The Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering was created when the Faculty for Natural Sciences and Technology at the University of Ljubljana was reorganised in 1994. It hosts four departments:
By visiting our website, you have surely already found out that the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering is unique in its composition, which is also indicated by its own name. It includes both natural and technical sciences, and also covers the field of art. Its diversity is reflected in the four departments housed at the Faculty, i.e. Department of Geology, Department of Geotechnology, Mining and Environment, Department of Materials and Metallurgy, and Department of Textiles, Graphic Arts and Design. Despite the departments being autonomous and successful each in its own field, the intertwining of technology, natural sciences and art has been leading into new forms of cooperation and resounding projects.
In all the mentioned departments, we implement first, second and third level study programmes, through which we provide students with the knowledge necessary to achieve competencies. The knowledge we pass on to generations of students needs to be in step with development and time. For this reason, we support the knowledge with scientific research. Success has been recorded in publications in many domestic and foreign scientific and professional journals, and can be found in the results of national, European and other projects. The impact of artistic activities is resounding as well, the results can be admired through numerous projects and exhibitions at home and abroad. As a faculty, we cooperate in the fields we cover with domestic and foreign faculties, institutions and the economy, and we participate in professional associations and societies.
Our academic community is just as diverse as our fields and has never lacked eminent higher education teachers, researchers, professional associates and, above all, diligent students. We are proud that our students are also successfully involved in the activities in all fields of the Faculty. In this way, they gain new knowledge and experience. Through the non-formal education, which is offered to students through projects, workshops and activities of the Career Centre, they acquire additional skills necessary for easier employment and their future careers. Through the Student Council, students participate in the bodies of the Faculty and thus help co-create its path. Through tutoring, we listen to students, help them and guide them.
The Faculty, as it is today, has existed for more than twenty-five years, while its roots with the beginnings of studies in the field of mining and geology go back for a century, to the year of the establishment of the University of Ljubljana. And if you stop only for a while in our buildings in Aškerčeva street, Lepi pot or Snežniška street, you can feel the intertwining of rich history with constant progress, which is the driving force of our research, teaching and work at the Faculty. To conclude in the style of our students, who say “It’s happening!”, I would like to invite you to join us at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, as it will definitely be happening in the future as well.
Prof. Dr. Urška Stanković Elesini, Dean
The study of mining and geology first began in 1919 with the foundation of the University of Ljubljana; an independent study programme of Metallurgy was launched in 1939 within this section, while the study of textiles began as part of the Department of Chemical Technology in 1956. Chemical education and computer sciences were launched in 1982. Since 1961, the Department of Textiles, Graphic Arts and Design has been offering Textile Technology studies; in 1979, this was expanded with Textile and Clothing Design and then Graphic Technology in 1996.
The Faculty is very diverse and offers a wide array of disciplines. It nurtures basic, applied and developmental research in geology, mining, geotechnology, material sciences, metallurgy, textile engineering, graphic technology, textile, fashion and graphic design and IT.
At the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, we understand the challenges of modern society. We therefore actively co-create it with education, research and design in the fields of geology, geotechnology, graphic arts, materials and metallurgy, textiles, and textile and clothing design. We focus on excellence, creative solutions and placement in the international environment.
The culture of operation of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering is based on the values that we share with our partners within the framework of our educational and research mission.
Knowledge: Discovering, understanding and imparting knowledge is the foundation of our mission.
Innovation: We strengthen and encourage the innovation of all employees and students, hence discovering new possibilities and horizons.
Responsibility: We are responsible and sustainable towards ourselves, our colleagues, students, business partners, the society and the environment.
Interdisciplinarity: We are interdisciplinary in our essence, as we bring together different disciplines in the fields of science, technology and art, helping us see more.
Cooperation: We build good relationships at the highest level of respect and trust with all stakeholders, both inside and outside the Faculty.
Contemporary tradition: We intertwine modern and classic. We use positive experiences from the past to shape the future.
By 2027, the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering will be among the most recognisable interdisciplinary institutions in the fields of geology, geotechnology, graphic arts, materials and metallurgy, textile and clothing design, and textiles in the domestic and international space. In these fields, we will be a leader in providing quality and student-centred education and research.