ADVENTURE IN THINKING

Comenius University Bratislava
IN NUMBERS

GRAPHSPICTURES

2021/2022

CONTENTS

Management andOrganization
4

Beginnings, the Present
and Future Direction
8

Performancein Rankings
14

Education

Scienceand Research
22International
Relations27

Infrastructure

Human
Resources
38

15

Comenius University andSocial Responsibility
30

36

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

5MANAGEMENTAND ORGANIZATIONThe University Management
Prof. JUDr. Marek Števček, PhD.

Assoc. Prof. JUDr. Jana Duračinská, PhD.

Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Michal Greguš, PhD.

RNDr. Zuzana Kovačičová, PhD.

Prof. RNDr. Jozef Masarik, DrSc.

Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Radomír Masaryk, PhD.

Prof. MUDr. Viera Štvrtinová, PhD.

Assoc. Prof. Mgr. Jozef Tancer, PhD.

Ing. Ingrid Kútna Želonková, PhD.

RectorVice-Rector for EducationVice-Rector for Quality Assurance

Vice-Rector for Property Management
and Investments

Vice-Rector for Science,
Doctoral Studies and Projects

Vice-Rector for International Relations

Vice-Rector for Information Technologies

Vice-Rector for External Relations

BursarMANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

7MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
Faculties
THE NAMES AND ABBREVIATIONS OF COMENIUS UNIVERSITY’S FACULTIESCU Comenius University in Bratislava — FMED Faculty of Medicine — FLAW Faculty of Law — FARS Faculty of Arts — FNS Faculty of Natural Sciences
FEDU Faculty of Education — FPHARM Faculty of Pharmacy — FSPORT Faculty of Physical Education and Sport — JFMED Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin
FMPH Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics — FRCTH Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology of Cyril and Methodius — FELTH Evangelical Lutheran
Theological Faculty — FM Faculty of Management — FSES Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences

Prof. JUDr. Marek Števček, PhD.
Rector of Comenius University

Assoc. Prof. JUDr. Eduard
Burda, PhD.

Prof. PharmDr. Ján Klimas,
PhD., MPH

Number of students

1 058

Number of students

1 166

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

91

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

26

Number of study
programmes

19

Number of study
programmes

34

Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy

Prof. Mgr. Marián Vanderka, PhD.
Dean of the Faculty of Physical
Education and Sport

Number of students

22 890

Number of students

3 573

Number of students

1 961

Number of students

1 363

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

2 994

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

1 055

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS640

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

145

Number of study
programmes

156

Number of study
programmes

969

Prof. MUDr. Juraj Šteňo, DrSc.
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine

Number of study
programmes

84Prof. MUDr. Andrea Čalkovská, DrSc.
Dean of the Jessenius Facultyof Medicine in Martin

Number of study
programmes

78Prof. RNDr. Daniel Ševčovič, DrSc.
Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics,
Physics and Informatics

Number of students

2 513

Number of students

2 257

Number of students

126

Number of students

57

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS95

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS171

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

5INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

8

Number of study
programmes

82

Number of study
programmes

132

Number of study
programmes

3

Number of study
programmes

12Prof. RNDr. Peter Fedor, PhD.

Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences

ThDr. Ing. Vladimír Thurzo, PhD.
(to 28 February 2022)

Assoc. Prof. Ph.Dr. Ing. Jozef
Jančovič, PhD.

Dean of the Faculty of Law

Mgr. Milan Jurík, PhD.

Dean of the Evangelical Lutheran
Theological Faculty(from 1 March 2022)
Dean of the Faculty of Roman-Catholic
Theology of Cyril and Methodius

Prof. Mgr. Marián Zouhar, PhD.
Dean of the Faculty of Arts

Number of students

2 956

Number of students

2 362

Number of students

2 456

Number of students

1 042

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS223

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS56

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

357

INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

122

Number of study
programmes

184

Number of study
programmes

128

Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Edita
Partová, CSc.

Dean of the Faculty of Education

Prof. RNDr. Michal Greguš, PhD.
Dean of the Faculty of Management

Number of study
programmes

33

Assoc. Prof. PhDr. JUDr. Lucia
Mokrá, PhD.
Dean of the Faculty of Social andEconomic Sciences

Number of study
programmes

24

BEGINNINGS, THE PRESENT AND FUTURE DIRECTION

BEGINNINGS, THE PRESENT AND FUTURE DIRECTION
Comenius University Bratislava was established on 27 June 1919. It was the first university in Slovakia to offer
higher education in the Slovak language. It has educated generations of politicians, notable figures of history,
scientists, teachers and other scholars who have achieved success in many areas and contributed to the progress
Slovakia. It grew into a modern European university capable of responding to current challenges while maintaining
its academic traditions.

FIVE NOTABLE HISTORICAL FIGURES
Kristian Hynek
He came up with the idea of establishing
Comenius University in Bratislava, was oneof its co-founders and then became its
first rector. On 31 July 1919, the Presidentof Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue
Masaryk, appointed him Professor of
pathology and internal diseases at the
Medical Faculty of Comenius University
in Bratislava. He was elected rector at
the first meeting of the professors of theFaculty of Medicine, which took place on
8 August 1919 and held the position in theacademic years 1919/1920 – 1920/1921
and in 1929/1930. In his research hefocused on issues related to haematology,
particularly coagulation and red blood cell
sedimentation.
Josef Vydra
Professor Josef Vydra designed the robesof academic dignitaries of Comenius
University, taking inspiration in those ofCharles University in Prague. In 1920,
Prof. Antonín Spilka proposed to approve
the production of the new robes. They
were first used at Comenius University
Bratislava on 5 December 1923 when Prof.
MUDr. Stanislav Kostlivý was sworn in tothe office of the university’s rector. The
Slovak word for robe, talár, comes fromthe Latin talaris which means “reaching

to the ankles” and has come to denotethe flowing, ceremonial garments ofofficial, academic or church dignitaries.
Robes imparted gravity and showed thatthe wearer was of an elevated status,and gave the occasions during which
they were worn a ceremonial nature andimportance.
Grazioso Enea Lanfranconi
Born in Italy to a bourgeois family from
Varese, he completed his studies at the
Polytechnic University in Milan. In 1867
his parents moved to Bratislava (thencalled Pressburg), where he settled
permanently. One of his interests was theregulation of the flow of the Danube andhe was a proponent of interconnecting
the Danube with the Rhine, Oder and theElbe. He published several theoretical
papers to support his theories. The
Faculty of Physical Education and Sportwas built on a part of the vast park thatused to surround the villa of Grazioso
Enea Lanfranconi, which stood in today’s
Botanical Garden of Comenius University.
The name of the Lafranconi dormitory
comes from a corrupted version of thename of this Italian engineer and inventor.
Eugen Suchoň
The fanfare which accompanies theentrance of the academic procession
into the Auditorium during graduation
ceremonies was first played when JUDr.
Edvard Beneš received his honorary
doctorate. The date was 21 April 1937.
Composer Eugen Suchoň created themusic for this occasion to honour
president Beneš and then donated therights to Comenius University on 8 May
1937. At its meeting on 17 March 1938,
the Academic Senate declared thecomposition the Academic Fanfare of
Comenius University.
Juraj Hronec, Jozef Kaucký and Dionýz
Ilkovič
The teaching of mathematics and physics
at Comenius University started in 1940,
at the Faculty of Natural Sciences. The
first professors in mathematics were fulltime Professors of the Slovak Technical
University in Bratislava Juraj Hronec andJozef Kaucký, and in physics, ProfessorDionýz Ilkovič. In the mid-1970s, the ideaof establishing a faculty dedicated tomathematics and physics began to gain
traction. The campus in Mlynská dolina
was deemed ideal for the new project. The
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics ofComenius University was established on 1
September 1980 by splitting off from theFaculty of Natural Sciences.

First Rector of CU, Kristián Hynek,source: Comenius University Bratislava

Designs of the first robes by Josef Vydra,
source: Comenius University Bratislava

Lanfranconi’s Villa which stood in today’s
Botanical Garden of CU,
source: Comenius University Bratislava

Edvard Beneš is awarded his honorary doctorate,
source: CU Archive, photo collection

9

BEGINNINGS, THE PRESENT AND FUTURE DIRECTION

11

THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2021/2022
In the past academic year we had more experience with the
COVID-19 disease and could therefore offer in-person classes
while complying with the relevant regulations. During the wintersemester, faculties taught both online and on-site. Some seminars
were held on-site and some were offered online, depending on
capacity. We were able to maintain the dormitories operational
throughout the academic year, adopting measures dependingon the pandemic situation. In the summer semester, we mostly
switched to in-person teaching.

Comenius University continued to protest
the amendment of the Higher Education Act.

Information center becomes the first point of contact
those interested in studying at CU.

Marek Števček and Daniel Olejár went head-to-headin the election of the next rector-candidate.

The war in Ukraine affected our students and staff.

The university continued to protest against the amendment to theHigher Education Act. It rejected some of the ideas put forward
by the ministry of education because of their conflict with theprinciples of academic self-governance. On 16 November 2021,
Comenius University, the Slovak University of Technology, theSlovak Council of Higher Education Institutions and the Student
Council for Higher Education jointly organised the “Responsible
Protest for Free Universities”, attracting thousands of participants.
Several authorities and organisations joined the action ofuniversities. The economic situation of universities became
worse after the state reduced its subsidies to them, their revenues
dropped due to the pandemic and energy prices rose sharply. The
government approved the amended proposal act in March 2022.
At the beginning of 2022, CU adopted its Gender Equality Plan. Its
goal is to fight against gender discrimination. The plan introduceschanges that will lead to the creation of an open, supportive andnon-discriminatory environment for all employees and students ofComenius University and its parts.
Our students and employees were also affected by the war in
Ukraine. The university rejected the aggression and extended ahelping hand to students from Ukraine, and others who felt the
impact of the crisis. The affected students were eligible for awaiver of accommodation fees at the University’s dormitories aswell as extraordinary scholarships, and accommodation capacity
was freed up for their family members. The University alsooffered support in the form of food, assistance in administrative
procedures, collections of material help and various other voluntary
activities.
Spring, however, was the harbinger of good news. On 19 April theuniversity re-opened the legendary and most ancient university clubin Slovakia, UniK, at the Mlyny Campus. The club had undergone a
total renovation. The Information Center at Štúrova 9, near the mainbuilding of Comenius University, is another newly opened facility.
However, the controversial amendment to the Higher Education Act
complicated the election of the rector-candidate. While waiting forthe final wording of the law to be approved, the Academic Senate of
CU decided to set the date of the election to 18 May.
In the election, the incumbent rector, Marek Števček, managed todefend his post.

12

BEGINNINGS, THE PRESENT AND FUTURE DIRECTION

ZAČIATKY, SÚČASNOSŤ A SMEROVANIE

13

FUTURE DIRECTION
In its hundred years of existence, Comenius University has established itself as the most prominent and largest
university in Slovakia. It entered its second century with a clear goal - to maintain its good reputation, continue toenhance its prestige in Europe and worldwide, and to continue improving the quality of education and scientificactivities. The strategy of development of Comenius University reflects the changes happening to universities andsocieties in Slovakia and around the world. The goal is to reinforce its position of the most important domestic
university and science centre in Slovakia and to become a sought-after partner in the international area of
education and research. Comenius University wants its voice to play an important role in the country’s growth.
Consequently, its long-term development is based on the following ten goals.
1.

Comenius University is a prestigious university
The university provides quality education and motivates its staff and students towards it. It offers a wide range of study programmes linked
to scientific activities and continuously innovates their content. It evaluates and improves the quality of tuition by means of internal andexternal quality assurance as well as student feedback.

2.

Comenius University is a student-oriented university
Students participate in the management of the university. The voice of students and alumni is a valuable input for development andmodernization. The university continuously improves the quality of accommodation and the extracurricular and sports activities available tostudents. It addresses their specific needs individually.

3.

Comenius University is a university of international impact
It forms and maintains partnerships with foreign universities, especially as a member of the ENLIGHT alliance. The university strives to be
an attractive teaching venue for foreign professors and wants to continue attracting international students. It also supports the mobility ofdomestic students and staff.

4.

Comenius University is a place of free and creative research
Its researchers prioritise original, rigorous, impactful and quality research. Researchers are free to choose research goals while observing
areas of priority. The university builds top research centres and protects the intellectual property of its staff.

5.

Comenius University is a place of excellence in science and research
It focuses on publishing in the most renowned magazines. It connects its research with top international teams and creates new teams. It
follows future trends in research and supports patenting and innovation.

6.

Comenius University is a coordinator of knowledge transfer into practice
In addition to higher education, it provides knowledge to the general public through events, media and publications. It coordinates activities
with other universities, employers, businesses and public institutions.

7.

Comenius University is a well-run university
Comenius University is governed autonomously through academic self-governance. Its bodies communicate with each other in order toadvance the institution. It works on improving its administration and makes it more electronic.

8.

Comenius University is a caring employer
It has a system of remuneration based on merit, is family-friendly and develops a university kindergarten project. The university supports
the career and skill growth of its employees. At the same time, it develops a university-wide identity.

9.

Comenius University is a responsible asset manager
It responsibly manages its premises and undertakes investment projects.

10. Comenius University is a space for social responsibility
It communicates key topics and opinion on societal and regional issues. It actively disseminates the results of the latest science. It provides
high-quality assistance to bodies of the state and other organizations.

PERFORMANCE IN RANKINGSPERFORMANCEIN RANKINGS
In the previous year, Comenius
University was included in all
significant international rankings.
Comenius University uses thistype of feedback to improve its
own activities.

ACADEMIC RANKING OF WORLD
UNIVERSITIES 2022 - The “Shanghai”
ranking
CU was placed 701st - 800th out of
more than 2,500 evaluated universities.
In the 2022 Global Ranking of Academic
Subjects CU was ranked 301st-400thin physics and 401st-500th in clinicalmedicine.
RUR – Round University Ranking
In the 2022 Round University Ranking
CU placed 426th out of 1,150 evaluateduniversities from 80 countries.
THE IMPACT RANKINGS
CU was ranked 601st-800th out of 1,406
universities from 106 countries in an
innovative university ranking projectof THE (Times Higher Education).

PLACEMENT OF COMENIUS UNIVERSITY AND THE TOTAL NUMBER
OF RANKED UNIVERSITIES IN THE RUR RANKING
1024
869

829

834

784

763

693

750

687

672

426

426

404

394
417

416

433
445

496

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

Number of ranked universities

2016

2015

CU

2014

500

2013

EDUCATION

14

EDUCATION

The ranking focuses on the social
responsibility of universities and reflects
their contribution to the 17 sustainable
development goals of the UN.

Comenius University Bratislava
is the oldest, largest and mostprominent university in Slovakia.
It bases its education on its
own research activity, having
the ambition to be a leading
centre of European learning anda university with an international
focus. It teaches its graduates todemonstrate the highest degreeof personal and professional
qualities as well as humanity andcaring. The goal of the university
is to enhance the scientific andcultural prospects of the society
and its economic prosperity. The
university also supported thecommunity aspect of student life
by distributing more than 25,000
euros to student associations.

THE WUR (TIMES HIGHER EDUCATIONWORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS)
CU is ranked in the 1001st-1200th
band out of more than 1,500 evaluateduniversities from 93 countries of theworld.
LEIDEN RANKING
CU was ranked 647th out of 1,225 world
universities in an overall assessment of
all subjects. When ranked by subject,
the University achieved the following
positions: Biomedical and medical
sciences - 547th place, Physical sciencesand engineering - 556th place, Earth andenvironmental sciences - 580th place,Social sciences and humanities - 801st
place, and Mathematics and computerscience - 931st place.
QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS
In the latest edition, the CU was ranked
651st-700th out of more than 1,400 of
the world’s best institutions from almost
100 countries. It improved its rating fromthe previous edition and became the best
rated Slovak university.
CWUR (CENTER FOR WORLD UNIVERSITYRANKINGS)
CU ranks 630th in the CWUR ranking,placing it among the top 3% schools in
the world. It is the highest-rated Slovak
university in this largest world ranking.
PERFORMANCE RANKING OF RESEARCHPAPERS FOR WORLD UNIVERSITIES (NTU
RANKINGS)
CU was ranked 701st-750th out of the
top 1,200 universities, from a wider list of
more than 4,000 ESI (Essential Science
Indicators) scientific institutions. In naturalsciences CU was ranked in the 451st500th place band and tied for 275th placein physics.

15

LONG-TERM TREND OF THE SHARE OF CU STUDENTS
Number of students at CU

Share of all students in Slovakia
18%

30 00028 00016%

26 00014%
24 00022 000

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

12%

16

EDUCATIONEDUCATION

In the 2021/2022 academic year, Comenius University offered a totalof 969 study programmes at the levels of Bachelor, Master, Doctor
and PhD, in which it was entitled to grant the corresponding academic
degrees. There were 34 new study programmes compared to theprevious year. Comenius University admitted 10,285 students ofwhom 7,430 were enrolled in the first year of study.
STUDENTS

THE TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS, INCLUDING FEMALE STUDENTS,
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND PHD STUDENTS AT THE FACULTIES OF
COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN 2021

NUMBER OF STUDENTS AT EACH FACULTYAS OF 31 OCTOBER 2021

FM
FELTH

In 2021, the university’s thirteen faculties provided tuition to a totalof 22,890 students at all study levels (Bachelor, Master, Doctor and
PhD). Despite the declining demographic trend, Comenius University
has maintained a high share of students in Slovakia. In 2021, almost
17% of all university students studied at Comenius University,
compared to 12% in 2008.

FRCTH
FMPH
JFMED
FSPORTFPHARM
FEDU
FNS
FARS
FLAW
FMED

0

500

1000

Bachelor’s

1500

2000

2500

3000

Master’s / Dr.

Faculty

Bachelor’s

Master’s / Dr.

FMED

0

3 194

FLAW

1 708

FARS

1 733

FNS

1 347

FEDU

3500

PhD

PhD

Total
379

3 573

713

92

2 513

992

231

2 956

553

357

2 257

1 527

785

50

2 362

FPHARM

14

983

61

1 058

FSPORT

818

321

27

1 166

JFMED

205

1 560

196

1 961

FMPH

843

323

197

1 363

FRCTH

0

113

13

126

FELTH

Total Numberof Students

FemaleStudents

International
Students

PhD
students

FMED

3 573

2 265

1 055

379

FARS

2 513

1 458

95

92

FEDU

2 956

2 172

223

231

FLAW

2 257

1 579

171

357

FM

2 362

2 171

56

50

FNS

1 058

852

91

61

JFMED

1 166

318

26

27

FMPH

1 961

1 313

640

196

FSPORT

1 363

538

145

197

FPHARM

126

1

5

13

Faculty

FSES

17

34

6

57

FM

1 436

819

201

2 456

FSES

718

258

66

1 042

Total

10 366

10 6481 876

22 890More than a fifth of allinternational university students
in Slovakia study at Comenius
University. The increased interestof international students instudying at the 1st and 3rd level ofstudy is especially encouraging.
The number of international
students who came from morethan 70 countries increased by
134 to a total of 2,994 students,
representing 13.1% of thetotal number of students at
the university. The majority ofinternational students study at thefaculties of medicine in Bratislava
and in Martin and at the Faculty ofManagement.

FSES

57

28

8

6

FRCTH

2 456

1 389

357

201

FELTH

1 042

722

122

66

TOTAL

22 89014 806

2 994

1 876

A significant scientific potential
lies in young researchers - PhD
students. Most of PhD students in
Slovakia, more than one quarter,
study at Comenius University.
There were 1,876 PhD students
studying at Comenius University in
2021, constituting 28.6% of all PhD
students in Slovakia.

17

18

EDUCATIONEDUCATIONSTUDENTS’ SUCCESS
Lifbee Academy – Medical technology
projects
Michal Paulovič is first-year studentof medical biology at the Faculty of
Natural Sciences and member of the
Comfy team which, on 11 February2022, won first place in the categoryof medical technology projects at the
Lifbee Academy. The winning project
was a respirator design that is 100%
biodegradable. It is made of biopolymers,
can be worn a long time, and is suitablefor use in professional settings.
Research Challenge 2022
On 16 February 2022, the third edition of
the CFA Research Challenge took place.
In the first round, the teams wrote a reportanalysing Asseco, including its financials,
valuation, risks and an investment
recommendation. In the second roundthey presented the results and defended

their analysis in English before a jury
composed of experts from the financial
sector. The university was represented
by these students from the Faculty ofArts: Jakub Čižnár, Vivien Klučka, Lenka
Košútová, Adriana Leginusová and Peter
Ondrušek. The team did very well in thecompetition and won first place with ease.
Student personality of Slovakia
On 8 April 2022, the laureates of the 17th
annual edition of the Student Personalityof Slovakia competition received theirawards at the Pálffy Palace. The eventis organized under the auspices of the
President of the Slovak Republic ZuzanaČaputová and under the professional
guarantee of the Slovak Rectors’
Conference and the Slovak Academyof Sciences. This year, a jury of experts
chose the most successful students andyoung researchers from 102 nominationsin 13 categories. Michaela Matušková
from the Faculty of Pharmacy became
the student personality of Slovakia forthe academic year 2021/2022 in the“Pharmacy” category. Samuel Baláž fromthe Faculty of Physical Education andSport became the best student in the“Sports” category.

The winning projectof a bio-degradable respirator.

19

A respirator for athletes won
the Youth Embassy.

Youth Embassy
On 17 June 2022, the 12th annual editionof the Youth Embassy project took placein Bratislava. The competition was open
to secondary school and university
students who presented and implemented
their projects. University students were
expected to tackle the topic of “Improving
the economic situation in the economy
and healthcare with emphasis on tourism
in Slovakia”. Dominik Kadlubiak from theMedical Faculty won first place and waspresented the Palm-tree award. His project
was named “Diseases of civilization andreduced performance of active people
due to polluted air”. It presented a special
respirator designed for athletes who train
in cities. The respirator captures harmful
particles in the air.

ACADEMIC MOBILITY OF STUDENTS IN 2021
In the context of multilateral international relations, Comenius University has been participating in Central European programmes, such as
CEEPUS and Aktion Österreich - Slowakei, as well as in European Union programmes. The dominant form of cooperation in quantitative terms isthe European Erasmus+ programme.
150
Sent students

Hosted students

100

50

The winner of the “Pharmacy” category, Michaela Matušková, and Samuel Baláž, the winner of the“Sports” category, in the Student Personality of Slovakia awards.

D

FME

W
FLA

S
FAR

FNS

U

FED

FPH

ARM

ORT

FSP

ED

JFM

H

FMP

TH
FRC

H
FELT

FM

S

FSE

20

EDUCATIONEDUCATIONCOMENIUS UNIVERSITY’S SHAREOF THE TOTAL NUMBER OFSTUDENTS IN SLOVAKIA

CU’S SHARE OF THE TOTALNUMBER OF PHD STUDENTS INSLOVAKIA

16,8 %

28,9 %(22 890)

GRADUATESThe number of university graduates at all levelsof study from Comenius University faculties
in the 2020/2021 academic year was 5,399.
The academic title of Doctor of Medicine wasawarded to 627 graduates, 2,216 students
graduated with a Master’s degree, 2,253
students graduated with a Bachelor’s degree
and the academic title of Philosophiae doctor
was awarded to 303 graduates.
Lifelong learning
The Centre for Continuing Education at
Comenius University provides non-university
education to various public groups. It provides
language training to international students,
preparing them for tuition conducted in Slovak;
it also provides career and language education,
as well as educational programmes for seniors
and expatriate Slovaks. The programme
portfolio responds to the current needs ofthe public, as well as the needs of the labour
market. In 2021, Slovak language courses andspecialised subjects taught in Slovak wereattended by 295 students from 48 countries.

(2 994)UK

100 %(6 482)

SUMMER SCHOOLS

21,4 %(1 876)

UK
100 %(136 646)

CU’S SHARE OF THE TOTALNUMBER OF INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS IN SLOVAKIA

UK

100 %
(14 006)

Due to the renovation of its usual venue, theArena Theatre, this year’s 20th anniversaryof the Children’s Comenius University washeld at the Radošinské naivné divadlo
theatre. In the summer, during July andAugust, children could attend lectures ofresearchers from Comenius University andthe Slovak Academy of Sciences. They could
also participate in a number of workshops,
excursions, trips, or visits to cultural
events. After attending at least six lectures,
participants would receive a diploma at thegraduation ceremony which took place inCU’s Auditorium.
The Centre for Continuing Education of
Comenius University organised the 32nd
edition of the Summer University of Slovak
Language and Culture for expatriate Slovaks.
It took place online, between 11 and 22

July 2022. This year’s motto was inspiredby Ľudovít Štúr: “He who lives through themind, has the whole world living within him
and he lives in the whole world”. The goal of
the summer university is to start learning or
improve communication and language skills
in Slovak and to get acquainted with thediversity of Slovakia’s culture.
The Faculty of Management organised
a summer school in 2022 entitled Game
theory as a marketing tool. Participants
who completed the course obtained
comprehensive knowledge of various areasof game theory and their application tomarketing. The summer school was held
between 27 July and 5 August 2022, andparticipating students could obtain threecredits. The program was shared with other
Erasmus+ universities. The course was freeof charge and attracted twenty participants.

21

Those enrolled in the Studia Academica
Slovaca Summer School of Slovak language
and culture which took place this year could
choose to study online or on-site. The online
course was held from 1 to 13 August 2022,
and the in-person format started one day
earlier. The oldest summer university wasorganized by the Faculty of Arts for the 58th
time. It included various language seminars,
conversations and lectures.
Between 1 and 4 August the Bratislava
Summer University for Seniors took place
for the 12th time. Lectures were held in theHall of Mirrors of the Primate’s Palace inBratislava. Registered participants could
attend lectures on internet safety or on
public spaces in Bratislava - Brownfields.
Oľga Belešová moderated the discussion on
self-realization and volunteering of seniors,
and another lecture was dedicated to J. K.
Mertz, a guitar virtuoso and composer.

Workshop for studentsof Children’s Comenius University.
Photo: Peter Chvostek
THE NUMBER OF UNIQUE STUDYPROGRAMMES (ACCREDITED
AND ACTIVE) AT COMENIUS
UNIVERSITY IN SLOVAKIA
According to the individuallevel of study
Bachelors

191

Masters

157

Doctor

250

Joint Bachelors
and Masters programmes
Professional degrees
Total

7
6
611

SCIENCE AND RESEARCHNUMBER OF SRDA
PROJECTSSCIENCE AND
RESEARCH

Faculty

Comenius University is oneof Slovakia’s most prominent
research institutions in terms ofthe number of its researchers, its
ability to obtain research grants,
and the results achieved.

PROJECTS AND GRANTS
Comenius University received a totalof €11.84 million in state subsidies for
its projects in 2021. Most of the funds
came from the Slovak Research andDevelopment Agency (SRDA) which
provided a total of €6.7 million for 261
research and applied projects undertaken
at Comenius University’s thirteen faculties
and selected parts in 2021. Compared tolast year, this is an increase in the numberof projects, but a reduction of the total
amount of grants.
Most research projects at Comenius
University were supported by the Scientific
Grant Agency (VEGA) of the Ministry of
Education, Youth and Sport of the Slovak
Republic and the Slovak Academy of
Sciences, which provided funding for 353
research projects at Comenius University
in 2021. The figures for 2021 show that
there was both an increase in the volumeof grants received and a higher number of
supported projects.

Number

FNS

79

FMED

43

FMPH

33

FARS

27

JFMED

17

FPHARM

11

FLAW

15

FSES

12

Science Park

10

FM

5

FEDU

4

FSPORT

3

FELTH

1

FRCTH

1

Total

261

Tau Herculids meteor shower,
Source: Róbert Barsa-Mt Graham Observatory

THE NUMBER AND SIZE OF SRDA GRANTS FROM 2012 TO 2021 (IN THOUSANDS OF EUROS)
2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

106

135

123

161

176

213

231

244

244

261

Current Expenses

3 109

3 849

4 095

4 107

4 945

6 138

6 314

7 012

6 834

6 661

Capital Expenses

70

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

549

30

3 179

3 849

4 095

4 107

4 945

6 138

6 314

7 012

7 383

6 691

NumberTotal

THE NUMBER AND SIZE OF VEGA GRANTS FROM 2012 TO 2021 (IN THOUSANDS OF EUROS)
2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

295

371

357

329

340

349

343

344

325

353

Current Expenses

1 765

2 031

2 289

2 302

2 342

2 683

2 768

3 092

3 371

3 532

Capital Expenses

422

229

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2 187

2 260

2 289

2 302

2 342

2 683

2 768

3 092

3 371

3 532

Number

Total

23

24

SCIENCE AND RESEARCHSCIENCE AND RESEARCH

The creative activity of young researchers,
teachers and internal PhD candidates
under 30 is also supported throughComenius University’s own grant scheme,
CU Grants. In 2021, Comenius University
provided grants worth € 228,510 to 235
projects.

HABILITATIONS AND INAUGURATIONSIn 2021 seventy-four lecturers became
Associate Professors at Comenius
University. The Scientific Board discussed
twenty-six and approved twenty-fivenominations submitted by the scientificboards of faculties for awarding the title ofProfessor. In addition to the appointmentof Professors, the Scientific Board also
approved three nominations of CU’s
faculties for the degree of “Doctor of
Science” and one nomination for awarding
the degree of Guest Professor.
TOP-CLASS RESEARCH

A new project in 2021 involves the hostingof thirteen postdoctoral fellows fromworld universities, whose work will befinanced by CU for a year. The stays canbe prolonged. Successful candidates
include young researchers under 35
from Belgium, Iran, France, India, Poland,
Tunisia, the Czech Republic, but also from
Slovakia.

The highest concentration of top researchteams in Slovakia - 26 out of 54 - canbe found at Comenius University. The
important thing for students to know
is that the research teams working at
Comenius University, who are excellent in
an international context, also teach here.

Comenius University has other scientificestablishments which help generate top
quality research and provide a connection
to practical applications, such as the
Science Park, BioMed in Martin and
the Centre for Nuclear and Accelerator
Technologies (CENTA).

SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND RESULTSTECHNOLOGY
Scientists have observed an exceptional
meteor shower
An international team of scientists, one ofwhom was Juraj Tóth from the Faculty ofMathematics, Physics and Informatics of
the UK, observed the Tau Herculids meteor
shower originating from a comet thatdisintegrated 27 years ago. Observations
were made from ground stations equippedwith the mobile all-sky system, AMOS,
including spectral cameras, and also froman aircraft that flew over the location.
Data analysis will provide insight into thecomposition and dynamic processes of
meteors.

For many years, professor
Roman Pašteka has been
researching methods ofdetecting subsurface cavities.

PUBLICATION ACTIVITY AT COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN 2021
AAA,
AAB,
ABA,
ABB

ACA, ACB,
BAA, BAB,
BCB, BCI,
EAI, CAA,
CAB, EAJ

FAI

ADC,
BDC

ADD,
BDD

CDC,
CDD

ADM,
ADN,
AEM,
AEN

FMED

8

25

11

221

10

0

FLAW

48

11

26

1

1

0

FARS

37

58

56

20

9

FNS

19

39

3

425

FEDU

19

46

23

1

FPHARM

0

9

1

FSPORT

3

4

4

JFMED

4

18

FMPH

6

FRCTH

3

Category/
Faculty

BDM,
BDN,
CBA,
CBB

Other

Total

220

3

1 311

1 809

19

0

773

879

0

77

2

1 055

1 314

25

0

156

1

839

1 507

1

0

16

0

450

556

74

1

0

23

0

210

318

25

1

0

27

0

135

199

7

145

5

0

117

6

534

836

17

12

280

5

0

42

0

376

738

4

2

1

0

0

2

0

76

88

FELTH

2

2

4

0

0

0

1

0

77

86

FM

12

12

7

39

1

0

29

0

385

485

FSES

8

9

3

21

4

0

32

0

94

171

Total

169

254

159

1253

63

0

761

12

6315

8 986

New measurement method allows us todiscover hidden chambers in pyramids
The search for hitherto undiscoveredburial chambers inside pyramids is
an attractive topic in the scientificcommunity. Slovak scientists led bygeophysicist Roman Pašteka from
Comenius University Bratislava have been

Dr. Jozef Andraško studies the gaps inlegislation on autonomous vehicles.

working on ways to detect subsurface
cavities for many years. The geophysicalmethods they developed are successfully
used in archaeology and in other fields.
Now, they tested state-of-the-art gravimetry
to detect hidden spaces. New computer
simulations show that with very precise
and repeated measurements and given an
estimated size of an unknown cavity, it can
now be detected from the surface of the
pyramid.
Autonomous vehicles are becoming areality, but the legislation is not keepingup
Cars equipped with technologies thatsteer, accelerate and brake instead of thedriver can now be encountered on publicroads but the legislation governing theiruse is still incomplete. Who will be held
responsible in the event of a fatal accident
if the car was driven by the system insteadof a human driver? Does the ‘driver’ of
an autonomous vehicle need to hold adriver’s license? How to regulate accessto the data generated by autonomousvehicles? Lawyers are studying the current
legislation from the point of view of25

administrative rules, criminal law, cybersecurity and personal data protection.
MEDICINE
Slovak emergency lung ventilator in
Kenya
The Q-vent mini respiratory support
device developed by Slovak scientists
is currently helping in Kenya. The device
arrived there as part of a humanitarian
mission supported by SlovakAid - Slovak
Agency for International Development
Cooperation. The Q-vent mini wasdeveloped at the beginning of theCoronavirus crisis in 2020 by the twin
brothers Daniel and Samuel Furka
from the Department of Physical andTheoretical Chemistry of the Faculty of
Natural Sciences, together with doctor
Patrik Palacka from the National Cancer
Institute. The device was entirely printed
on a 3D printer. The total cost was around€250 while a conventional ventilator costs
one hundred times more. The device
attracted interest from the U.S., the Czech
Republic, India, Brazil and Australia.

Q-vent mini respiratory support device,
source: www.tatrasky.com

26

VEDA A VÝSKUM

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

27

INTERNATIONALRELATIONS
We can trace the evolutionof the leopard gecko ancestor
back over 50 million years,
photo: Daniel Jablonski
ARCHEOLOGY AND ANIMALDISCOVERIESA researcher has uncovered the origin of
one of the world’s most popular lizards
The research, in which Daniel Jablonski
from the Faculty of Natural Sciences
participated, discovered the origin of
the leopard gecko, one of the mostpopular pet lizards in the world. The data
show that the evolution of the gecko
ancestor can be traced back 50 million
years when it split from other genera.
New data also reveal that there may be
more species than previously thought.
The three evolutionary lineages whichhave now been discovered to live in thearea between southern Afghanistan andnorthern India had not previously been
described by scientists. The area aroundthe Indus River and between the Hindu
Kush Mountains and the Himalayas inPakistan probably played a crucial rolein the evolution of these very popular pet
lizards.
Scientists discover a perfectly preserved
lizard from the Mesozoic
The body of the reptile, which lived on
Earth 110 million years ago, was preservedin tree resin, including its skin and scales.
The lizard, perfectly preserved in amberfrom Myanmar, was studied by AndrejČerňanský from the Faculty of Natural

A visualisation of Bratislava
covered by the Lake Pannon,
source: Michal Šujan

Sciences. The juvenile specimen consistsof a head and the anterior portion of thetrunk, including the pectoral girdle andforelimbs. The length of the skull is only
about one centimeter. The specimen has
a uniquely preserved, three-dimensionalskeleton. Unlike other specimens found in
Myanmar amber, this one has amazingly
intact skin. Even the remains of the eye
and eyelid are preserved. Surprisingly,
scientists found the trachea and partial
bronchi inside the specimen.
Ten million years ago, Mlynská dolina
was underwater
An international team of scientists, led byMichal Šujan from the Faculty of Natural
Sciences, discovered that in the Tertiary
Period, Mlynská dolina in Bratislava wascovered by a huge lake. It was inhabitedby bivalve molluscs, Ostracods and otheranimals typical for the brackish watersof sea coasts, with an inflow of fresh
water from streams. The inland sea which
the scientists named Lake Pannon had
brackish water similar to the present-day
Caspian Sea. It stretched from Vienna to
Belgrade and to Transylvania in Romania.
In places, it reached depths of one
kilometre. Lake Pannon was later filled by
sediments brought mostly by the Danube
and receded south towards Serbia, where
it finally disappeared 4 million years ago.

Comenius University maintains
both bilateral and multilateralinternational contacts. The
contacts lead to student andteacher exchanges. Erasmus+
activities are the predominant
form of cooperation.

ENLIGHTIn the academic year 2021/2022
Comenius University continued tocooperate with eight universities inthe ENLIGHT alliance. Even though
the cooperation was hampered by
the COVID-19 pandemic in the wintersemester, several events still took place.

Retinosaurus hkamtiensis before
it became trapped in resin.
Reconstruction by Stephanie
Abramowicz, copyright Peretti
Museum Foundation; Čerňanský etal., 2022 Scientific Reports

ENLIGHT Teaching and Learning
Conference
On 18 and 19 November 2021, theTeaching and Learning Conference washeld at Ghent University. Comenius
University was represented by a delegationof nine employees. During the conference,
Professor MUDr. Jana Plevková, PhD.,
from the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine
in Martin was nominated for the TeacherAward.
ENLIGHT SUSTAINABILITY ENGAGEMENT
On 3 December 2021, at the General
Meeting the nine Rectors of ENLIGHT
Alliance universities endorsed a joint
Sustainability Engagement. The key
goal of the engagement is to expand
sustainability education to all levels

Comenius University team at the annual meetingof ENLIGHT alliance in Galway.

of study and to all disciplines. They
also pledged to work together on theirstrategies to combat climate change.
ENLIGHT RISEThe Enlight RISE project is funded by theEuropean Horizon 2020 research program
and was launched in 2021/2022. This
project of the ENLIGHT alliance is aimed
at developing and implementing a unified
research and innovation practice at thenine partner universities of ENLIGHT.
ENLIGHT University Alliance Office
In January 2022, a new office was createdat the CU’s Rectorate for the ENLIGHT
alliance under the leadership of ViceRector for International Relations Jozef
Tancer. The office has four employees andits task is to coordinate the involvementof Comenius University in the activities of
the alliance.
Hybrid courses in Ghent and Göttingen
During the summer semester, several
hybrid courses took place under the
auspices of the alliance. Students would
attend the greater part of each course
online, but would then travel to the host

university for a week-long stay. One of thecourses was Climate Neutral City, during
which four students spent a week at the
University of Ghent in April. Comenius
University co-organized a course on
multilingualism, language rights andidentity. The in-person part was held
during a week in May at the University of
Göttingen.
ENLIGHT European Dialogue in Uppsala
Comenius University ENLIGHT staff andtheir external partners from ESET and themunicipality of Bratislava participated in
the ENLIGHT European Dialogue which
took part in May in Uppsala, Sweden. The
central topic was sustainable developmentof cities.
The ENLIGHT Alliance reached the midpoint of its first project period
In May, the leadership of the ENLIGHT
alliance met at the partner University of
the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, where
they discussed a new grant application
through which the alliance will request
extension of project support for anotherfour-year period (2023-2027).
Later, in June, project teams from all

28

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSINTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

nine universities, including rectors, board
members, heads of individual working
groups and project managers, met in
Galway, Ireland. They discussed theprogress report on how the alliance meetsits goals, which covers the first half ofthe project period and was submitted
to the European Commission. They also
discussed strategic areas for the second
half.
Regional Academy of Comenius University
Since 2022, the ENLIGHT alliance also
includes the Regional Academy ofComenius University which is a flexible
platform for professional dialogue between
the academic environment and the generalpublic. The Office of the Public Defender ofRights is a partner of Comenius University
in Regional Academy. In May, at the Facultyof Arts, the staff of Regional Academy
presented the results of their research into
violations of women’s rights in health careduring childbirth as part of the course on
gender studies.

VISITS TO COMENIUS UNIVERSITY
On 13 October 2021, Comenius University
was honoured to receive Kip S. Thorne,
laureate of the Nobel prize in Physics andan internationally recognized expert ingravitational physics and astrophysics.
At a ceremony in CU’s Auditorium theRector Marek Števček presented him
with the Grand Gold Medal of Comenius
University for his critical contribution to
the LIGO detector and the observationof gravitational waves. In his lecture,
the physicist spoke about his profoundrelationship with the curved universe: fromblack holes and wormholes to time traveland gravitational wave.
On 18 November 2021, investigative
journalist and three-time Pulitzer Prizewinner Matt Apuzzo gave a speech at
Comenius University. The U.S. journalist
spoke about the threats faced by the free

media. In his lecture entitled Through RealThreats to Real News, he explains why
it is risky for politicians to turn againstjournalists. Matt Apuzzo received theMemorial Medal of Comenius University.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
On 14 September 2022, the Faculty ofMathematics, Physics and Informatics,
in cooperation with the Slovak Society
for Cognitive Science, organized thethirtieth annual edition of the International
conference on artificial neural networks,
which is also an annual event of theEuropean Neural Network Society (ENNS).
This year’s round anniversary hosted morethan 300 participants from all over theworld.
On 11 November 2021, an international
scientific conference of the Slovak Society
for Catholic Theology took place at theFaculty of Roman Catholic Theology ofCyril and Methodius under the title Pax
opus iustitiae.

platform for exchanging the latest
knowledge in the field of community
psychology.

On 25 November 2021, Professor Kutsal
Yesilkagit from Leiden University in the
Netherlands, held an online lecture which
was part of the Cleveringa lecture cycle,
dealing with “Democratic backsliding andpublic administration: Politicians, civil
servants and the ascendance of populist
parties in government”.

The supranational round of the Student
Scientific Conference for pharmacy
students of universities from Slovakia
and the Czech Republic was held at the
Zentiva headquarters in Prague on 5
May 2022. At the conference, students
presented 21 scientific projects in four
sections. In the pharmaceutical chemistry
section, first place was awarded to theproject of Katarína Sujová, a student of
the Faculty of Pharmacy of Comenius
University.

The 8th annual edition of the conference
Community Psychology in Slovakia
was organized online on 29 and
30 November 2021 at FSES by theInstitute of Applied Psychology, with thesupport of the European Community
Psychology Association and The Society
for Community and Action Research:
Division 27 of the American Psychological
Association. The event represents a

On 12 May 2022, an international
conference of PhD researchers in philology
took place at the Faculty of Education
as a video conference in MS Teams.
The conference offered an opportunity
to PhD researchers working in various

29

fields of philology to present the resultsof their research in, among other areas,
the didactics of foreign languages andliteratures, including Slovak as a foreign
language.
On 12 May 2022, the Institute ofPhilological Studies of the Faculty of
Education hosted the 8th international
conference of PhD researchers, at which
22 PhD students of philology from four
Czech and four Slovak universities, as well
as from the Slovak Academy of Sciences,
presented their dissertations and partial
results of their research, grouped into four
sections.
On 28 June 2022, the Faculty of Natural
Sciences presented the project Researchof mobile zero waste technology forregeneration of used sorbents fromindustry.

ENLIGHT Green Mobility
In June, a meeting of nine “Green
Offices” took place at the University of
Bordeaux, aiming to improve European
cooperation and achieve climate-neutralityof mobility. At the meeting, proposals forconcrete commitments were adopted
by all members of the alliance. They
should lead to a reduction of the carbon
footprint produced by work trips andstudent mobility. Comenius University was
represented in the meeting by the ViceDean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences
Peter Hanajík.
ENLIGHT lecture: Equality and society
On 13 July 2022, the second ENLIGHT
lecture took place, focusing on equality
and society. One of the four speakers
was Kristína Rankovová (FSES) withher contribution titled: “Are all ‘global
citizens’ equal?: A critical analysis of the
discourse of education in the field of civic
involvement”. The ENLIGHT online lectures
were streamed live on YouTube and areaccessible to the general public.

Laureate of the Nobel
Prize in Physics Kip Thorneat Comenius University.

Matt Apuzzo,
three-time Pulitzer Prize winner,
lecturing at Comenius University

CU AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITYTEDxUniverzitaKomenského takes placeagain, under the subtitle ’Recovery’.

31

Presentation of the University at the 2022
Pohoda Festival.

COMENIUS
UNIVERSITY
AND SOCIALRESPONSIBILITYPROTEST AGAINST THE AMENDMENT OF
THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACTThe university continued to protest
against the amendment to the Higher
Education Act. It rejected some of theideas put forward by the ministry becauseof their contradiction with the principles
of academic self-governance. In October
2021, it voiced its disapproval with thetrend of public finances, particularly as
regards increasing prices of energy andfuel, the rate of inflation and the amountof public debt. The university expressedstrong concerns that the proposed radical
reduction of public funding would threaten
the functioning of higher education
institutions.
On 16 November, 2021, the 30th
anniversary of the student demonstrations
preceding the Velvet Revolution, Comenius
University cooperated with the Slovak
University of Technology, the Council ofHigher Education Institutions and theStudent Council for Higher Education
to hold a “Responsible protest for free
universities” which drew thousands
into the streets. Universities repeatedly

warned that there was a threat of politicalnominees gaining direct power overthem, which would also lead them to lose
control over their property, and pointed
out that the amendment solved few of
the actual problems of higher education.
Several authorities and organisations
subsequently expressed support for theuniversities’ concerns.
On 21 February 2022, by way of protest,
Comenius University suspended tuition
and granted the students a rector’sleave. During the protest, lectures anddiscussions on the topic of academic
freedom took place. On 22 March 2022, a
protest gathering of several universities
before the Slovak Parliament took place
and the Declaration of the Councilof Higher Education Institutions wasdelivered to the representatives of theparliament. Eventually, the amended law
was approved by the Slovak government
one day later. The university took noticeof this fact and concluded that although
the proposed amended law did containa number of compromises, it still failed
to address many of the problems that
universities have to face.

WAR IN UKRAINEOn 24 February 2022, the RussianFederation violated the sovereignty of
Ukraine. At that time, 454 Ukrainian
students were studying at Comenius
University, and 11 persons from Ukraine
were employed by the University. The
University immediately rejected theRussian aggression and reached out tostudents and staff from Ukraine, as well asothers who were affected by the crisis.
The University waived accommodation
fees at dormitories for students from
Ukraine, offered them a one-off stipendof 200 euros, and reserved capacity
for temporary accommodation of theirfamily members. Those accommodated
were provided meals and assistancein administrative matters relating to
documents, schools, kindergartens andemployment. Other forms of support,
including psychological, spiritual and legal
counselling and other volunteer activities
were also organized.
Students and employees became involved
and organized several collections ofComenius University also offered thepossibility of continuing study mobility toadditional Ukrainian citizens.

them. Specific measures are outlinedin the newly adopted Strategy of theManagement and Development of Human
Resources. The main goal is to keep
domestic talent at the University and to
attract international researchers. Next
year, CU aims to obtain the HR Excellencein Research Award from the European
Commission. This “quality label” will
be a confirmation that our university is
an attractive employer in the European
research area.

edition of Falling Walls Lab Slovakia
took place. It offers young innovators
the opportunity to present their new
research, ideas, projects and businessmodels. Matej Badin from the Faculty ofMathematics, Physics and Informatics
and SISSA Trieste, who presented
an innovative method of simulatingtransformations of solid materials underpressure was awarded first prize. The 2nd
place was awarded to Dr. Oliver Monfort
from the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

MANAGING PEOPLE

POPULARIZATION OF SCIENCE

In the 2021/2022 academic year,
Comenius University launched the
HRS4RUK project which aims to improvethe management of its human resources.
In 2021 the University signed theEuropean Charter of Researchers and theCode of Conduct for the Recruitment ofResearchers of the European Commission,
which define standard working conditionsof staff at research institutions. Through aquestionnaire and an analysis of existing
internal regulations, Comenius University
identified areas which employees perceive
as weaknesses, and will strive to improve

European Researchers’ Night
Experts from Comenius University
contributed to the programme of the 15thedition of the popular science festival. It
was held online, on 24 September 2021.
Visitors could join discussions taking
place in online studios with experts
from the Faculty of Natural Sciences,
the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics andInformatics, the Faculty of Medicine, andthe Faculty of Arts.

Science and Technology Week
As part of the Science and Technology
Week, the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine
in Martin offered various lectures forprimary and secondary school pupils,
teachers, and the general public. In one ofthem, participants could learn why we feel
well wherever we are, what can happen to
us high up in the mountains, or in space.

clothing, food and other necessities forrefugees. Students also helped with theaccommodation, interpreting and medical
treatment. Studia Academica Slovaca
and the Centre for Continuing Education
became involved, offering several Slovak
language courses and online Slovak andUkrainian language manuals.

Falling Walls Lab Slovakia
On 30 September 2021, the 4th annual

TEDxUniverzitaKomenského
The third year of the
TEDxUniverzitaKomenského event was
symbolically named Recovery. Life at theuniversity resumed after a pause causedby the pandemic. This year, the eventComenius University
Open Days

Gaudeamus fair in Brno.

High school students
experienced a day inthe life of a university
student.

Clinical Skills Event

Amosfest
was held on 28 April 2022 in UniK Mlyny,
the university club recently reopened
after renovation. The event attracted 100
participants who listened to 5 speakers
presenting ideas worth spreading. In
addition, after the online pandemic
revolution, TEDxLive introduced thepossibility of participating online.
Pohoda 2022
This year, the Pohoda music festival
took place between 7 and 9 July 2022.
Comenius University was represented
at the Pohoda festival through the
ECOmenius project, which organizes
and recruits volunteers who take care ofproper waste sorting. In this way, teamsof volunteers raise awareness about
recycling among visitors of the festival.
On Friday and Saturday, in our ‘discussion
tent’ we talked about social issues fromthe perspective of the university with ourcolleagues from the university and withguests from friendly institutions.
WORK WITH THE YOUTH
In the 2021/2022 academic year,

Comenius University spent a total of 41days (both online and on-site) at education
fairs, promoting itself to those interested
in university study. The total numberof visitors reached 72,444. Due to thepandemic, however, some fairs were only
held online or were cancelled.
Gaudeamus
Between 23 and 26 November 2021,
Comenius University was present at theGaudeamus fair in Brno, which attracted
22,565 visitors. Due to pandemic
measures in Slovakia, the fairs in
Bratislava and Nitra were changed to‘Gaudeamus lecture and presentation
days’ and lasted one day each. The fair in
Bratislava was held on 15 October 2021
and the one in Nitra on 4 November 2021.
Virtual Open Day
Comenius University also participatedin a virtual open day event for futureapplicants, which was organized by the
National Career Centre. The event took
place in five instalments, each time
focusing on a different topic. The CU
profile was visited the most during thefirst instalment of the event, on 13 and 14

October 2021. On the other dates, 24 to
25 November 2021; 15 and 16 December;
19 and 20 January 2022 and 23 and 24
February, the event generated on average
200 visits.
Studuj.to
The university participated in this online
fair which took place on 3 November
2021.
Comenius University Open Days
In 2021 Comenius University held its open
days event online for the second year ina row. On 3 November 2021 it presented
the possibilities of study at its twelve
faculties. The event was broadcast fromthe Auditorium on YouTube and Facebook.
Individual faculties were presented bytheir representatives and the potential
students could then ask questions via thesli.do platform. Each faculty also had avirtual room where students could talk to
and get information from study advisors
or students.
Open Days at Faculties
Some faculties organised their own open
days online. On 5 November 2021, theFaculty of Pharmacy had its open day in
an MS Teams virtual room where its vicedeans were available for questions. This
format was also repeated by FPHARM
on 10 February 2022 and by FSES on 23
February 2022. The Faculty of Physical
Education and Sport had its open day on
21 January 2022, one day before such
event at the Faculty of Arts. Open daysat the Evangelical Lutheran Theological
Faculty were available throughout themonth of February and those interested
could schedule interviews with its
representatives. In February, more OpenDays were held at the Jessenius Facultyof Medicine in Martin (4 February), theFaculty of Law (11 February) and theFaculty of Mathematics, Physics andInformatics (9 February), which held
another Open Day on 8 June specificallyfor junior students at secondary schools.
The Faculty of Roman Catholic Theologyof Cyril and Methodius held its Open Day
on 8 May.

May 2022. In one day, secondary school
students had the opportunity to attend
university lectures and see what topics
are tackled at a university. Lectures were
held in the Auditorium and there werestalls in which faculty representatives andstudents were available for discussion.

A day in the life of a university student
This annual event for secondary school
students who are not yet in their final
year took place on two dates - 24 and 31

Students of pharmacy and medicine
came together with a vision ofdeveloping interdisciplinary cooperationand interprofessional education, andWebinars for secondary school students
During the months of February and March
2022, at the time when applications are
submitted to universities, we organised
seven webinars on various topics,
intended to give secondary school
students information about starting auniversity study, about available fields ofstudy, and to provide tips and advice on
handling the first months at a university.
Lecturers at the seminars came both fromthe university and from businesses. The
webinars are available to students on theuniversity’s YouTube channel.
FROM STUDENTS TO STUDENTS

organised a competition for students
in both medical fields. The 9th annual
edition of the Clinical Skills Event was heldon 11 March 2022. For the first time, theparticipants competed in mixed teams,
each consisting of two medical students
and two students of pharmacy. Up to 70
contestants took part in the competition,
solving clinical case studies of realpatients. The winners were fifth-year
students Alžbeta Angstová and Alexandra
Nemčíková from the Faculty of Pharmacy
and sixth-year students Lucia Tibenská
and Daniela Šutovská from the Faculty of
Medicine.
The opening of the academic year
2021/2022 was celebrated by the
Amosfest festival. Its musical lineup included the Tolstoys, Dennyiah
and Malalata, and the programmealso contained various discussions.
The University Rector Marek Števček
addressed the audience, explaining why
and how Comenius University changed
its visual identity. Stand-up comedians
entertained the crowd with theirperformances.

34

CU AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

CU AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

SPORT
Successful athletes
On 30 September 2021, the Rector
Marek Števček met with the athletes
who successfully represented Comenius
University at the 2020 Olympic andParalympic Games in Tokyo. SamuelBaláž, bronze medalist in K4 sprint kayak,
and Veronika Vadovičová, gold medalist inpara-shooting, are both from the Facultyof Physical Education and Sport. JurajMokrý from the Jessenius Faculty of
Medicine in Martin is a volleyball referee,and Ľuboš Rupčík from the Faculty ofPhysical Education and Sport is a referee
in competitive gymnastics.
World InterUniversities Championships
A sports team consisting of students
from nine faculties represented Comenius
University at the 6th World InterUniversity
Championships in Rome on 10-14
November 2021. In final ranking it won
the first place against a competition of
41 universities from 13 countries. This is
the third such victory in a row at the world
championships. Comenius University
students won 5 out of the 12 categories.
Winter Universiade after the pandemic
The Slovak Winter Universiade, organisedby our university, is yet another significant
sports event. It took place after a forced
hiatus of two years, between 7 and 11

February 2022, while some competitions
were organised outside of this main event.
The Universiade began with cross-country
skiing in Skalka near Kremnica andclosed with downhill skiing in Šachtičkyin Banská Bystrica. In total, there werethirteen disciplines - cross-country skiing,
biathlon, downhill skiing, badminton,
table tennis, headis, weightlifting, karate,
futsal, crossfit, ice-hockey, floorball anddance sports. Comenius University ranked
first with 820.18 points and took homethe most medals. Athletes representing
Comenius University won 15 gold, 17
silver and 11 bronze medals. The Matej
Bel University in Banská Bystrica came insecond, and the University of Economics
in Bratislava took third place.
Slovak Academic BasketballChampionships
After the victories at the international
WIUC tournament in Rome and at the
Slovak University Finals, the basketballteam of Comenius University won their
third title. The Slovak Academic BasketballChampionships took place on 2 June 2022
at the Department of Physical Educationand Sport of the Faculty of Mathematics,
Physics and Informatics. In the finals,
the university team of basketball players,most of whom are from the Faculty ofPhysical Education and Sport, beat the
University of Žilina 78 to 72.

WE INSPIRE
Comenius University Bratislava is present
on social networks. In the previous
academic year, we exceeded 10,000
followers on Instagram and are still
number two on Slovak LinkedIn. Since
February, we have been actively promoting
activities for people affected by the war,
which were organised by the university,
its faculties or student associations. In
March, we ran a month-long challenge,“#odhodlaj sa” (“get going”), to encourage
students to exercise outdoors, selfeducate or start new or long-postponed
activities.
We continued to publish the “I am CU” and“Science is in the family” columns. We
also brought regular news about eventsat the university in which students could
participate. In May, and in cooperation
with the Enlight Office we used our social
network accounts to spread information
about opportunities to study abroad andto participate in mobility projects in theform of summer schools or courses.
We did not neglect the various
World Days, including the Pi Day, theWorld Environment Day, Earth Day orInternational Day of Forests and wedeveloped quizzes and fun fact listicles forour students to test their knowledge. We
produced tips on how to study effectively
and how to manage stress before exams.
We produced short videos about themost interesting research undertaken ateach faculty, aimed at those interested inapplying to our University.
AWARDS OF SCIENTISTS
Every year Comenius University
researchers receive various domestic andinternational awards.
ESET Science Award
For the third year, ESET Foundation has
given awards to outstanding personalities
of Slovak science for their scientific,
research and teaching work. The galanight took place on 16 October 2021
and was broadcast live on RTVS. An
international jury chaired by the Physics
Nobel Prize laureate Kip S. Thorne,
decided to award the Prize of the Public
to associate professor Katarína Mikušováfrom the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
Highly Cited Researcher 2021
For the second time, Michal Fečkan,professor of mathematics from the
Department of Mathematical Analysis andNumerical Mathematics at the Faculty ofMathematics, Physics and Informatics,
was among the world’s most citedscientists. He received the prestigious
Highly Cited Researcher award for 2021
in the field of mathematics because
his papers attracted more than 3000
citations. The professor specializes in

Cross-country skiing in Skalka
near Kremnica at the Slovak Winter
Universiade.

Ľuboš Rupčík, Juraj Mokrý, Marek Števček,
Veronika Vadovičová, Samuel Baláž

Dance sports at the Slovak
Winter Universiade.

Professor Michal Fečkanwith the Nobel Prizelaureate Kip Thorne.

nonlinear functional analysis, dynamic
systems, and their applications. He wrote
several scientific monographs whichwere published by the most prestigious
international publishing houses. He is also
the recipient of the Slovak Scientist of theYear award for 2017.
Decorations by the Slovak President
On 8 May 2022, the President of the
Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová
awarded state awards to 25 notablepersonalities of social life. The recipients
also include experts from Comenius
University Bratislava. Professor
Milan Lapin, head of the Departmentof Meteorology and Climatology at
the Department of Astronomy, Earth
Physics and Meteorology of the FMPI
was awarded the Order of Ľudovít
Štúr, Second Class for extraordinary
contributions to the progress of sciencein Slovakia. Professor Michal Mego, Headof the Second Clinic of Oncology of theFaculty of Medicine and the National
Institute of Oncology, was awarded theOrder of Ľudovít Štúr, Second Class,for extraordinary contributions to theprogress of science in the Slovak Republic,
particularly in the field of oncology.

35

on 14 June 2022 in the Moyzes Hall of
the Faculty of Arts. The title Scientist of
the Year 2021 was awarded to Professor
Pavol Prokop from the Faculty of Natural
Sciences for clarifying how reproductive
strategies and evolutionary aspects of
behavioural strategies are involved in
avoiding pathogen contamination. He has
published more than 170 research papers
available in the Web of Science and Nature
Index databases. In 2020 and 2021 his
publication activity reached a rating of
941 SCI.
Slovak Woman of the Year in Science andResearch
On 23 June, the Slovak Woman of theYear 2022 awards were presented. The
event took place in the Reduta Palace inBratislava. Associate professor Tatiana
Betaková from the Faculty of Natural
Sciences won the award in the Scienceand Research category.
Her research focuses on the influenza
virus and the immune response andpathogenicity of viruses. She works at the
Department of Microbiology and Virologyof the Faculty of Natural Sciences and isalso a researcher at the Biomedical Centerof the Academy of Sciences.

Scientist of the Year
Outstanding scientists were honoured byawards at the Slovak Scientist of the Year
event. The 25th anniversary took place

Comenius University
decided to join otherinstitutions around the world
and illuminate its doors ingreen on 2 November 2021
to raise awareness about
the topics of the UN Climate
Change Conference inGlasgow (COP26).

INFRASTRUCTURE

ACADEMIC LIBRARY
In 2021, the services of the library were used by
11,028 registered users. Comenius University students
accounted for the largest number of them - 10,016.
During the year, 292,164 documents were borrowed. The
library offers access to 557,352 publications, including
books, theses, journals and articles.

INFRASTRUCTURE
Comenius University is intimately
linked to the city of Bratislava. It is
the soul and lungs of the city. Parts
and facilities of the university canbe found in all corners of the city.
Comenius University does not only
consists of its faculties; it also has
hospitals, pharmacies, the Botanical
Garden, a garden of medicinal
plants, a herbarium, dozens of
dormitory buildings, libraries, theComenius University Press andthe Comenius University Archive.
Although Comenius University is nota campus-type university, this has its
advantages. When you are getting
to know the individual parts of theuniversity, you will travel aroundthe whole city and get to explore it.
One of the faculties – the Jessenius
Faculty of Medicine – is locatedin Martin. Several more university
facilities are located in Modra, at theRichňava lake, in Nitra and in other
cities of Slovakia.
DORMITORIES
Comenius University has the largest portfolio ofaccommodation facilities for students in Slovakia. In
addition to Mlyny and Družba, Comenius University also
owns the Lafranconi dormitories, dormitories in Martin,a home for theologians and two priest seminaries.
At the end of 2021, these dormitories were serving
7,584 accommodated students of the university. In thecanteens, 665,566 main meals were served.

37

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY PRESS
In 2021, Comenius University Press substantially
increased its production. It published 295 publications,the largest proportion of which were study materials,
accounting for 53%. Electronic publications make up
more than one third of all publications. Publications are
sold through brick-and-mortar stores and an e-shop.

The dormitories and their surroundings are gradually
being renovated.

The Richňava educational and training facility in theŠtiavnické vrchy mountains underwent a completerenovation.

CENTRE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIESThe centre operates the information systems andmaintains the information and communication
infrastructure. The centre is also technically responsible
for the electronic student information system, electronic
mail, the online presence of the university, the IT Support
Centre and other things.
BOTANICAL GARDEN
The Botanical Garden’s mission includes thepreservation and enlargement of the collections of living
plants as well as the experimental acclimatization ofvarious plant species. The plant displays are accessible
to primary and secondary schools as well as the generalpublic through exhibitions and seminars.
ARCHIVE
This is a professional facility which receives, records,
protects and makes accessible archived documentsthat are related to Comenius University or education in
Slovakia in general. Its collections include diplomas,
photographs, general documentation, audio-visual
documents and museum artefacts, including gowns,
medals, insignia and teaching aids.

The Centre for Active Aging was established at the Facultyof Physical Education and Sport of Comenius University. Its
grand opening took place on 19 October 2021.

At the Mlyny campus, the university reopened the legendaryand oldest university club in Slovakia, UniK.

PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELLING SERVICE
The service remained vital in yet another year affectedby the pandemic and continued to assist students
and staff who experienced stress and anxiety due tothe situation. While in the past there were, on average,
about 100 new clients per year, this number rose to 280
in 2021. In addition to them, the service is used by its
regular clients. Its staff was expanded to include two
new part-time workers. Counselling is also provided
online.

HUMAN RESOURCES

38

THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES OF COMENIUS UNIVERSITY
BETWEEN 2012 AND 2021 IN FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS
4500

HUMAN
RESOURCES

4000
3500
3000

In 2021, Comenius University
had a total of 4,426 employees.
Out of this number, 2,163 were
university teachers and 363 wereresearchers. Comenius University
is one of the largest employers in
Slovakia. The university focuseson the development of its humanresources, especially those mostqualified.

2500
2000
1500
1000
500

2012

2013

2014

2015

University teachers

2016

2017
Researchers

2018

2019

2020

2021

OthersTHE AVERAGE AGE OF PROFESSORS
HAS BEEN STEADILY DECREASING

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY BRATISLAVA 2021/2022
IN NUMBERS - GRAPHS - PICTURES

62

Address: 		Šafárikovo nám. 6, P. O. Box 440,		814 99 Bratislava, Slovakia
E-mail: 		
infocentrum@uniba.sk
Phone: 		
+421 2 9010 9986
		Compiled by:External Relations Office and		Quality Office of the Rectorate

61

60

59

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Professor Pavol Prokop from the Faculty of Natural Sciences became Scientist of the Year 2021. Hereceived the award for clarifying how reproductive strategies and evolutionary aspects of behaviouralstrategies are involved in avoiding pathogen contamination.

Photos:Tomáš Madeja

Design: 		Printing: 		
Issue: 		
Published in:

Ivana Drozdová
DOLIS GOEN, s. r. o.
700 copies
September 2022

uniba.sk

Comenius.University

Comenius.University

ComeniusUni

school/comeniusuniversity

UniverzitaKomenskehovBratislave