faculties participated in the event: the Biotechnical Faculty, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Architecture, Faculty of Public Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Law, and Faculty of Computer and Information Science.