Youth Inventiveness: A Response to the Challenges of Microplastics in the Environment
Aiming to encourage primary and secondary school students to lead initiatives for solutions to the problem of microplastics in the environment, the Faculty of Education held a ceremony to announce the results of the competition Youth Inventiveness: A Response to the Challenges of Microplastics in the Environment. The competition took place through the collaboration of Centre KemikUm, CRSN and EkoPef at the UL Faculty of Education.
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The works received have been evaluated by a committee composed of Stojan Kostanjevec, PhD (Faculty of Education, EkoPef), Gregor Cerar, MSc (Eco-Schools), Mojca Juriševič, PhD (Professor at Faculty of Education, CRSN), Taja Klemen and Vesna Ferk Savec, PhD (Professor at Faculty of Education, Centre KemikUm).
Moderator: Katarina Mlinarec, Faculty of Education, Centre KemikUm
Youth Inventiveness: A Response to the Challenges of Microplastics in the Environment
The large amounts of microplastics ending up in the environment every year permanently pollute ecosystems and food chains, which has a number of detrimental effects on living organisms. In the first experimental workshop on this topic, primary and secondary school students collaborated in the role of scientists and familiarised themselves with the composition of plastic packaging through guided experimental research.
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They discussed how to act sustainably when buying and using food in terms of its packaging and sustainable development.
Project coordinator: Katarina Mlinarec, Faculty of Education, Centre KemikUm in collaboration with students of the Faculty
Discover Hive Products and Their Uses
A representative of the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association, Tomaž Samec, a zootechnical engineer, presented the role of the bee in our common living space and hive products that beekeepers produce alongside bees.
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Visitors also acquainted themselves with how widely useful hive products are in our everyday lives. During the lecture, they were able to ask questions or engage in a discussion with the expert.
Project coordinator: Miha Slapničar, PhD, Faculty of Education, Centre KemikUm
Implementation: Tomaž Samec, zootechnical engineer, Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association
The Face Says It All: Pain Assessment in Animals Using Facial Expressions
Alleviating pain in animals is greatly hindered due to problems in recognising pain as humans, alienated from nature, are no longer familiar with the non-verbal language and signs through which different animal species express pain. Of course, this does not mean that animals, even the less complex invertebrates, do not feel pain.
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A presentation at a stall on the European Researchers’ Night was focused on recognising pain using facial expressions.
The last decade has seen the development of pain assessment using facial expressions in different animal species, such as mice, rats, rabbits, skunks, cats, pigs, horses, sheep and cattle. The assessment is simple and does not take much time, and the techniques can be acquired quickly even by people with no prior veterinary education.
Building an awareness that animals feel pain just like people should start as soon as possible in children, in secondary school education at the latest. With this project, Veterinary Faculty researchers aim to “open the eyes” of children and teach them to recognise signs of pain in animal species for which pain assessment scales exist, using facial expressions.
Through pictures and videos, they showed European Researchers’ Night visitors how to recognise pain in animals using facial expressions. They used quizzes to test the success of the presentations, encouraging visitors of the stall to think critically and transfer the acquired knowledge to their home environments.
Coordinator: Alenka Seliškar, PhD, Veterinary Faculty
New Discoveries about the Human Fish to the Benefit of Humans and the Olm
The European Researchers’ Night presented the latest discoveries about the human fish – i.e. olm, revelations about when and how olms actually became cave animals, what the secret to their extensive genome is and what we can learn from them to benefit human health.
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The central event was be accompanied by an exhibition on cave life and a series of presentations in places where humans and human fish share the same underground water, which sustains both species.
The human fish or olm is well known in Slovenia but is still a mysterious and exotic animal. As a resident of karstic groundwater, it lives below the surface, hidden from view. It is the only cave amphibian and the biggest cave animal in Europe.
In the last two decades, new field research techniques and new molecular biology methods have contributed to exciting new discoveries.
New knowledge enables the counting of olms even though they are hidden underground. It has been found that some populations are so decimated and threatened that their very survival is at stake.
On the Researchers’ Night, the light of science will illuminate the eternal night of the olm’s life, and a multimedia demonstration will enable visitors to see what these animals look like from up close, whether they are really blind, whether they have teeth, whether they really live for a hundred years, how they orient themselves in total darkness and other interesting facts about their lives.
The soundscape of the cave environment was conjured by the artistic sound installation Black Drop. It was contributed by the internationally recognized and awarded artist Robertina Šebjanič (https://robertina.net/), who in her works transcends the boundaries between science and art and draws attention to the vulnerability of the underground environment in a very special way.
The multiple award-winning short film Proteus Hunters, authored by the well-known Slovenian underwater cameraman Ciril Mlinar Cic (https://www.cicfilm.com/), was also shown.
Coordinator: Peter Trontelj, PhD, and Hans Recknagel, PhD, Biotechnical Faculty
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Cabinet of Curiosities
Students turned a part of the graphics atelier at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (ALUO) into a cabinet of wonders, sparking the imagination of everyone participating in this project – both creators and viewers. After opening the exhibition, they invited the audience into the ALUO printmaking workshops, where they presented a part of the process of printmaking and creating in this interesting medium.
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Since the Renaissance, cabinets of wonders have stirred people’s imaginations as symbols of intellectual and cultural importance. In special rooms, which were actually the precursors to museums, collectors housed various objects, works of art, herbaria and stuffed animals, particularly peculiar specimens.
Some enthusiastic collectors composed fantastic beings out of stuffed animals.
In the 21st century, art is moving to the virtual word of computer software, where new technology enables creators to manipulate images further than with any earlier technology. A new aesthetic of digitisation has entered the traditional fine arts practice, but the collage concept remains ubiquitous in artistic creations.
In the Cabinet of Curiosities project, BA and MA students of painting and printmaking at ALUO explored and then virtually collaged and put together images of humans and animals where human and animal body parts intertwine.
Students created collages of peculiar creatures digitally, later translating them to analogue works of art in classic printmaking techniques, which they performed in the printmaking atelier.
They looked for images of various animal species, including extinct species, combining them with pictures of contemporary creatures. In doing so, they underlined the importance of respecting every living being, reflecting on how every living being has an important role and how our attitude towards animals shapes the world.
The exhibition was on view to the public on Friday, 30 September 2022, from 5 pm on in the ALUO building. After opening the exhibition, the creators invited the audience into the ALUO printmaking workshops, where they presented a part of the process of printmaking
Coordinator: Zora Stančič, MA, Academy of Fine Arts and Design
Work of art: Dog, author: Valentin Radulović, student of Year 2 of Painting, Academy of Fine Arts and Design
The Ethics of Animal Research Models in Pharmacy and Medicine
What purposes are animal models used for in pharmaceutical and medical research and what the ethical and legal restrictions are in this field? These were the themese this lecture of the Faculty of Pharmacy in the New Square.
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The lecture was followed by a round table, where participants were able to take part in a discussion and ask experts questions.
Coordinators: Borut Božič, PhD, Matjaž Jeras, PhD, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tadej Malovrh, PhD, Jelka Zabavnik Piano, PhD, Veterinary Faculty
Shampoo for Pets and Beeswax Lip Balm
Faculty of Pharmacy researchers acquainted participants with cosmetology and making modern cosmetic products.
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In a discussion, they presented the roles and origins of different ingredients as well as made two cosmetic products together with children – a pet shampoo and a beeswax-based lip balm.
The children were able to take both animal-derived ingredients home.
The researchers presented the importance of pet care and how animal-derived ingredients can be used for human skin care to children and their parents.
Coordinators: Maja Bjelošević, PhD, Mercedes Vitek, Master of Pharmacy, Mirjam Gosenca Matjaž, PhD, Alenka Zvonar Pobirk, PhD, Nina Katarina Grilc, Master of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy
Magic Worms and the Nanospider
The Faculty of Pharmacy aims to familiarise children and parents with microparticles and nanofibres as well as their roles in the development of new drugs, which increasingly often involve innovative delivery systems. Such systems can even look like various animals.
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Through the microencapsulation method, the participants, with the help of the researchers, created microparticles in a fun way, changed their colours and tried to make animal-like shapes.
They took a look at nanofibres with the naked eye and through a microscope.
They talked about the numerous potential applications of nanofibres in biomedicine and about what kind of nanospider is used in their production. They also took a closer look at this device.
Coordinators: Črt Dragar, Master of Pharmacy, Blaž Grilc, Master of Industrial Pharmacy, Nina Katarina Grilc, PhD, Master of Pharmacy, Anže Zidar, PhD, Master of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy
Little animals-friendly medicines
Faculty of Pharmacy researchers acquainted participants with research in developing pharmaceutical forms for animals. They discussed the differences in treating humans and animals as well as the key characteristics allowing a drug to be defined as little animal-friendly.
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Children and adults were able to see the process of making mini-tablets, which are considered animal-friendly medicines due to their small size.
They also familiarised themselves with 3D-printing technology and made a smart food dispenser for animals, which can be used to safely introduce a therapeutic treatment.
In addition to generating interest in science, the activity aimed to mitigate drug-related fears and uncertainties in children and encourage reflection about the importance of caring for little animals.
Coordinators: Blaž Grilc, PhD, Mila Kovačević, PhD, Ana Baumgartner, MA, Faculty of Pharmacy
