Comenius University News

Conspiracy theories are like folk tales, says expert

How does a social anthropologist approach the study of conspiracy theories? Is the approach different than that of, say, political scientists? There are quite a number of shared interests. We all begin with some form of concern about the impact of conspiracy theories in the public space. But then we take different paths. Ethnologists are more interested in looking at the narrative forms of conspiracy theories. They try to understand conspiracy theories as the kind of narrative that is quite common among people, that tells stories about the world and gives them meaning. In...

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES ITS 105TH ANNIVERSARY. IT OPENS AN EXHIBITION OF MEDALS AND LAUNCHES THE CU ALUMNI CLUB

The exhibition and the accompanying book titled Medals of Comenius University Bratislava 1924 – 2024 were conceived by a team from the CU Archive. The authors intend to present the history of the medals, explain their significance, and introduce the artists who created them. "I am pleased that we commemorate the anniversary of the university with medals - awards given to institutions and personalities who jointly wrote our history" said Marek Števček, CU's rector. The exhibition strives to raise awareness of how the medals are created and what they mean - from...

THINGS YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT GRADUATION CEREMONIES

The first graduation ceremony at the Faculty of Medicine took place on 28 February, 1920.
The first male student to graduate was MUDr. Pavol Halaša, the first female student to graduate from Comenius University, was MUDr. Vlasta Mária Bardovská, in January 1921.
The Masters of Ceremonies (bedels) at Comenius University did not receive their robes and insignia to be used for ceremonial occasions until 1923 to 1924.
During the first graduation ceremonies, children were not allowed in the CU Auditorium in order to not...

Scientist of the Year Igor Farkaš: A neural network recognizes a face or an object, but it may not understand them

How do you respond to becoming the Personality of International Cooperation? Even though the prize was awarded to me as an individual, it was made possible by the contribution of several people who have been working with me. I received the award for developing international cooperation with partners in the field of artificial neural networks. I am very grateful to my colleagues from the U.S., the UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Austria. I would also like to point attention to the international master's study programme in cognitive science, of which I am the...

CU IMPROVES ITS POSITION IN THE QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Imperial College London, University of Oxford and Harvard University are the best-ranked universities worldwide. Five universities from Slovakia were ranked in addition to CU. Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice maintained its 851st-900th position from last year. The Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, the Technical University in Košice, the University of Žilina in Žilina and the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra were all ranked in the 1001st-1200th place band. The QS WUR ranking evaluates universities

Comenius University received accreditation according to new standards

The decision marks the culmination of a process which took several years and to which all parts and facilities of the University contributed. The agency assessed the documents submitted by CU, and an expert working group visited its faculties and facilities. The agency then developed an evaluation report, in which it evaluated compliance with the standards and formulated recommendations for further improvement. When adopting the decision, the executive board of the agency studied the provided documents and considered CU’s response to the evaluation report. The final step in the process was...

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY HONOURED ORGANISERS OF STARMUS FESTIVAL

Astrophysicist Garik Israelian and musician Brian May, known from the band Queen, who also holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics, were personally present to accept the Gold Medal of Comenius University from its Rector for their outstanding lifelong contribution to the promotion and popularisation of science, and for supporting universities as Comenius University through the STARMUS Festival. The third Gold Medal of Comenius University was presented to the representatives of ESET for their support of excellent research, and the popularisation of science and culture in Slovakia. ESET brought the...

CU BEGINS RENOVATING THE SECOND BLOCK OF THE ĽUDOVÍT ŠTÚR DORM

The largest Slovak university dorm complex in Mlynská dolina was built between 1969 and 1977 and has been serving students for about 50 years. Some of its buildings no longer meet current demands and expectations. The present management of the university planned to begin the renovations of the Ľudovít Štúr Dorm as soon as it took office in 2019. However, these plans were disrupted by insufficient design documentation, the pandemic, and the energy crisis. In the past, universities in Bratislava were not eligible for European funding and the dorms accumulated an enormous investment...

Starmus festival also at Comenius University

The focus of the seventh annual edition of STARMUS is the Earth. "For the first time, STARMUS brings focus to our planet and we want to make the general public more responsive than ever before to the important issues of our time, affecting our planet," said astrophysicist Garik Israelian, co-founder of the STARMUS festival, during a press conference in Bratislava. The seventh year of the STARMUS festival will open with a concert by the world-famous musician Jean-Michel Jarré entitled Bridge to the Future, and performed on the bank of the river Danube, under the...

Nanoparticles: Hope for the agriculture of the future

How can you describe a nanoparticle? A nanoparticle can only be seen under an electron microscope, nanoparticles measure from 1 to 100 nanometres. For comparison, the diameter of a hair is 40 to 100 micrometres and 1 micrometre is 1000 nanometres. So the diameter of a hair is equivalent to between 40,000 and 100,000 nanoparticles. What is it like to work with something that small in the lab? How do you research them? We work with very large numbers and observe them as white or coloured powder, which is actually just a big bunch of nanoparticles. When we...