Ljubljana related
Slovenia rose 10 places to #21 in Bloomberg’s 2020 Innovation Index, between Australia and Canada, with this year’s list headed by Germany, ending South Korea’s six-year run at the top, the Asian nation now at #2, with Singapore at #3.
The index is based on dozens of criteria under seven broad headings: R&D intensity, manufacturing value-added, productivity, high-tech density, tertiary efficiency (enrollment in tertiary education, percentage of the workforce with degree and the number of STEM graduates), researcher concentration and patent activity. It’s this last category where Slovenia excelled in the last 12 months, enabling it to leap ahead of such countries and territories as Canada (22), Iceland (23), Luxembourg (31), Estonia (36) and Hong Kong (39).
Notably, Slovenia is the highest ranked of the former communist or socialist states – with the next being the Czech Republic at 24, although note that China, operating under a self-proclaimed system of “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, is at 5. Slovenia is also the only member of the former Yugoslavia to appear in the top 60. More details on the list can be found here, while the top 21 are listed below.
- Germany
- South Korea
- Singapore
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Israel
- Finland
- Denmark
- US
- France
- Austria
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Belgium
- China
- Ireland
- Norway
- UK
- Italy
- Australia
- Slovenia
STA, 9 January 2020 - Jadran Lenarčič, the director of the Jožef Stefan Institute, the country's top research institution, was declared the Person of the Year 2019 by the newspaper publisher Delo as the award ceremony was held in Cankarjev Dom on Thursday evening.
Lenarčič is the long-serving head of Slovenia's largest and most important scientific institution, who has been successfully managing 500 doctors of science "who create the future of our country", the award jury said.
As a scientist, he is one of the pioneers in robot kinematics, biorobotics and humanoid robots, and today is among the most appreciated authors and lecturers in this scientific field, it added.
In the past year, Lenarčič held lectures at the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna and, as a member of a task force of the European Commission, participated in the drafting of a document on promising technologies.
Lenarčič, who was picked among ten nominees by Delo readers and editors, was also decorated with the insignia of chevalier in the French National Order of Merit in 2019.
He knows "how to listen to inspiration, which is the most important guide for him, because he says that ratio keeps a person in the same place, while it is only possible to take a step into the unknown with imagination."
Addressing the ceremony, which was attended by Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, the award winner said he was glad that the title had been given to a scientist, and that he was a scientist at heart.
Lenarčič said that the Jožef Stefan Institute was a symbol of Slovenian science, research, technological progress, innovation and creativity and bore the name of "one of the greatest physicists of in history of mankind".
"Slovenia is small ... and we will be successful only if we are open, if we exchange and compete with people outside our borders," he said, adding that "science is like a parachute - it works if it is open."
He concluded by saying what he had told the prime minister as he visited the institute two months ago - "investing in science is not cheap, but it is not the most expensive thing in the world, not investing is science is."
Šarec said prior to the announcement that being the person of the year was an honour and responsibility. "This person must be aware that people follow them and admire them," he added.
Lenarčič succeeds Uroš Ahčan and Vojko Didanovič, the first surgeons to complete a full nose reconstruction from own tissue, who were declared the Person of the Year by Delo last year.
You can learn more about the Jožef Stefan Institute here.
STA, 6 December 2019 - Following years of efforts by researchers, a project was launched to design the first monitoring of the most important wild pollinators - wild bees - in Slovenia. Their role has long been neglected even if they are more effective pollinators than honeybees. Slovenian scientists would like to better understand them, and to do that they will apply machine learning methods.
Pollinators are key to both agriculture and the preservation of natural ecosystems. Although honeybees used to be considered the most important pollinators, it has become clear that it is crucial to have a variety of pollinators; wild pollinators such as bumblebees are for instance more efficient pollinators than honeybees.
Due to their short tongue, honeybees tend to avoid blossoms with a longer neck, which are pollinated by bumblebees. Bumblebees are particularly important for plants which require blossom shaking to be pollinated, for instance key crops such as tomatoes and blueberries, and another 16,000 plants. They are also indispensable for plants with very deep blossoms, which honeybees cannot pollinate with their short tongue, said Danilo Bevk from the National Institute of Biology.
Bumblebees are also special in that they fly around in bad weather, which is quite often the case when fruit trees are blossoming in the spring. "This is one of the reasons why we could say that they are the most important wild pollinators, although others, such as solitary bees, flower flies or butterflies are also important," said Bevk.
Keeping bumblebees as a hobby
While beekeeping is a very popular pastime in Slovenia, bumblebee-keeping is much less widespread, with only slightly more than 180 people keeping bumblebees in their gardens. One of them is Janez Grad, a doctor of mathematics and retired professor emeritus of computer science of the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics, who has had bumblebees in his garden behind his home for 35 years.
Every year about seven species of bumblebees find their home in his garden. "Queen bumblebees fly back to their hives after hibernation, just like swallows come back to their nest," said Grad.
Only bumblebee queens hibernate
Bumblebee hives in Grad's garden are empty in the autumn, as the animals go into hibernation, which usually lasts seven months. Only bumblebee queens from the past season survive winter, having dug into soil in the woods, away from people, animals and light, hibernating until early spring when new bumblebee families, worker bees, male bees and new bumblebee queens emerge.
The development of a bumblebee family depends on weather. If spring arrives early, new bumblebee families can appear at the end of February. But an early and warm spring followed by a cold spell disaster. In this case bumblebee queens leave their nest, leaving behind their brood. Once they return after the cold spell is over, it is often too late. This year May was cold and rainy, which Grad, one of the greatest experts on bumblebees in Slovenia, said would be felt next year.
People, disease and climate change pose a threat to bumblebees
Climate change is one of the most serious threats to bumblebees and will affect the majority of bumblebees in Europe. Researchers expect that as a result of anticipated climate changes, almost half of all bumblebee species could lose 50-80% of their territory by 2100, said Bevk.
"However, for some species changes will be an opportunity. A Mediterranean bumblebee spread here a decade ago probably due to climate change. Climate change will of course have a negative impact on pollination, so it is even more important to preserve a high degree of diversity of pollinators."
Various diseases, and some birds which eat bumblebee queens in spring, are another threat to bumblebees. However, Grad said that people are enemy No. 1 of bumblebees, destroying their habitat with intensive agriculture, frequent and early grass cutting, and with the use of pesticides.
First monitoring of solitary bees and bumblebees
Sixty-eight species of bumblebees have been discovered in Europe, of which a quarter are at risk of extinction. Half the populations are in decline, Bevk explained. There are 35 species in Slovenia, and while some of them have not been noticed for quite a while, their extinction cannot be proved because there has been no wild bee monitoring in Slovenia yet.
In November, after five years of efforts by researchers, a project was launched to design the monitoring of wild bees - solitary bees and bumblebees - in Slovenia.
"The project aims to develop a methodology of wild bee monitoring, launch test monitoring at selected locations, assess the situation of wild bees and draft guidelines for sustainable monitoring of wild pollinators in Slovenia," explained Bevk.
The National Institute of Biology, which is in charge of the project, believes this will enable them to gather hard data about the movement of bumblebee and solitary bee populations in our country, which is of key importance in designing adequate measures to protect and monitor the efficiency of these important pollinators. Regular monitoring could make Slovenia a leader in this field in Europe, the institute said.
Machine learning to study bumblebees
An important contribution to better understand bumblebees has been made over the past few years by researchers from the Jožef Stefan Institute's department for intelligent systems, which has been researching buzz sound and temperature in close collaboration with Professor Grad.
Grad contacted the Jožef Stefan Institute a few years ago asking for help in analysing the bumblebee buzz which he had recorded in previous seasons, explained researcher Anton Gradišek. With the help of Grad's recordings, the institute developed an app which draws on machine learning and which, using advanced computer methods, recognises which bumblebee species makes which buzz sound, and whether the sound is made by a queen or worker bee.
Researchers at the institute are not the first to study bumblebees, but their research is different in that it is carried out in nature, in Grad's garden rather than in a controlled lab environment. Gradišek said the garden proved to be an excellent natural laboratory, enabling them to study not just a few of the most interesting species but a number of different ones.
The institute is researching different aspects of bumblebees, including sound and temperature. Sound research has resulted in a new simple method to record bumblebee flight to establish when bumblebees are more active, which depends on the species.
As part of the research into temperature, small temperature sensors and thermometers are put in hives to monitor how well bumblebees can keep temperature, which is important for the development of larvae. If the temperatures is adequate, the larvae develop properly, whereas an environment too hot or too cold affect the development of the colony.
"The research has shown that we can recognise different species of bumblebees quite well, which is important for further studies of biodiversity. The temperature research is interesting from the aspect of climate crisis and its impact on the development of bumblebees," said Gradišek.
The researchers would also like to study communication in the nest, for instance how bumblebees let others know the location of the food in the nest, which bees do with waggle dance. They would also like to know how changes in temperatures in the nest and its surroundings affect their activity.
STA, 3 December 2019 - Three Slovenian projects developing research infrastructure for international competitiveness of Slovenia have won a total of EUR 8.4 million in subsidies from EU funds. The projects are related to the priority areas of the research infrastructure development of the national smart specialisation strategy.
LifeWatch, a EUR 3.3 million project intended for the purchase of equipment which will enable international research projects for monitoring and projecting the effects of global changes on biodiversity to be continued, will get EUR 2.6 million from the European Regional Development Fund.
The research infrastructure will enable the collection, processing and storage of data on biodiversity, the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy said in a press release on Tuesday.
A bank of tissue samples, an analytical centre and a molecular laboratory with software for analysis of genetic diversity and genomics and biotechnology instruments will also be established as part of the project.
Eatris, a EUR 2.4 million project aimed at modernising research infrastructure serving for early phases of development of pharmaceuticals and development of the latest diagnostic methods and therapeutic approaches, will get EUR 1.6 million in EU funds.
The projects includes genome and metabolome technologies which are, due to their application-oriented nature, also called translational research. This will improve Slovenia's competitiveness as part of the European Research Area and European research infrastructures.
Also receiving EUR 4.2 million from the European Regional Development Fund is Elixir, a EUR 5.3 million project intended for boosting the national research capacity in life sciences. It will provide infrastructure for a more efficient transfer of new knowledge to healthcare and industries related to biological processes.
The infrastructure enables effective integration of consortium partners with related partners in other national infrastructures in natural sciences, life sciences and advanced computer technologies, the government office said.
STA, 25 November 2019 - The first UNESCO-sponsored international centre for artificial intelligence (AI) will be seated in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, the UNESCO conference general decided in Paris on Monday. The International Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) is to be established early next year.
The Slovenian ministry in charge of education and science believes this puts Slovenia on the global map of the most high-profile and advanced countries AI-wise.
"The centre is a recognition to Slovenian scientists' achievements and a result of the good cooperation between the Slovenian government and UNESCO, especially in open educational resources, an area where Slovenia has gained recognition as a global leader.
"The centre will put Slovenia at the top of global technological developments," the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport said in a release.
The UNESCO conference general unanimously endorsed Slovenia's bid for the AI centre today after UNESCO's executive board endorsed it in April.
Slovenia plans to found the IRCAI at the start of 2020, when an agreement on its establishment is signed by the ministry and UNESCO.
The IRCAI will be the first UNESCO-sponsored global AI research centre, also serving as a role model for similar centres to be set up around the globe.
The ministry said a number of countries and international organisations had already expressed interest in working with the new centre.
The new facility will aim to provide an open and transparent environment for AI research and debates on AI, providing expert support to stakeholders around the globe in drafting guidelines and action plans for AI.
It will bring together various stakeholders with a variety of know-how from around the world to address global challenges, support UNESCO in carrying out its studies and take part in major international AI projects.
The centre will advise governments, organisations, legal persons and the public on systemic and strategic solutions in introducing AI in various fields.
Helping to expand AI capacities around the world, including by establishing auxiliary research centres and drafting training programmes, will also be among its tasks.
The UNESCO general conference also decided today that ethics recommendations for AI should be drafted by the next conference general, scheduled for 2021, a project in which the Ljubljana-based centre will also take part.
STA, 25 November 2019 - Slovenian scientists have decoded the genome of the olm, an endemic cave-dwelling aquatic salamander, based on which new possibilities could be developed in healthcare, for example to heal wounds, understand the causes of obesity and treat diabetes, a press conference heard in Ljubljana on Monday.
The discovery of the genome of the animal found in the karst caves of the Western Balkans, including southern Slovenia, has been made in cooperation with the Danish researchers and the Chinese institute BGI Research.
The olm or proteus, nicknamed the "human fish", is interesting to scientists from the genetic perspective as it can live up to 100 years, and is able to survive long periods without food or overeating without damage to its organs.
12 Things to Know about the Olm, Proteus, Human Fish & Baby Dragon
It also has exceptional capabilities of regeneration, as it is able to regrow an amputated limb, which could be recently witnessed by visitors to the Postojna Cave in Slovenia.
The project to determine its genome was launched last March at the University of Ljubljana together with researchers of Aarhus University in Denmark and BGI Research. Tissue from two olms were sampled, frozen and sent to China.
Duncan Yu, the director of MGI, a subsidiary of BGI Research, told the press that determining the genome had been a complex task requiring a combination of state-of-the-art technologies, as it was 15 times larger than the human genome.
More than a trillion nucleotides, the basic building blocks of DNA and RNA, have been determined, and each of them have been read 160 times on average, with the information obtained now being merged into the final genome sequence.
Yu handed over today a recording of the genome sequence, which bears 42 Megabytes of information, to Igor Papič, chancellor of the University of Ljubljana.
The decoding of the genome is expected to make it easier for scientists to understand how the olm manages to survive years without food or to overeat without any negative effects on the organism.
According to Rok Kostanjšek of the Ljubljana Biotechnical Faculty, who heads the project in Slovenia, it will be easier to understand metabolic processes and apply the findings in human medicine.
In humans, fasting triggers insulin resistance, which leads to diabetes, while this does not happen in the olm, he said, adding that the findings could perhaps be used to improve diabetes medications.
The understanding of the olm's ability to regrow an amputated limb will probably not lead to this being possible in humans, but it could lead to new findings in the treatment of wounds and shorten hospital care after surgeries.
Kostanjšek added that the insight into the genome would also provide scientists with a new basis for discovering or understanding mechanisms related to longevity and genetic diversity.
Analyses of the genome could also be used to determine the sex of an individual olm, which is important for the preservation of this endangered species, as their mating could be facilitated under controlled conditions.
The information could furthermore be used to find out how many populations of the olm exist in a certain area, which would speak about the stability of these populations.
STA, 4 October 2019 - Slovenian and Swedish researchers have developed a new concept for aluminium batteries, doubling their energy density and at the same time reducing the cost to the environment by using readily available and less damaging materials than those used at the moment.
Aluminium batteries have a number of advantages over the currently used lithium-ion batteries, among them high capacity of the aluminium metal anode, as well as tried and tested production and recycling methods.
The newly developed concept could lead to a significant reduction in battery prices and lower the battery's impact on the environment, the Chemical Institute announced the news in a press release
Lower production cost and impact on the environment "make our system incredibly interesting for energy saving in large-scale photovoltaic or wind turbine plants," according to Patrik Johansson of the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Johansson and Robert Dominko of the Ljubljana Chemical Institute led two research teams that developed the new concept presented in late September in an article in the Energy Storage Materials journal.
Explaining the revolutionary concept, the article says that previous designs for aluminium batteries have used the aluminium anodes and graphite cathodes.
However, graphite provides too low an energy content to create battery cells with enough performance for everyday use. Now, graphite has been replaced by an organic, nanostructured cathode, made of the carbon-based molecule anthraquinone.
The anthraquinone cathode has been developed by one of article co-authors, Jan Bitenc of the Ljubljana Institute of Chemistry, while he was guest researcher at Chalmers.
According to Niklas Lindal, another co-author, the team is now working on eliminating chlorine from the electrolyte.
The researchers believe that although aluminium storage technology is a long way from commercial production, the new device will be able to compete or complement lithium-ion storage.
"So far, aluminium batteries are only half as energy dense as lithium-ion batteries but our long-term goal is to achieve the same energy density."
More details on this research can be found here
STA, 1 October 2019 - Krka, the Novo Mesto-seated pharmaceuticals group, has launched a new research and development centre to nearly double its R&D, and control and analysis capacities.
"With the new facility, which has state-of-the-art equipment for laboratories, analysis and technology, we've almost doubled Krka's development as well as control and analysis capacities, thus significantly improving R&D, which is at the core of Krka's vertically integrated business model," said Aleš Rotar, R&D director.
The Research and Control Centre 4 (RKC 4) is a EUR 55.6 million investment located on the outskirts of Novo Mesto, and is connected with a bridge to RKC 3 and then on to RKC 1.
The eight-storey building with 18,000 square metres of offices accommodates new control and analysis labs and R&D areas, CEO Jože Colarič said before Tuesday's inauguration.
Rotar stressed the centre was especially important for pilot development of solid pharmaceuticals as a key component in the development of new products.
The company believes RKC 4 will enable it to carry out advanced R&D tests at the very early laboratory stage and define the key features of a product in early stages.
At today's inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec labelled Krka as one of Slovenia's flagship companies, praising the company for its exports trends, development strategies, independence and its role in the local community.
He considers the investment an important milestone and an opportunity for development.
In the first half of 2019, the group posted a net profit of EUR 139.9 million, up 37% from the same period in 2018, on EUR 761.8 million sales revenue, up 12%.
The plan for this year is to finish with EUR 1.38 billion in sales revenue and EUR 172 million in net profit.
The group allocates 10% of its revenue for R&D and new technologies, and has more than 170 development projects for new products are under way.
It generates 29% of its sales with the new medicines which they have started selling over the past five years.
STA, 9 September 2019 - Pharmaceutical company Lek inaugurated new development laboratories in Ljubljana on Monday in an investment valued at EUR 7.5 million. Among other drugs, they plan to develop sterile solid dosage forms to treat cancer patients.
Matjaž Tršek, the director of Lek's development centre, said that work on oncology medications had been somewhat limited, while the new investment would allow them to develop the whole portfolio of these medications.
As part of the centre's expansion "existing capacities for development of solid dosage pharmaceutical forms have been expanded, including with new analysis laboratories and expansion of in vitro/in vivo correlation study laboratories," said Luka Peternel, the head of pharmaceutical development at the centre.
Tršek added that "certain new technologies have been brought ... The number of staff has increased and there has been a substantial increase in funds for research". The number of employees at the development centre has increased by about 20% since 2015 to more than 330.
According to him, the centre will also get the first fully automated analysis laboratory. "It'll be the first such laboratory in Sandoz and even Novartis," he said, referring to Lek's parent company and division. The new lab is to be completed by the end of the year.
With the launch of the new labs, Lek is wrapping up a cycle of investment in new capacities, which enhances the Ljubljana development centre's position within the global development network: "We are the largest development centre within Sandoz even now, and this only enhances our position," said Tršek.
According to Lek, the Slovenia development centre is Sandoz's leading centre for the development of technologically advanced products for key markets of Europe, United States, Canada, Japan and emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, Mexico and China.
The Slovenia development centre, responsible for a quarter of all global development projects of Sandoz, Novartis's generic arm, has developed and launched more than 100 new products over the past four years.
The investment launch today comes after Lek decided to discontinue its EUR 150 million investment in expanding antibiotics production at its Prevalje location in the north of the country.
STA, 13 August 2019 - Japanese and Slovenian partners signed two agreements in Ljubljana on Tuesday that pave the way for cooperation in development and research of robotised rehabilitation devices.
Fujita Health University signed one of the accords with the University of Ljubljana and the other with the Ljubljana-based URI Soča Rehabilitation Institute, and Toyota Motor Corporation.
The signing was attended by Economy Ministry State Secretary Aleš Cantarutti, who praised it as a major paving stone for further cooperation between Slovenia and Japan in the field.
"Cooperation between Slovenia and Japan has seen tremendous progress in recent years," said Cantarutti, praising the agreements as an "excellent example of cooperation between science and research and business", and a new opportunity to upgrade medical rehabilitation robotics.
Bilateral cooperation was also praised by Japanese Ambassador to Slovenia Masaharu Yoshida, who noted that Fujita Health University was a leading institution in the field in Japan. The university operates Japan's largest university hospital, treating 1.83 million patients a year.
"The agreement signed today will allow us to find a common path in development of rehabilitation robots and, above all, to put them on the market," said Robert Cugelj, director general of URI Soča.
The institute's main goal is to get its expertise and technology into the real world, and sell it. "In this way we generate value added mainly for patients, both those from Slovenia and elsewhere," said Cugelj.
The head of the institute's research and development department, Zlatko Matjačić, presented two projects that formed the basis for cooperation.
One is a rehab robot to train patients how to maintain balance and movement coordination during walking, which is being developed by the Slovenian institute, and the other is a robot developed by Fujita Health University and Toyota.
These are two exoskeletal devices focusing on two different areas. "The Japanese have focused on the leg's function and support during walk, while we're focusing on the integrated function of balance and coordination," Matjačić said.
They would now like to combine their expertise, technology and experience into a now concept to help in the rehabilitation of patients after stroke.
Fujita Health University professor and president Eiichi Saitoh was happy that the university was linking with the world's leading rehabilitation institutions, expressing belief that expertise is expanded and enriched through such cooperation.
Keisuke Suga of Toyota's BR-Medicare hailed the new partnership, which said would help implement Toyota's vision of mobility for all. The department headed by Suga specializes in development and production of devices used in patient rehabilitation.
The Japanese delegation already met Health Ministry State Secretary Simona Repar Bornšek on Monday and will be received along with URI Soča officials by President Borut Pahor on Wednesday.
All our stories on Japan are here, while those on robotics are here
