On Friday, 16 January, and Saturday, 17 January 2026, the first Festival of Slovenian Universities, UNI-SI, took place at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, featuring all eight Slovenian universities that are members of the Rectors’ Conference of the Republic of Slovenia.

Around 10,000 visitors attended the event, fully representing the target audience—namely, secondary school students interested in university studies and those who support them in their decision-making.

Students toured the exhibition areas of all eight universities and learned about more than 400 programmes available to them. To make navigation easier, the offer was organised into seven fields—an innovation and unique concept of the event—which is also available for review on the festival’s website. UNI-SI is more than just a fair, as through year-round communication it provides unified support via its channels, from choosing a study programme to enrolment (both nationally and internationally).

The collaborative concept of all universities also enabled a unified presentation of all three student housing offices (Maribor, Ljubljana, Koper), as placement in subsidised accommodation is managed at the national level throughout the entire process—up to the actual accommodation, which follows dormitory regulations. The offices also presented these procedures during the accompanying festival programme, where other somewhat more formal but essential procedures, such as application and enrolment, were also presented. In addition, workshops and lectures were held to promote better academic and extracurricular life.

The festival formally began on Friday with the morning ceremonial programme. This year’s festival was held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Nataša Pirc Musar, who took a walk around the venue and visited the presentations.

The President was welcomed by the hosts, the Rector of the University of Primorska, Prof Klavdija Kutnar, PhD (Chair of the Rectors’ Conference of the Republic of Slovenia until December 2025, during the coordination of the festival preparations), and the Rector of the University of Maribor, Prof Zdravko Kačič, PhD (Chair of the Rectors’ Conference of the Republic of Slovenia from January 2026). The event was also attended by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Igor Papič, PhD, as the responsible ministry supported the festival. Support was also provided by the Ministry of Education, which serves as a bridge to the secondary school population.

More at  https://www.um.si/objava/uspesno-zakljucen-prvi-festival-slovenskih-uni…