Conferral of Commemorative Documents, Awards and Scholarships from the University of Nova Gorica Foundation
On 23 October 2024, the conferral of commemorative documents, awards and scholarships from the University of Nova Gorica Foundation (F:UNG) took place at the Lanthieri Mansion in Vipava.
The foundation awarded two Jožko Markič awards, a scholarship from the Scholarship Fund for Student Athletes “Matija Franko”, two scholarships from the Fund for Talented Students “Edvard Rusjan” and a commemorative document to a new University of Nova Gorica Foundation Golden Donor.
Both the new donors, as well as recipients of the scholarships and awards from the University of Nova Gorica Foundation, confirm that FUNG is operating successfully and has been gaining momentum in recent years.
“So far this year, F:UNG has collected so many donations that we can confidently predict a business result for 2024, with which we will be able to increase F:UNG’s financial assets by more than 18%, once the scholarships are paid out. A significant share of donations is from individuals, mainly those employed at the University of Nova Gorica, who collectively raised as much as 70% of this year’s funds. We are also very pleased that our donors include companies such as Zavarovalnica Sava d. d., A-media d. o. o., Rodeo Trade d. o. o. and Prospot d. o. o., which in recent years have been regularly donating and increasing the share of donations from legal entities.
Success in collecting donations is, of course, a big commitment and also a great incentive for the F:UNG Board, which is always setting high goals for itself. In 2024, we also carried out a reorganisation of the F:UNG funds structure. Consequently, with the creation of the new Fund for Development and Innovation in Education, the F:UNG Board adopted a decision on the transformation and merger of the funds from the Fund for the Development of Study Programmes and the Fund for Research Activities into a new unified fund, namely the Fund for Scientific Research and Arts. This fund will already start awarding financial aid to young scientists, as well as artists, in the current academic year. This aid will include assistance for participation in important international conferences, and artistic residencies and festivals, and in the coming years, financial assistance for postdoctoral training abroad and for smaller research and artistic projects. In addition to today’s new scholarship recipients, we also plan to award an additional six scholarships in 2025″, said the president of the University of Nova Gorica Foundation, Prof. Dr. Mladen Franko.
The opening address by the president of the F:UNG Board was followed by the conferral of commemorative documents to scholarship and award recipients.
Awarded for the fifth year in a row now, the Jožko Markič Awards for the 2023/2024 academic year were handed out to School of Arts students, Tamara Taskova and Ana Evtić.
The award, which is sponsored by the company A-media d. o. o. in memory of its co-founder, Jožko Markič, really means a lot to Tamara Taskova; “I am grateful to all my mentors and professors who have supported me in my studies so far, the mentors who nominated me for this award and the committee that chose me. I like studying at the School of Arts, so I decided to continue my master’s studies here for my second cycle as well”, Tamara said upon receiving the award.
“I would like to thank the professors who provided me with invaluable support throughout the entire process, and guided me from the initial stages of creating ideas to their full realisation. Their support and understanding was crucial, both when I knew how to do something and when I had no idea. Our collective hard work has truly paid off. I plan to invest the awarded money into my upcoming master’s thesis,” said Ana Evtić.
Emilija Vučićević, a student at the School of Humanities, and Sanja Dumenčić, a student at the School of Science at the University of Nova Gorica, received scholarships from the Fund for Talented Students “Edvard Rusjan”.
On receiving the scholarship, Emilija Vučićević said; »In the past year, I had many opportunities for advancement and learning at the University of Nova Gorica – such as student excursions, summer schools, various projects with the ECC and scientific conferences. In this sense, the Foundation’s scholarship came as a culmination of all these activities and various forms of support for students at our university. The scholarship will make my everyday life in Slovenia easier, and will help me devote myself even more to my studies. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the University of Nova Gorica Foundation for recognising and valuing my work, as well as the professors at the School of Humanities who helped me realise my ideas.”
“I thank the University of Nova Gorica Foundation for awarding me this scholarship. Your trust means a lot to me, so I will do my best to uphold it. I have been participating in national competitions in science subjects since elementary school, and have achieved fairly good results. Being awarded this scholarship is proof that my efforts were not in vain. This scholarship will improve the conditions for my future studies”, Sanja Dumenčić said upon receiving the scholarship.
They also awarded a scholarship from the Scholarship Fund for Student Athletes “Matija Franko”, which went to a student from the School of Environmental Sciences, Nicolas Gojković, a cyclist and member of the Adria Mobil team from Novo mesto.
“It is a great honour for me to receive a scholarship from the Scholarship Fund for Student Athletes “Matija Franko”. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the University of Nova Gorica Foundation. This scholarship is truly important to me and will help me balance my student life and sports career. I chose the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Nova Gorica because it allows me to learn about biology and ecology – two fields I really like, while at the same time allowing me to also follow my dream of one day becoming a professional cyclist”, said Nicolas Gojković upon receiving the commemorative document.
Next up at the event, a commemorative certificate was also awarded to the now fifth Golden Donor of the University of Nova Gorica Foundation. The title of Golden Donor was awarded to Prof. Dr. Franc Marušič, who has been a FUNG donor since 2008. With several donations up until 2015, he gained the status of a Silver Donor among FUNG members, and simultaneously established the Fund for the Development of Cognitive Sciences, which is intended to support the development of cognitive sciences, i.e. linguistics, psychology and related sciences in Nova Gorica. With his last donation, in June 2024, Prof. Dr. Franc Marušič acquired the status of Golden Donor among FUNG members. “In the past 15 years, I have done quite a bit of extra work, for which I have always received payment, even if it fell within the scope of my regular assignments. Since I did all this work during office hours on the premises of the university on a work computer, I was of the opinion that I should not receive additional payment for this work. I always suggested that the payers should transfer the funds directly to the account of the University of Nova Gorica, but the copyright contracts could not be avoided. Therefore, I “returned” the money to the university by means of “donating” it to the University of Nova Gorica Foundation. I would expect that more employees at the University of Nova Gorica would act in this way, but it seems that this is not (yet) the norm”, the new Gold Donor told us after receiving the commemorative document and gift.
As Prof. Dr. Franko said in conclusion, “F:UNG’s activity encompasses much more than just awarding scholarships, prizes and financial aid, and it is not only measured in collected donations. We wouldn’t be able to do all of this if there weren’t individuals among us who selflessly sacrifice their free time so that F:UNG can function and fulfil its mission.”
