Advisors

Contact: samo.kralj@ijs.si​

Prof. Samo Kralj

Samo Kralj is employed as a full professor of physics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (FNM), University of Maribor and at Jožef Stefan Institute International Postgraduate School in Ljubljana. At FNM he is the head of the laboratory Physics of Complex Systems and Ph.D. study of physics. In recent years he received the Zois national award for outstanding research discoveries in soft materials and the highest national award for educational achievements. He has been the chair of several international conferences (including the European Liquid Crystal Conference and ESF exploratory workshop). His research work includes phase transitions, physics of disorder, topological defects, and among others exploits condensed matter systems as the laboratory system of cosmology and particle physics. So far, he supervised or co-supervised about 20 Ph.D. students.

Other advisors

Quantum Theory

Quantum many-body physics 

Prof. Tomaž Rejec

Tomaž Rejec is a researcher in the field of solid-state theory at the Department of Theoretical Physics of the Jožef Stefan Institute and an associate professor of physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Ljubljana. He investigates the...

Prof. Jernej Mravlje

Jernej Mravlje is a member of the Department of Theoretical Physics of Jozef Stefan Institute and an associate professor at the Physics department of FMF, University of Ljubljana. He investigates transport properties of realistic multi-orbital systems that he...

Prof. Lev Vidmar

Lev Vidmar is a scientific councillor at Jožef Stefan Institute and an associated professor of physics at the Faculty of mathematics and physics, University of Ljubljana. He is the principal investigator of the ERC project Boundary, in which he explores boundaries of...

Dr. Zala Lenarčič

Zala Lenarčič is a Senior Scientific Associate at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), where she leads the Group for Non-Equilibrium Open Many-Body Quantum Systems. She is the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant for her project "Weakly Driven Quantum Symmetries", and she...

Quantum at high energies

Prof. Sašo Grozdanov

Dr. Sašo Grozdanov is an Associate Professor of physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana. He is also a faculty member and Ernest Rutherford Fellow at the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Edinburgh. He holds a BA...

Prof. Lorenzo Ubaldi

Lorenzo Ubaldi is a staff researcher at JSI and an affiliated member of the Institute for Fumandental Physics of the Universe (IFPU) in Trieste. His research interests span from particle physics to cosmology. He has been investigating the nature of dark matter and...

Prof. Miha Nemevšek

My field of interest is high energy physics, in particular the physics beyond the Standard Model. I am researching TeV scale physics, potentially observable at the LHC, and how certain theories relate collider observables to other phenomena at low energies and/or to...

Prof. Svjetlana Fajfer

Svjetlana Fajfer is a scientific advisor at IJS and a full professor of physics at FMF UL. Her main research interest is the theory of high-energy physics. She studies the theory of quark flavours and explores the possible contributions of physics outside the standard...

Prof. Nejc Košnik

Nejc Košnik is a senior researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute and an associate professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana. His research focuses on quantum phenomena at the scale of elementary particles: interference effects and...

Prof. Jernej F. Kamenik

Jernej F. Kamenik is a particle theorist with strong interest in quark and lepton flavour phenomenology at current and future high energy particle colliders, top quark and Higgs physics, and the interplay of particle physics with other fields, specifically cosmology...

Theory of quantum materials and manipulation of light with matter

Prof. Uroš Cvelbar

Uroš Cvelbar is a full professor and head of the Department of Gaseous Electronics (F6) at the JSI and chairman of the Postgraduate Programme in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Jožef Stefan Postgraduate School. He works part-time as a professor and teaches...

Dr. Neelakandan M. Santhosh

Neelakandan M Santhosh is a research associate at the Department of Gaseous Electronics, JSI. At F6, he is leading research on graphene and other 2D materials. He is a member of the Dielectric Science and Technology Division, the Electrochemical Society, and several...

Prof. Matjaž Gomilšek

Matjaž Gomilšek is a scientific associate at the JSI and an assistant professor of physics at the FMF UL. At JSI he is the head of the Laboratory for numerical physics and a member of the Laboratory for measurements at large-scale user facilities. He is a recipient of...

Prof. Matjaž Žitnik

Matjaž Žitnik is a scientific chancelor at IJS and professor at FMF UL where he teaches the atomic physics. At IJS, he is a head of the program group for Research of atoms, molecules and structures with photons and particles at the Department of low and medium energy...

Quantum Materials

Quantum Magnetism

Prof. Matej Pregelj

Matej Pregelj is a scientific associate at JSI and an assistant professor of physics at FMF UL. At JSI, he leads the neutron scattering efforts in the Laboratory for Measurements at Large-Scale User Facilities. With a strong portfolio of high-impact publications and...

Prof. Denis Arčon

Denis Arčon is a scientific advisor at the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) and a full professor of physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics (FMF), University of Ljubljana (UL). At IJS, he serves as the head of the Solid State Physics Department and the head of...

Prof. Martin Klanjšek

Martin Klanjšek is a senior research associate at JSI and an assistant professor of physics at the FMF UL. At JSI he is the head of the Laboratory for solid state nuclear magnetic resonance and the coordinator of the JSI colloquia. His main research interest is...

Prof. Andrej Zorko

Andrej Zorko is a scientific councillor at JSI and a professor of physics at the FMF UL. At JSI he is the head of the Laboratory for measurements at large-scale user facilities.  He is a Vice President of the International Society for muSR Spectroscopy and a member of...

Quantum Nanomaterials

Prof. Janez Kovač

Janez Kovač is a senior research associate at Jozef Stefan Institute and professor at the International Postgraduate School Jozef Stefan. He is the head of the Laboratory for Surface and Thin Film Analyses at Jozef Stefan Institute. The main fields of scientific...

Prof. Darja Lisjak

Darja Lisjak is a scientific councillor at IJS and a full professor in the field of Nanoscience. He lectures at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School and at the University of Nova Gorica. At JSI, she leads the Hybrid and Liquid Ferroic Materials group...

Prof. Gašper Tavčar

Gašper Tavčar is the head of the Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Technology K1 at the Jožef Stefan Institute. He is a member of several scientific advisory boards in Slovenia and around the world. His primary interest lies in the synthesis of new compounds,...

Advanced Quantum Materials

Prof. Mirela Dragomir

Mirela Dragomir is a Research Associate at JSI (K5) and an Assistant Professor in Materials Science at the IPS. At JSI, she is also the co-founder of Extreme Conditions Chemistry Laboratory – ECCL, focusing on high-pressure studies of quantum materials. As a Marie...

Prof. Matic Lozinšek

Matic Lozinšek is a senior research associate at the JSI and an assistant professor of inorganic chemistry at the IPS. At the JSI, he is the head of the Extreme Conditions Chemistry Laboratory – ECCL. As a Marie Curie fellow, he completed his postdoctoral training in...

Prof. Alenka Vesel

Alenka Vesel is a senior scientific associate at JSI and associate professor at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. At JSI she is the head of the Department of Surface Engineering. She is the President of the Slovenian Vacuum Society and the Slovenian...

Prof. Rok Zaplotnik

Rok Zaplotnik is a research associate at the Jožef Stefan Institute and an associate professor at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. He works in the Plasma Laboratory at the Department of Surface Engineering. His main research interests are the...

Dr. Anna Razumnaya

Anna Razumnaya is an associate researcher at the JSI. She earned a PhD in physics from the University of Picardie, France, and was awarded an EU HORIZON-MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship at JSI. Dr. Anna Razumnaya's current research interest focuses on investigating...

Prof. Zdravko Kutnjak

Dr. Zdravko Kutnjak is a Scientific Councillor at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) and a Full Professor of Physics at the JSI Postgraduate School (MPŠ IJS) and the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana (FMF UL). At JSI, he leads the Laboratory...

Quantum Technology

Hybrid quantum devices

Dr. Anže Mraz

Anže Mraz is a researcher at the Department of Complex Matter at JSI, where he is focused on the research of superconducting quantum bits and hybrid memory devices for use in cryo- and quantum-computing. For his work he utilises different techniques of measuring...

Prof. Denis Golež

Denis Golež is a research associate at the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) and an assistant professor of physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana (FMF UL). His research focuses on the non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body...

Prof. Rok Žitko

Rok Žitko is a research councillor at JSI and full professor at UL FMF. He is leading the programme group "Physics of quantum technologies" (P1-0416) and is involved in many national initiatives in the field of quantum science and technology. His research focuses on...

Prof. Dragan Mihailović

Dragan Mihailovic is a professor at the Physics Department at the University of Ljubljana and Head of Department of Complex Matter at the Jozef Stefan Institute. After studying Physics at Oxford (MA and DPhil, Balliol), he has held many positions of honour and...

Prof. Tomaž Mertelj

Tomaž Mertelj is a Scientific Advisor at JSI and an Assistant Professor at FMF UL. His main research interest lies in time-resolved optical spectroscopy of low-temperature charge and spin ordered states in solid-state matter, including phenomena such as...

Prof. Igor Vaskivskyi

Igor Vaskivskyi is a researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute, leading the Extreme UV (EUV) Spectroscopy and Polarimetry Laboratory within the Department of Complex Matter. His research centers on studying correlated electronic materials and developing advanced...

Optical trapping technologies

Prof. Rainer Kaltenbaek

Rainer Kaltenbaek is an associate professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana (FMF UL), and leads the Quantum Optics and Quantum Foundations Laboratory. He serves as the technical coordinator of the SiQUID project, dedicated to...

Dr. Peter Jeglič

Peter Jeglič is a quantum physicist and music enthusiast with 15 years of expertise in cold-atom technology and more than 25 years of experience in experimental physics, specializing in magnetic resonance techniques. In 2012, he established the Laboratory for cold...

Exploiting quantum on micrometer and nanometer scales

Dr. Vasyl Shvalya

Dr. Vasyl Shvalya (PhD 2017) is a scientific researcher at JSI (F6 Gaseous Electronics) and also an active member of the Society of Electrochemists (ECS), the Society of Nuclear and Plasma Sciences (NPPS) in the IEEE, Micro&Nano Scientific Society. The field of...

Dr. Janez Zavašnik

Janez Zavašnik is a research associate at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), group leader of the joint JSI - Max-Planck-Institut für Nachhaltige Materialien Research Group, and assistant professor at Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. His main expertise...

Dr. Metka Benčina

Metka Benčina is employed at the Department of Surface Engineering (Jožef Stefan Institute) and the Laboratory of Physics (Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana). She is the recipient of several national projects (MIZŠ and ARIS) and a co-author of...

Prof. Ita Junkar

Ita Junkar is a chemical engineer, senior researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute, and an associate professor at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. She has a proven track record in innovation, holding 12 protected innovations and 7 granted patents,...

Prof. Miran Mozetič

Miran Mozetič is among the most innovative Slovenian scientists, as he authored around 20 patents that have been granted at the European and/or American Patent Office. He is the Head of a research group that regularly cooperates with domestic and foreign industries....

Prof. Gregor Primc

Gregor Primc is the Deputy Head of the Department of Surface Engineering at the JSI. He teaches at the Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School, while he is also a co-founder, co-owner and long-time director of a spin-off company Plasmadis Ltd. that markets...

Prof. Uroš Cvelbar

Uroš Cvelbar is a full professor and head of the Department of Gaseous Electronics (F6) at the JSI and chairman of the Postgraduate Programme in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Jožef Stefan Postgraduate School. He works part-time as a professor and teaches...

Quantum Computing and Information

Qubit platforms

Prof. Matej Komelj

Matej Komelj is a scientist at the Jožef Stefan Institute, where he investigates magnetic materials, particularly by means of modeling. He introduces quantum-computing methods, like quantum- variational eigensolver (VQE). His research activities are closely related to...

Dr. Marion van Midden Mavrič

Marion A. van Midden Mavrič is a principal investigator in the Scanning Probe Microscopy Lab at JSI, where she is establishing her own research group. Her work focuses on surfaces of quantum materials, with the aim of understanding how interactions at the atomic and...

Prof. Erik Zupanič

Erik Zupanič is an ass. prof. at the University of Ljubljana and the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, the head of the Scanning Probe Microscopy Laboratory, and a senior researcher at the Cold Atoms Lab at the Jožef Stefan Institute. His expertise lies...

Prof. Primož Pelicon

Prof. Primož Pelicon is head of the Department of low and intermediate energy physics at Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI). He spent his entire professional career working with ion accelerators, their technical and scientific management, beamline construction and...

Quantum calculations and simulations

Prof. Borut Kerševan

Full Professor, Head of the Experimental Particle Physics Dept (F9) at the JSI Borut Paul Kerševan is active in developing new methods in particle physics data simulation and analysis. He participated in several new physics searches at the LHC at CERN, as well as...

Prof. Viktor Kabanov

Prof. Dr. Viktor Kabanov expertise: theory of condensed matter, theory of superconductivity and theory of charge and spin kinetic effects in metals and molecular semiconductors. Prof. Dr. Viktor Kabanov has over 35 years of experience in solid state theory, theory of...

Dr. Jaka Vodeb

Jaka Vodeb is a postdoctoral researcher at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) and an expert in quantum simulation. At FZJ, he is involved in cutting-edge studies that bridge theoretical and experimental approaches to quantum systems. Dr. Vodeb collaborates with various...

Prof. Miha Ravnik

Miha Ravnik is scientific councilor at the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) and a full professor of physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana (FMF UL). At IJS, he leads the research program for the Physics of Soft Matter, Surfaces, and...

Prof. Luka Leskovec

My main research interest lies in hadrons, composite particles made from quarks and gluons, whose interactions are governed by Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD). My primary interests lie in hadrons and their properties such as mass, decay widths, branching fractions, as...

Prof. Dragan Mihailović

Dragan Mihailovic is a professor at the Physics Department at the University of Ljubljana and Head of Department of Complex Matter at the Jozef Stefan Institute. After studying Physics at Oxford (MA and DPhil, Balliol), he has held many positions of honour and...

Prof. Saša Prelovšek Komelj

Saša Prelovšek Komelj is a scientific councilor at JSI and a full professor of physics at the FMF UL. Her research focuses on the theoretical study of states composed of quarks. She established a group for ab-initio studies of the strong interactions using quantum...

Quantum Information

Prof. Tome Eftimov

Tome Eftimov is a researcher at the Computer Systems Department at JSI and an assistant professor of computer science at SEB UL, JSIPS, and FCSE at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. He leads a research group focused on automated machine learning and...

Dr. Samed Bajrić

Samed Bajrić is a Professional Research Associate at the Laboratory for Open Systems and Networks at the JSI, and Assistant Professor in Informatics at the School of Engineering and Management at the University of Nova Gorica. His main research interests include...

Prof. Ljupčo Todorovski

Ljupčo Todorovski is a Full Professor of Computational Mathematics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics (FMF), University of Ljubljana, and a scientific councilor at the Department of Knowledge Technologies at the Jožef Stefan Institute. At FMF, he serves as the...

Prof. Matjaž Gams

Prof. Dr. Matjaž Gams is a full professor in computer science and informatics and a leading researcher in the field of superintelligence. Over the past year, he has delivered 10 invited lectures on GPT models to an audience of 3,000 attendees. He is a member of the...

News/Events

Quantum Day on Val 202 and at the Jožef Stefan Institute

Quantum Day on Val 202 and at the Jožef Stefan Institute

Apr 16, 2025

On the occasion of the World Quantum Day, celebrated on April 16, 2025, a live radio broadcast was held at the Gallery of the Jožef Stefan Institute from 10:00 to 13:30, in collaboration with Val 202. Journalist Maja Ratej and physicist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lev Vidmar,...

Presentation of the SQUASH Project: Slovenian Quantum Science Hub

Presentation of the SQUASH Project: Slovenian Quantum Science Hub

Oct 24, 2024

With the participation of Dr. Igor Papič, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and Dr. Anton Ramšak, Vice-Rector for Research and Development at the University of Ljubljana and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Director of the...

Invitation to a project presentation

Invitation to a project presentation

Oct 16, 2024

Quantum technologies, one of the main research fields at the Jožef Stefan Institute, which exploit the unique principles of quantum physics to achieve breakthroughs in computing, communications and sensing. Quantum cryptography, for instance, allows for perfectly...