Dr. Uroš Seljak Awards for 2025 Announced

Ljubljana, September 24, 2025 – In collaboration with the University of Ljubljana (UL), we have presented the Dr. Uroš Seljak Awards and Commendations for the fourth consecutive year. These recognitions honor the best scientific publications by undergraduate and master’s students in Slovenia.

The award’s purpose remains unchanged: to encourage students’ scientific publications and their early engagement in research work. Professor Dr. Uroš Seljak, ASEF mentor, a professor in the Physics Department at the University of California, UC Berkeley, and an UL alumnus, established the fund after he received the prestigious Gruber Foundation Prize from Yale University in 2021 for his pivotal contribution to research in cosmology. With a portion of his prize – $150,000 USD – he established a charitable endowment. Through this fund, the Dr. Uroš Seljak Award of $10,000 USD annually supports the best scientific publications by Slovenian students, regardless of the higher education institution they attend. By doing so, Dr. Seljak not only promotes the exceptional achievements of young researchers but also strengthens the bond between the Slovenian scientific diaspora and the domestic research environment.

An Incentive to Combat the Denial of Science

Dr. Uroš Seljak attended the ceremony in person and used his address to express concern about the current social climate and the challenges facing science.

Various forces and pressures have contributed to the fact that science is not valued among people and is often literally denied. We must fight against these trends, and I hope that this award will be a symbolic attempt to resist these trends and an attempt to state that scientific methods, thinking for oneself, and the use of scientific methods are the only way for things to move forward and for development to occur.

The Rector of the University of Ljubljana, Prof. Dr. Gregor Majdič, encouraged the award recipients to continue their research for the benefit of humankind.

The torchbearers of the knowledge society are young people; those who understand problems, know how to create new knowledge, and know how to use it for the benefit of humanity.

Dr. Rok Sekirnik, Director of the American-Slovenian Educational Foundation (ASEF), also addressed the attendees, emphasizing the awards’ role in connecting Slovenian science with the international community.

Since its inception over eleven years ago, ASEF’s goal has remained the same; to foster young Slovenian talent and enable them to build a bridge between the Slovenian and international academic spheres. I am extremely happy and proud that, with this award, we encourage students from Slovenian universities to engage in science early in their careers and participate in research in their fields even during their undergraduate studies.

Exceptional Quality of Submissions and the 2025 Recipients

The expert commission for the Dr. Uroš Seljak Award, chaired by Prof. Dr. Simon Horvat (Biotechnical Faculty, UL), received 12 submissions this year, including eight from female candidates. This demonstrates the continued growth and exceptional quality of young scientific talent in Slovenia.

In addition to Prof. Dr. Horvat and Dr. Seljak, the commission members are: Dr. Klementina Fon Tacer (Texas Tech University), Dr. Veronika Fikfak (University College London), Dr. Andrej Košmrlj (Princeton University), Dr. Marta Verginella (Faculty of Arts, UL), and Dr. Maruša Bradač (Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, UL).

The recipients of the Dr. Uroš Seljak Award this year are:

• Jovana Videnović (UL Faculty of Computer and Information Science) for the publication Vizualno sledenje objektom s SAM2 na podlagi pomnilnika z upoštevanjem distraktorjev (A Distractor-Aware Memory for Visual Object Tracking with SAM2).
• Martin Justin (UL Faculty of Arts and UM Faculty of Arts) for the publication Več upanja za spravljivost (More Hope for Conciliationism).

Commendations were also awarded to:

• Tina Šaula (UL Biotechnical Faculty) for the publication Izboljšanje hranilne vrednosti mlevskih frakcij grahove moke s fermentacijo (Enrichment of the nutritional value of pea flour milling fractions through fermentation).
• Vita Movrin (Jožef Stefan Institute, IJS) for the publication Začetek zapiranja epitelijske rane kot posledica aktivne nestabilnosti v aktomiozinskem obroču (Initiation of epithelial wound closure by an active instability at the purse string).
• Vladimir Smrkolj and Aljoša Škorjanc (UL Faculty of Medicine) for the publication GOReverseLookup: Orodje za obratno analizo Genske Ontologije (GOReverseLookup: A Gene Ontology Reverse Lookup Tool).

The Dr. Uroš Seljak Awards are a significant testament to the scientific excellence of Slovenian students and the strong support we provide in partnership with the University of Ljubljana.

More about the award recipients can be found here.

Photo credit: Boštjan Podlogar/STA