On the 27th November 2019, UKF's Rector, Prof. Libor Vozár, welcomed the Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia, H. E. Gregor Kozovinc. During their meeting, the Rector informed the ambassador about the structure of the university, its faculties, the fields of study and opportunities for graduates in out-of-school programs and practical work. Ambassador Kozovinc was interested in international cooperation between UKF and academic institutions in Slovenia. The Vice-Rector for International Relations, Dr Martina Pavlíková, explained that UKF successfully cooperates with the University of Maribor, University of Ljubljana, University of Primorska and University del Litorare, Koper under the Erasmus+ project (exchange stays for teachers and students).

UKF is also enhancing its cooperation with Slovenia through the Danube Rectors' Conference (DRC). It supports teaching and researching activities with the University of Maribor, the University of Nova Gorica and the University of Primorska via joint conferences, workshops and summer schools. In the field of research, there is a vivid and active cooperation between the Department of Physics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UKF Nitra (Prof. Medveď and Assoc. Prof. Trník) and the University of Maribor; and between the Central European Research Institute of Søren Kierkegaard at the Faculty of Arts (Prof. Králik) and the Research Institute of Søren Kierkegaard in Ljubljana (Dr. Repar) and the University of Ljubljana (Prof. Vodičar and Prof. Žalec). Mutual cooperation has resulted in international conferences and a great number of publications.

H.E. Gregor Kozovinc visited UKF during the international conference ´Religiosity, Spirituality and Alternative Religious Movements´, during which he took his auspices. The conference was organized by Assoc. Prof. Peter Kondrla, Department of Religious Studies at the Faculty of Arts.

During his official visit to UKF, the ambassador visited the Faculty of Natural Sciences where he was welcomed by the faculty's dean, Prof. František Petrovič. He was also invited to the Department of Geography and Regional Development where he lectured on ´Slovenia, Slovakia and the EU: Past, Present, Future´. At the lectures, students of geography under their teacher's program and students of geography in regional development took part. After the lecture, Ambassador Kozovinc, Dr Petrikovičová, Dr Vojtek and the Vice-Rector Pavlíková discussed opportunities for student exchange stays and other possible cooperation.

Text: Dr Martina Pavlíková – Vice-Rector for International Relations, RNDr. Lucia Petrikovičová, PhD. – Department of Geography and Regional Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences