The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities

The Guild is pleased to welcome the University of Ljubljana to its membership. Founded 1919, the University of Ljubljana is Slovenia’s foremost comprehensive university, comprising over 40,000 students. The University of Ljubljana has been distinguished by outstanding funding success in the sixth and seventh Framework Programmes. It is actively engaged in a number of flagship projects through the European Strategy Forum of Research Infrastructures, including the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH.EU) and the European Social Survey (ESS-ERIC). The University has pioneered ground-breaking research, including the first empirical verification that the Zika virus causes damage to fetal brains, and a prototype of a regenerative elastocaloric heat pump, which can replace vapour compression based cooling systems (developed with the Danish Technical University). Commenting on the University’s decision to join the Guild, its Chair, Prof. Ole Petter Ottersen, commented: ‘We are delighted to welcome the University of Ljubljana, a university that has made such a unique contribution to Slovenia’s academic culture, its history, its public life, and its economic prosperity. The University will make an invaluable contribution to the European work of The Guild, and its members’ common endeavour.’ Prof. Ivan Svetlik, Rector of the University, said that ‘The University of Ljubljana is pleased to join The Guild. We are highly motivated to seek synergies with our new partners in the fields of research and education. And we look forward to developing projects and programmes with them bilaterally, and across Europe.'