New faces, new acquaintances, and the start of a new chapter. At Alma Mater Europaea University, we have begun the 2026/27 academic year and welcomed the 18th generation of students in Ljubljana and Maribor. Ahead of them are new knowledge, experiences, challenges, and opportunities brought by student life at Alma Mater.
October 1 marked the first shared step into the university environment for a new generation of first-year students. The introductory day was dedicated to getting to know the study programs, higher education teachers, and new classmates, and above all to becoming part of the academic community they will belong to in the coming years.
At the start of the academic year, the new generation of first-year students was addressed by Rector Prof. Dr. Ludvik Toplak. He highlighted the importance of knowledge as the foundation of personal and social development and encouraged students to use their university years to broaden their horizons, think critically, and shape their own professional path. He emphasized that a university does not only provide answers, but above all opens up space for questions, ideas, and responsibility, through which young people help create their own future.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barbara Toplak Perović, Secretary General of Alma Mater Europaea University and Dean of the Alma Mater Europaea – ECM Faculty, introduced the first-year students to the environment they are entering and to the opportunities that studying at Alma Mater opens up. At the start of their new journey, she emphasized the importance of active involvement in the academic community and making use of opportunities to gain experience, connect with others, and develop beyond the classroom as well.
Prof. Dr. Sebastjan Kristovič, Vice-Rector for Education, in his lecture "From Desire to Goal: Knowledge, Responsibility and Perseverance", spoke about the path from ambition to its realization. Desire is the beginning, but a goal requires decision, work, responsibility, and perseverance. He encouraged the first-year students to pursue their goals even when the path is not simple, and to use their study years for professional and personal growth.
Alma Mater Europaea University is a place of opportunity
After the joint introduction, meetings followed within individual study programs, where the first-year students met the higher education teachers, learned about the organization of their studies, and became familiar with the environment in which they will gain knowledge and develop their professional interests in the coming years.
However, the beginning of studies means much more than entering a lecture hall. Alma Mater enables students to enhance their knowledge already during their studies through research and project work, Erasmus+ international exchanges, participation in conferences, extracurricular activities, and networking with the professional community. An important part of the student experience also includes tutoring, career support, and opportunities for active involvement in the university community.
The study years are precisely the time for discovering one's own interests, testing ideas, and building connections that can significantly shape one’s further professional and personal path. In this regard, the university is not merely a place for the transfer of knowledge, but an environment in which students develop critical thinking, independence, responsibility, and the ability to create new solutions.
The 18th generation begins its story
Each generation at Alma Mater brings new ideas, expectations, and ambitions. The eighteenth generation of first-year students has just begun its university journey. Ahead of them are lectures and exams, but also research challenges, international experiences, new acquaintances, and opportunities that today they may not yet be able to foresee.
We wish the first-year students a journey marked by curiosity, courage, perseverance, and a desire for knowledge—and that they transform the opportunities offered by Alma Mater into their own stories and successes.
