The Geography Department was established in 1919. With its pedagogical and wide-ranging scientific research, it plays an important role in the education and training of young geographers, in the development of new knowledge as well as its transfer into practical fields. The thirty-two members of staff (professors, assistant professors, associate professors, assistants, members of technical staff etc.) are entrusted with the professional development of more than 500 undergraduate and graduate students. The Department implemented the two-stage Bologna compliant degrees in the academic year 2008/2009 and students can now choose between either a one-discipline undergraduate degree course in Geography or a two-discipline undergraduate degree course in Geography in combination with another course of study. In the second stage of their studies, the students choosing the first programme can opt for the following courses: Environmental and Physical Geography, Regional Planning and Urban-Rural Studies, Political Geography, Geography of Tourism and Applied Geoinformatics. The students enrolled in the two-discipline course take the pedagogy module in the second stage of their studies.

 

The Department houses the largest geographical library in Slovenia, a department of the Central Humanities Library (Osrednja Humanistična Knjižnica or OHK). It includes a cartographic collection. The physical geography laboratory and the cartography and geo-informatics laboratory (GIKL) enable students to gain practical knowledge and skills that help them use modern tools and procedures. This provides a significant advantage to our graduates when they are looking for a job.

 

We are well aware of the importance of the direct link between research and pedagogical work and the significance of a rapid transfer of scientific achievement to praxis and the study process. A research centre, focusing on environmental and regional-development studies, was established in 2002 for this purpose. There are various textbooks and other study materials available to students, whilst the non-students and guests might be interested in the periodical DELA, which has been published since 1985. As of 2009, it has been joined by a new publication, GeograFF, which acquaints the wider public with the latest research achievements of the Department and its associates.

 

In the spirit of international cooperation we are always pleased to welcome foreign lecturers and encourage our own professors and assistants to test their expertise in foreign universities or at international conferences. We have a very diverse international network, which enables our students to study abroad. (Paris, Lille, Liege, Amsterdam, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Dublin, München, Würzburg, Münster, Seville, Bilbao, Lisbona, Beja, Freiburg, Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Krakow, Lublin, Riga, Trieste, Graz etc.).