news

The two-week summer school dedicated to sustainability, innovation, and the circular economy, held from 15 to 28 June 2026, brought together students from the University of Primorska, Oregon State University, Saarland University, and partner institutions. The programme was led by the University of Primorska (UP) and Oregon State University (USA), and organized by UP FAMNIT, UP IAM, and the NEBAP Hub in cooperation with Oregon State University.

Researchers from the UP IAM InnoRenew CoE participated in the SWST 2026 International Convention, held from 7–12 June 2026 at COEX in Seoul, South Korea.

The International InnoRenew CoE Conference 2026 (IRIC2026) will take place on 5–6 November 2026 at the UP IAM InnoRenew CoE building in Izola, Slovenia. The conference provides an international forum for exploring renewable materials and their application in creating healthy and sustainable buildings, while placing a particular emphasis on supporting the career development of doctoral students and early-career researchers.

Researchers are kindly invited to submit abstracts by 15 August 2026 and participate in this year’s event.

Yesterday, 15 June 2026, marked the start of the two-week Alpine Europe: Innovation in the Circular Economy 2026 Summer School, which brings together students from the University of Primorska, Oregon State University, Saarland University, and partner institutions through learning, collaboration, and intercultural exchange.

Dr. Andreja Kutnar, Head of the InnoRenew CoE department, was among the invited speakers of the High-Level Stakeholder Dialogue “From Strategy to Action: Accelerating Europe’s Bioeconomy Revolution”, which was held in Brussels in the presence of Jessika Roswall, the European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.

On Tuesday, 9 June 2026, the New European Bauhaus (NEB) Festival opened in Brussels. The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, António Costa, who visited a selection of exhibition stands. Among their first stops was the stand of the New European Bauhaus Academy (NEBA Alliance) project, where they met with Dr. Andreja Kutnar, the project coordinator and head of the UP IAM InnoRenew CoE department.

Prof Marko Tkalčič and assist. Uroš Sergaš from the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies at UP FAMNIT and UP IAM received the Best Paper Award in the Late-Breaking Results (LBR) category at the ACM UMAP 2026 international conference, which took place from June 8 to 11 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

A team of students from UP FAMNIT has won first place in the Slovenian selection of the Bio-based Innovation Student Challenge Europe (BISC-E). Thanks to this achievement in the Europe-wide student competition promoting bio-based innovation and entrepreneurship, the team has secured a place in the European final, where it will represent Slovenia in September 2026. This was also the University of Primorska's first participation in the competition.

On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, the International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS) has appointed its first female Vice President. Professor Andreja Kutnar of the University of Primorska was elected to this historic role on June 2, 2026. She has been a Fellow of the IAWS from 2021.

UP IAM InnoRenew CoE is seeking a dynamic and motivated candidate to work on the department’s social science projects. The researcher will be employed at UP IAM and become a doctoral candidate at the University of Primorska – PhD study program Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments.

The employment relationship will be contracted for full-working time of 40 hours per week (100%), for a definite period of time of 36 months, with a three-month probationary period. The expected start date is October 1, 2026, or as agreed.

Expected start date is October 1, 2026.

UP IAM InnoRenew CoE is seeking a dynamic and motivated candidate to work on a research project focused on the development of moisture-activated densified wood dowels for adhesive-free engineered wood products. The researcher will be employed at UP IAM and become a doctoral candidate at the University of Primorska – PhD study program Renewable Materials for Healthy Built Environments.

Expected start date is October 1, 2026.

The employment relationship will be contracted for full-working time of 40 hours per week (100%), for a definite period of time of 36 months, with a three-month probationary period. The expected start date is October 1, 2026, or as agreed.

The Young Academy Association has presented the Mentor of the Year Award for the seventeenth consecutive year. The award highlights the importance of quality mentorship for successful doctoral studies. This year, they received 78 valid applications, in which 68 different mentors were nominated. Among the five finalists is Dr. Vita Poštuvan (UP IAM, UP FAMNIT), who was nominated for the award by her doctoral student Vanja Gomboc, also on behalf of her colleague Lucija Rojc, as well as Dr. Nina Krohne and Dr. Meta Lavrič, who have already earned their doctorates under her mentorship. Thus, her nomination was supported by absolutely all of her former and current mentees, which in itself is proof of her high-quality work.

On Wednesday, March 25, 2026, UP IAM InnoRenew CoE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for technical cooperation in innovation and capacity building within wood science and technology with Bhutan Regenerative Engineered Timber Systems (BRETS).

An exhibition showcasing the achievements and portraits of the recipients of the highest national awards in the fields of science, research, and innovation for 2025 will be on display at Krakovski nasip in Ljubljana until April 16, 2026.

Today, 17 March 2026, the Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and Development, Prof. Dr. Štefko Miklavič, joined by the Deans of the University of Primorska's member faculties, presented the decrees of election to the title of Full Professor to fourteen new professors at the ceremony of inauguration.

At the solemn ceremony, which traditionally takes place during UP Week, on Monday, March 16, 2026, the Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and Development, prof. dr. Štefko Miklavič, promoted fourteen new UP Doctors of Science. As of today, the University of Primorska has 400 Doctors of Science.

The University of Primorska has published the Call for Young Researchers who will undergo a four-year training programme consisting of research and academic components, based on a full-time employment contract. Each young researcher will conduct a research project under the supervision of a mentor, aligned with the specific research programme.

Researchers from the UP IAM InnoRenew CoE department, Dr. Andreja Kutnar, Dr. Mike Burnard, and Dr. Sonja Jantar, attended the first conference of the New European Bauhaus Academy on February 27, 2026, in Barcelona, Spain.

A new high-brilliance SAXS beamline (HB-SAXS) is under development at Elettra 2.0 in Trieste through an international consortium involving Elettra – Sincrotrone Trieste, Graz University of Technology, University of Maribor and University of Primorska.

The Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies at University of Primorska (UP FAMNIT) invites applications for postdoctoral researcher positions. We welcome outstanding candidates with a strong research record in mathematics who are motivated to develop independent research and to contribute to the preparation of competitive project proposals.