University of Maribor

University rankings
University rankings
Regional – Overall
QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia	80 (2022)

University of Maribor
Univerza v Mariboru
Type	Public
Established	1975
Rector	Zdravko Kačič
Administrative staff	1,800
Students	13,988 (2023)
Location	Maribor, Slovenia
Colours
Website	um.si

The University of Maribor (Slovene: Univerza v Mariboru) is Slovenia's second-largest university, established in 1975 in Maribor, Slovenia. It currently has 17 faculties.

History

The university's roots reach back to 1859 when a theological seminary was established with the encouragement of Maribor bishop and patriot Anton Martin Slomšek. More faculties were established during the late 1950s and early 1960s; the faculties of economics, business, and technology in 1959, agronomy and law in 1960, and pedagogy in 1961. The university's opening ceremony occurred on 19 September 1975. The 1970s was a decade of exponential rise in the number of higher education institutions in the former Yugoslavia when alongside Maribor universities in Osijek, Rijeka, Split, Mostar, Podgorica, Bitola, Banja Luka, Kragujevac and Tuzla all opened their doors.

Rectors of the University of Maribor were Dali Džonlagić, Alojz Križman, Ludvik Toplak, Ivan Rozman and Igor Tičar. In late 2017 and early 2018, Jan Žan Oplotnik was acting rector for almost one year. In 2018 Zdravko Kačič was elected rector.

Reputation

The university has entered the top 1% of institutions in physics and, of the nine institutions entering the top 1% in this field, the University of Maribor did so with the highest number of citations, according to an analysis of data from Essential Science Indicators from Thomson Reuters.

The University of Maribor has cooperated in European Framework Programmes since 1998 and the number of international research projects is increasing each year. According to "Ranking Web of World Universities", the University of Maribor is in the top 15 of "Top Central and Eastern Europe Universities". It currently (2010) holds the 534th position (of 12,000) of the world universities ranking, which ranks it among the top 5% of universities in the world.

Organization

The university is divided into 17 faculties:

The university also comprises several associated facilities, including the Maribor University Library, students' dormitories, the Computing Center, the Leon Štukelj Sporting Center, and Postgraduate and Visiting Faculty Home.