In the linguistic and rhetorical lecture-workshop entitled Man to Man, Lone Wolf, students of II. Gimnazija Maribor will learn about different aspects of public speaking and reflect on the role of different media in public communication, as well as the humanistic foundations of rhetoric with the lecturer Hotimir Tivadar, PhD.

In literary and creative workshops, students will get an up-close look at how the human and animal worlds intersect in poetry. The workshops On the Snail and the Fox: Man and Animal in Contemporary Slovak Poetry and The Muff and the Brooch From the Cockerel: The Relationship Between Man and Animal in Contemporary Macedonian Poetry will be led by Špela Sevšek Šramel, PhD, and Namita Subiotto, PhD.

Illustration: Lia Paternoster: The Rooster

Coordinators: Hotimir Tivadar, PhD, Department of Slovene Studies, Špela Sevšek Šramel, PhD, Namita Subiotto, PhD, Department of Slavistics, Faculty of Arts

The presence of insects in our everyday lives is affirmed by their presence in idioms (priden kot mravlja – literally ‘diligent as an ant’, busy as a bee; len kot trot – literally ‘lazy as a drone’, lazy as a toad; delati iz muhe slona – literally ‘to make an elephant out of a fly’, to make a mountain out of a molehill). These topics will be the focus of a workshop at one of the stalls during the European Researchers’ Night.

In the first part of the workshop, Faculty of Arts researchers will give an interactive presentation on selected insects, their appearance and way of life as well as related types of forming insect names in Slovenian.

In doing so, they will reveal the reasons for some insects’ names and how their names were linguistically formed. By comparing these names with their counterparts in a related Slavic language, Czech, they will demonstrate differences and similarities in forming names for these tiny animals.

The second part of the workshop will demonstrate selected Slovenian idioms featuring insects, comparing them to idioms with the same meanings in Czech. The participants will discover cultural differences between the two Slavic nations and differences in their perceptions of their surroundings.

Coordinator: Petra Stankovska, PhD, Faculty of Arts

We will demonstrate the work of the archaeozoologist, the production of bone tools, vessels and animal figurines found in graves, and the purpose of such past practices.

Project coordinators: Manca Vinazza, PhD, and Tamara Leskovar, PhD, Faculty of Arts

As much as dogs are similar to humans in their shared everyday experiences, they are also completely different: they feel and experience their world in completely different ways to humans. Their world is shaped by smells, not colours. They move on all fours and use their muzzles in many different ways, just like we use our hands. They regulate their body temperature by panting, not sweating, except on their paws. Their vision is not dominated by colour.

In the sensory walk from the dog’s point of view, we will combine the experience of the sensory walk developed in sensory anthropology. We will walk with our puppy and guide it along a path chosen by the walk leaders, Marie-Claire Pagano, PhD student in Behavioural Informatics from the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Newcastle University, and Prof. Rajko Muršič, PhD, ethnologist and anthropologist from the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. The walk will also be co-organised by dog trainer Alja Willenpart.

The walk takes place in silence, and the walkers devote themselves entirely to the sensory perception of the space they are walking in silence, without talking to each other or using mobile devices: observing, listening, smelling, touching something if necessary. This time, they will do this, connected to their four-legged friends, in an environment that will link the canine ways of perceiving their surroundings, which is something we walkers will be particularly attentive to.

The aim of the walk is to let the dogs choose the path they walk on and lead the walk through their perspective, acting as an active link in the sensory walk. The walk will start with a 10-minute talk and a presentation of the rules and how to conduct an individual sensory walk and a description of the dog’s perspective and sensory. The dog walkers will then follow their dogs, which will be kept on leads at all times, for a 20- to 30-minute walk. After the walk, we will gather at the starting point to discuss how the walks went, and present any new observations to the other walkers. In total, the walk should take about one hour and 30 minutes.

Bring your dog or puppy along for the walk; more than one walker can take part in a walk with one dog or puppy.

The exact location of the walk will be communicated to the participants.

Applications will be accepted until places are filled (up to a maximum of 10 dogs) by email to rajko.mursic@ff.uni-lj.si .

Coordinator: Rajko Muršič, PhD, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

We invite you to start the quiz at the stall of the European Researchers’ Night on the Mestni trg Square and then go to the other stands of the Science Bazaar.

The questions, prepared by researchers of University of Ljubljana, will certainly be interesting, but not too difficult.

Everyone who correctly answers three questions and solves the quiz between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. will participate in the prize draw, which take place on the stall of the European Researchers’ Night in the Mestni trg Square.

Prizes are contributed by:

– Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia – tickets

 – Plovba Ljubljana boat cruises – boat cruise tickets

– Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House – six-month subscription to Gea and Moj planet magazines and other prizes

 – Mestno gledališče ljubljansko Theater – tickets and other prizes

 – Mladinsko Theatre – gift vouchers

 – Museum of Architecture and Design – tickets

 – Slovenian Ethnographic Museum – family tickets

 – City Museum of Ljubljana – tickets

 – Cukrarna – tickets

 – Slovenian Cinematheque – tickets

 – Pionirski dom – Center for Youth Culture – visit to a group activity

 – Idrija Mercury Heritage Management Center – tickets

 – Geoss Adventure Park – tickets

 – Ljubljana Castle – tickets.

Ljubljana is a city of warm people, charming streets, delicious culinary delights, diverse events, and breathtaking views. You can discover them in person and through www.visitljubljana.com. This is why  Tourism Ljubljana donates tickets for a guided tour of Ljubljana and other prizes for the prize quize of the European Researchers’ Night.

You are welcome!

Sabina Mikuletič Zalaznik will present the operation of the University of Ljubljana Career Centers, which encourage students to confidently and easily find their dream job, and organize many free activities for them throughout the year.

Many trainings on the topic of personal and professional development are available in the e-classroom of the UL Career Centers. Since each individual is unique, they offer also individual sessions. They provide students with personal career counseling and coaching for effective management of their career path.

Zala Simčič will present the activities in the field of the Alumni Club Development.

Coordinators: Sabina Mikuletič Zalaznik, UL Career Centers and Zala Simčič, Alumni Club Development Sevice.

Idioms are always the result of the cultural environment in which they originate, and some of them are similar in different languages. You can find out all this and more at a workshop on animal idioms organised by the Department of Translation Studies at the Faculty of Arts. Find, identify and illustrate idioms with us!

The activity is for a group of primary school pupils. Registration is now closed. You are cordially invited to the other activities of the European Researchers’ Night!

Coordinators: Mojca Schlamberger Brezar, PhD, and Silvana Orel Kos, PhD, Department of Translation Studies, Faculty of Arts

The illustrated picture stories book Who’s afraid of a bunny? was published by the Scientific Publishing House of the Faculty of Arts. Cvetka Sokolov, together with other authors, will present it to the students and general public at the main event of the European Researchers’ Night 2023.

The presentation at 12:20 p.m. will be aimed at students and the general public, as will the panel exhibition, which will be on display on September 29 in the Mestni trg Square, and from October 2 in the lobby of the Faculty of Arts.

There will be a presentation of the picture books with a creative workshop for children at 9 p.m.

Coordinator: Cvetka Sokolov, PhD, Faculty of Arts

In the multimedia center Europa Experience at Dunajska 20 in Ljubljana, you can find out more about the EU, European politics and how you too can contribute to change. During the main central event of the European Researchers’ Night, you can experience a part of the multimedia center Europa Experience also at the Science Bazaar.

At the stall, you can spin the wheel of fortune, find answers to questions about the EU and receive symbolic prizes.

The European Parliament office in Slovenia also invites you to visit the House of the Europeam Union at Dunajska 20, where you can walk around the multimedia stations, meet your representatives in the European institutions, discover how you can influence their decisions, and create a commemorative photo to become part of the exhibition!

You can arrange a group visit with the House of the European Union informants or with the help of an online reservation, attend an interesting presentation of the European Union and test your knowledge about the EU in a quiz.

On September 29, the EU House will be open to visitors between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Admission will be free. You are welcome!

With Barbara Kapelj’s installation The Nest, which will be on display on September 29, 2023 in the atrium of the Ljubljana Town Hall at Mestni trg Square, as part of the European Researchers’ Night, we continue with the human placement between animals and machines, and this time we are looking for answers with the help of visual art.

“We have created a narcissistic society that nurtures and breeds artificial intelligence in its own nest, and now we look at our own reflection in horror, at an image that is becoming elusive: we stare in despair at the reflection of our own vanity.”

Author of The Nest installation: Barbara Kapelj

Conceptual design of the ANIMAL-MAN-MACHINE project: Sabina Autor, Igor Bijuklič, Valerija Vendramin, Janja Žmavc (in alphabetical order), Educational Research Institute