5th Dr. Uroš Seljak Awards and Commendations Awarded for Outstanding Student Scientific Publications

Ljubljana, October 9, 2026 – In co-organization with the University of Ljubljana, the prestigious Dr. Uroš Seljak Awards and Commendations were presented for the fifth consecutive year in the Assembly Hall of the Rectorate of the University of Ljubljana. The awards recognize the best scientific publications by first- and second-cycle students in Slovenia, celebrating exceptional research achievements and highlighting the importance of high-quality mentorship during young talents’ first steps in academia.

The Director of the ASEF Institute, Dr. Rok Sekirnik, emphasized the fundamental connection between the award and the foundation’s mission:

“The Dr. Uroš Seljak Award encourages the first, crucial steps on an academic research journey. However, realizing such opportunities requires a strong community and continuous support. Fostering and building this supportive environment has been ASEF’s core mission for over twelve years.”

Recipients of the 2026 Dr. Uroš Seljak Awards

This year’s awards were presented to three students alongside their mentors, who received plaques for outstanding mentorship:

Valter Hudovernik (Faculty of Computer and Information Science, UL) for the research Relational Transformer: Toward Zero-Shot Foundation Models for Relational Data.
- Mentors: Prof. Dr. Jure Leskovec and Prof. Dr. Erik Štrumbelj.
Sara Klopčič (Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, UL) for the research Electrically and Geometrically Tunable Photon Pair Entanglement from Ferroelectric Nematic Liquid Crystal.
- Mentor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Matjaž Humar.
Jona Novljan (Birotechnical Faculty, UL) for the research Integrative Profiling of Condensation-Prone RNAs during Early Development.
- Mentor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Miha Modic.

The award was established in 2021 by world-renowned Slovenian astrophysicist, ASEF mentor, and UL alumnus, Prof. Dr. Uroš Seljak. The initiative was born when Prof. Seljak donated a portion of his monetary prize from the prestigious Gruber Prize in Cosmology to establish a charitable fund dedicated to encouraging young researchers.

Reflecting on the courage required for first research endeavors, Prof. Dr. Uroš Seljak noted:

“Research at this stage requires courage. It means asking a question to which there might not yet be an answer… All the students who completed these projects did exactly that, and for that reason, every single recipient can be immensely proud.”

The Importance of Science in Society and Supporting Young Researchers

This year’s ceremony confirmed a significant increase in student interest. The Chair of the Expert Committee, Prof. Dr. Simon Horvat, highlighted the importance of critical thinking and the role of young researchers in modern society:

“This year, we received 27 applications, which is more than double compared to last year. We are delighted by the broad response, though we would love to see even more submissions from the fields of social sciences and humanities… In a time when trust in reason and science is frequently tested, you, young researchers, play a particularly crucial role. As the eminent physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman emphasized, a scientific theory can be disproved, but we can never definitively prove it right. Science advances precisely through critical testing and continuous expansion of existing knowledge. We recognized this exact attitude in your works – in your critical evaluation of results and thoughtful discussion of your research limitations.”

The Rector of the University of Ljubljana, Prof. Dr. Gregor Majdič, urged the awardees to share their knowledge beyond academic walls:

“The recipients of the 5th Dr. Uroš Seljak Awards and Commendations prove that they have successfully stepped into the world of science, and I firmly believe they will remain dedicated to it, with many exciting discoveries awaiting them on their future paths. But they should remember that science must not remain locked in offices and laboratories. It must reach people so they can understand it and remember why it is useful.”

Recipients of the Dr. Uroš Seljak Commendations

The expert committee also awarded commendations to students for their outstanding scientific achievements:

Luka Andrenšek (UL FMF; mentor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ganna Kudryavtseva) – for research on the complete classification of endomorphisms of Kiselman’s semigroup.
Metodi Efremov (Faculty of Humanities, UNG; mentor: Prof. Dr. Franc Marušič) – for research on the structure of double-coordinator constructions.
Ajda Klepej, Ana Kukovec, Luka Lončar, Marko Sette, and Neža Trček (UL FF; mentors: Asst. Prof. Dr. Igor Žunkovič and Asst. Dr. Ana Šemrov) – for research on the empathic response of Slovene readers to poetry in Slovene and English.
Nikolay Kormushev (UL FRI; mentors: Prof. Dr. Matej Kristan and Asst. Prof. Dr. Sc. Josip Šarić) – for research on mitigating objectness bias and region-to-text misalignment for open-vocabulary panoptic segmentation.
Tine Šefic (UL MF; mentor: Prof. Dr. Aleš Fidler) – for research on the effect of microgravity on the feasibility and accuracy of dental procedures.

Sincere congratulations to all award and commendation recipients, as well as their mentors, for their outstanding scientific achievements!

Photo credits: Daniel Novakovič, STA