The beginning of the Faculty of Biotechnology is associated with the establishment of the Faculty of Agronomy, which was inaugurated by the then Rector, Academician Prof. Dr. Anton Melik, at a ceremony in the Assembly Hall of the University of Ljubljana on 11 October 1947. However, some of the programmes now running at the Faculty go back a long way: the study of biology at the University of Ljubljana began in 1919, and the Botanical Garden of the University of Ljubljana has been in operation since 1810.
The Faculty of Agronomy continued to expand its activities over the next few years, changing its name to the Faculty of Agronomy and Forestry in 1949 and to the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Science in 1953.
In 1961, the Faculty was renamed the Faculty of Biotechnology, as the development of various disciplines in the broader field of biotechnology also demonstrated the need for new study programmes. Thus, in addition to the Departments of Biology, Agronomy, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, the Departments of Wood Technology, Food Technology and Animal Husbandry were created, and in 1996 the Department of Landscape Architecture was added.
In 1990, the Department of Veterinary Medicine was split off and transformed into the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
With the Higher Education Act in 1993 and the Decree on the Transformation of the University in 1994, the organisational forms were maintained, but the legal status of both departments changed, with a unanimous decision to remain together at the Faculty of Biotechnics and the Faculty.
After Slovenia's independence, the most important events at the BF were the opening of the Biology Centre, the introduction of the interdepartmental university undergraduate course in microbiology, new fields of study, and the establishment of the Department of Landscape Architecture, the introduction of the inter-faculty postgraduate course in Natural Heritage Conservation, the unified postgraduate course in Biological and Biotechnical Sciences, the interdepartmental university undergraduate course in Biotechnology, the Bologna reform of studies, the interdisciplinary PhD course in Biosciences with the motto: Life Science - Knowledge for Life, the construction of an extension for the Dean's Office, a library and a large lecture theatre and a wooden extension to the Department of Wood Engineering with new laboratories, and the relocation of all the department's staff to one location.
The current development of science and technology, and even more so in the future, requires the continuous addition of new study programmes to the Faculty's fields of study and the extension of existing ones, as well as the deepening of fields such as sustainable management of renewable natural resources, environmental protection, nature conservation and natural heritage, climate change, food self-sufficiency, bioinformatics, natural resource economics, rural development and other areas related to the life sciences. Each faculty should have its own library for teaching and research. These premises have accompanied the BF throughout its development.
Taken from the Proceedings of the Seventieth Anniversary of the Faculty of Biotechnics at the following link
History of the Faculty of Biotechnics in figures
Deans of the Faculty of Biotechnics from its foundation to the present day
History of the Faculty of Biotechnics in figures
1810 Establishment of the Botanical Garden; since 1919 the Botanical Garden has been part of the University of Ljubljana and is a teaching and research unit of the Department of Biology.
1919 Study of biology; the Department of Zoology and the Department of Botany with the Botanical Garden (Botanical and Zoological Institutes) were established; the proposal to establish a study of agronomy failed.
1938 On 7 October 1938, Prof. Dr. Jovan Hadži, Professor of Zoology, was elected a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
1947 Faculty of Agronomy - Decree of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia of 8 May 1947; inaugurated on 11 October 1947 by the Rector of the University of Ljubljana, academician Prof. Dr. Anton Melik; first Dean: Prof. Ing. The Central Biotechnical Library (CBK) was established in 1947 with the foundation of the Faculty of Agronomy.
1948 Establishment of the Commission for Slovenian Agricultural Terminology.
1949 Faculty of Agronomy and Forestry - Decree of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia of 13 August 1949; Department of Agronomy and Forestry; study of forestry; Faculty of Agronomy and Forestry becomes an independent faculty - Decree of 23 December 1949 on the Establishment, Regulation and Work of the Independent Faculty of Agronomy and Forestry in Ljubljana; Forestry Library operates within the framework of three institutions: the Forestry Institute of Slovenia, the Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources of the Faculty of Forestry and the Forestry Institute of Slovenia.
1951 Relocation to Krekov Square.
1953 Faculty of Agronomy, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine - Decree of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia of 12 June 1953; Departments of Agronomy, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine; study of veterinary medicine (first enrolment in the academic year 1956/57). 1954 Decree of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia of 25 September 1953.
1954 - Incorporation of the independent Faculty of Agronomy, Forestry and Veterinary Science into the University of Ljubljana.
1957 First Dean of the Faculty of Agronomy prof. ing. Alfonz Pirc wrote that the Faculty had the first task in modern academic teaching, which must be linked to research and the economy (practice).
1958 In the summer of 1958, the investment programme for the construction of the Faculty of Agronomy, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine - Biotechnical Centre under Rožnik by the Glinščice River was drawn up and it was time for the construction to begin; the Biotechnical Centre houses the Dean's Office and the CBK (1990, 2010), as well as lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, teaching and research units of the Departments of Agronomy (1969, 1990), Biology with a Botanical Garden (1993, 1997), Forestry and Forest Renewable Resources (1961, 2003), Landscape Architecture (1969, 1990, 2010), Wood Technology (1985, 2015) and Food Science (1969, 2010, 2016). The Department of Zootechnics has undergone adaptations and relocation of the Institute of Dairy Science - (1975-1992).
1960 The Department of Biology was assigned to the Faculty of Agronomy, Forestry and Veterinary Science - Law on the reassignment of certain faculties of the University of Ljubljana of 24 June 1960; the study course of animal husbandry was introduced in the study of agronomy; the first defence of doctoral dissertation - 9 January 1960, prof. dr. Franc Ločniškar (agronomic sciences); general curricular reform - tiered study; first part-time students enrolled.
1961 Faculty of Biotechnology - Act of 28.9.1961 on the renaming of certain faculties within the University of Ljubljana; departments: agronomy, biology, forestry and veterinary science; studies: agronomy, which included independent courses in food technology and animal husbandry, biology, forestry and veterinary science; first enrolments in post-graduate master's studies; the Faculty of Biotechnology, together with the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, established the Jable Agricultural Experimental Centre.
1962 Forestry studies introduce the study course of forestry.
1964 First enrolments in post-graduate specialist studies.
1965 Unified studies reintroduced; curriculum for postgraduate studies; department of food technology; study of food technology.
1966 Study of agriculture - animal husbandry.
1967 General study reform; after the abolition of the Higher School of Housekeeping, premises were allocated to the BF and the Rodica Research Station was established, which houses the Department of Zootechnics.
1968 Study of Forestry; Forestry and Forestry Department.
1969 Academician Prof. Dr. Jovan Hadži was appointed 18th Honorary Doctor of the University of Ljubljana on 11 December 1969 on the proposal of the Biology Department of the BF; Memorial on the construction of the BF of the University of Ljubljana.
1970 Establishment of the INDOK Specialised Centre for Biotechnology.
1972 Rector Prof. Dr. Mirjan Gruden presented the Dean's Chain to Dean Prof. Dr. Franc Adamič at the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Arts; establishment of the Jesenko Awards - recognition of individuals and organisations of the Faculty of Arts; post-graduate Master's degree in Landscape Architecture; Prof. Franc Mikuž was appointed 24th Honorary Doctor of the University of Ljubljana on the proposal of the Faculty of Arts on 10 October 1972.
1973 The first Jesenko Prize was awarded.
1974 Restructuring of the Faculty organisation into a VDO with six VTOZDs; interfaculty Master's degree in Microbiology (jointly with the Faculty of Medicine).
1975 The Jesenko Prizes were awarded on 14 March.
1975 Symposium dedicated to the centenary of the birth of Prof. Dr. Fran Jesenko in the Chamber Hall of the University; division of the Forestry and Forestry Department into the Forestry Department and the Forestry Department; the Department of Animal Husbandry (renamed Zootechnics in 1993).
1976 Interdisciplinary university bachelor's degree in landscape architecture.
1977 Reports on the scientific research work of the departments, on the importance of postgraduate training - on-the-job training and reports by the BF on scientific and cultural contacts with foreign countries.
1978 Establishment of the library and INDOK service of the Department of Wood Engineering.
1979 Library and INDOK of the Department of Agronomy, Library and INDOK of the Department of Zootechnics and Library and INDOK of the Department of Food Science - independent since 1979.
1983 On 6 June 1983 Prof. Dr. Janez Batis was elected a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
1985 Establishment of the Centre for Biotechnology.
1986 General academic reform.
1987 On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Faculty of Biology, a high-profile scientific conference Science, the driving force for the development of biotechnological sciences was organised at the Cankarjev dom on 29 October 1987 and a publication with lectures was published; an agreement between the Faculty of Biology and the Faculty of Education on the cooperation of the Department of Biology in the implementation of certain higher education study programmes at the Faculty of Education.
1988 Sale of the parent building on Krekov Square.
1989 Prof. Dr. Boris Sket is elected the 37th Rector of the University of Ljubljana. During his rectorship (until 1991), after twenty-one years, the University was restored to the title of the University of Ljubljana, which it had held for thirty-four years before the renaming.
1990 Relocation from Krekov Square; the Department of Veterinary Medicine was organised as an independent Faculty of Veterinary Medicine on 1 January 1990.
1991 Abolition of the VTOZD and transformation of the BF into a public institution.
1992 BF gradually moves from a "VTOZD" organisation to a new institution organisation.
1993 Law on Higher Education; opening of the Biology Centre, co-housing the Biology Department and the National Institute of Biology; the Biology Library is the library of the National Institute of Biology and the Biology Department of the BF; Jesenko Awards for students; inter-departmental university undergraduate study of Microbiology, in which the Faculty of Medicine participates in addition to the BF (organiser).
1994 Adaptation of the organisation of the BF to the new law on higher education; unanimous agreement of all departments to keep the faculty unitary with a dean's office and six departments: agronomy, biology, forestry and renewable forest resources, wood science, zootechnics and food science; Decree on the reorganisation of the University of Ljubljana and the BF proposed new fields of study: Sustainable management of renewable natural resources, protection of natural heritage, environmental and nature protection, rural development, biotechnology and molecular biology; Higher Professional Studies in Hotel Management and Tourism - together with the Faculty of Economics (coordinator); The Slovenian National Centre AGRIS (Agricultural Research Information System) was established within the CBK.
1995 Interfaculty postgraduate studies in biotechnology - participating faculties: the Faculty of Science and Technology, the Faculty of Science and Technology, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine; specialised studies in agricultural extension - participating faculties: the Faculty of Science and Technology, the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Philosophy; Prof. Dr. Jože Maček was elected a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts on 6 June 1995.
1996 Establishment of the Department of Landscape Architecture; higher professional studies at the Departments of Agronomy, Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Forestry and Zootechnics; inter-faculty Master's degree in Natural Heritage Conservation - participating faculties: BF (organiser), Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Theology; Inter-faculty Master's Degree in Anthropology - participating faculties: BF and Faculty of Social Sciences.
1998 BF issued an annual report, which became a tradition in the following years; BF joined the SOCRATES programme and concluded many bilateral agreements with foreign universities or faculties.
1999 First enrolment in the university postgraduate study programme Biomedicine in the academic year 1999/00 - co-executed by BF; Prof. Dr. Matija Gogala was elected a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts on 8 April 1999.
2000 Decree on the reorganisation of the University of Ljubljana (Official Gazette of the University of Ljubljana, 2000). (42) life sciences (biology, microbiology, biotechnology, biomedicine); (14) teacher education (biology); (54) production technologies (woodworking, food processing); (58) architecture and civil engineering (landscape architecture); (62) agriculture, forestry and fisheries (agronomy, zootechnics, forestry); the Faculty of Arts conducted its first self-evaluation of studies, which became a tradition in the following years.
2001 With the adoption of the unified postgraduate programme in Biological and Biotechnical Sciences, which integrates all the previously fragmented postgraduate programmes, the BF has taken an important qualitative, developmental, integrative, contextual and organisational step; the programme allows students to choose their core, methodological and orientation subjects individually; the programme tries to keep pace with developments in the life sciences as far as possible and is organised in scientific fields: agronomy, biology, biotechnology, genetics, forestry and renewable forest resources, landscape architecture, forestry, conservation of natural heritage, zootechnics and food science; enrolment in the first year from the academic year 2001/02 to the academic year 2008/09; an interdepartmental university bachelor's degree programme in biotechnology has been adopted.
2002 The University Postgraduate Diploma in Statistics, co-organised by the BF, was launched in the academic year 2002/03.
2003 First enrolment in the university postgraduate study programme Environmental Protection in the academic year 2003/04 - co-executed by BF; CBK leads the consortium in the field of biotechnology; Prof. Dr Ivan Kreft was elected a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts on 12 June 2003.
2004 First enrolments in the interdepartmental university bachelor's degree programme in biotechnology; 40 places were offered for the academic year 2004/05.
2005 Contract for the Pahernik Foundation, an important aid for the implementation of quality forestry studies in Slovenia and the dissemination of the idea of sustainable forest management.
2006 Renovation of the study programmes according to the principle of two-stage study (3 + 2); digital library of the BF.
2007 The University of Ljubljana Historical Archives and Museum (ZAMU) set up an exhibition "Biotechnical Faculty through Time and Space - Six Decades of Ljubljana Biotechnical Studies" in front of the University's Assembly Hall to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the BF; the University of Ljubljana established a Doctoral School; the first enrolment in the Bologna interdisciplinary doctoral programme Biomedicine, co-executed by the BF, which coordinates the two scientific fields, took place in the 2007/08 academic year: Genetics and Microbiology (alternately with the Faculty of Medicine - MF); prof. Dr Lučka Kajfež Bogataj was a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize as a member of the IPCC (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
2007-2008 Bologna Academic Renewal:
Bologna Degree - Higher Professional Studies: forestry, agriculture - agronomy and horticulture, agriculture - animal husbandry, wood and fibre composite technology, wood engineering.
Bologna degree - university studies: biology, biotechnology, forestry and renewable forest resources, agriculture - agronomy, agriculture - zootechnics, landscape architecture, wood engineering, microbiology and food and nutrition.
Bologna degree - Master's degree: agronomy, biological education, biotechnology, ecology and biodiversity, economics of natural resources, forestry and forest ecosystem management, horticulture, landscape architecture, forestry, microbiology, molecular and functional biology, nutrition, animal science, food technology, applied statistics (inter-faculty Master's degree programme, 2nd cycle).
2009 First enrolment in the academic year 2009/10 in the Interdisciplinary Bologna Doctoral Programme in Life Sciences (with the slogan: Life Science - Knowledge for Life), a joint project of four faculties of the University of Ljubljana: Faculty of Biotechnics (BF) as the coordinator of the programme and the Faculty of Computer Science and Informatics (FRI), the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FS) and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FE) as co-implementers of the Biosciences programme in 16 scientific fields; the first enrolment in the academic year 2009/10 in the Bologna interdisciplinary doctoral programmes in Environmental Protection and Statistics, in which BF participates.
2010 Construction of an extension to the Department of Food Science with new premises for laboratories, a large lecture theatre, a library and the Dean's Office.
2011 On 5 May 2011, Prof. Dr. Boris Sket was elected an Associate Member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
2015 Bologna Degree - Doctoral Studies: the BF coordinates the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme in Biosciences (with the motto: Life Science - Knowledge for Life), within which it conducts doctoral studies in the following scientific fields: agronomy, biology, biotechnology, economics of natural resources, horticulture, landscape architecture, wood and biocomposites, nutrition, forest ecosystem management, conservation of natural heritage, cell science, animal science and food science. BF is also involved in three university interdisciplinary PhD programmes in Biomedicine, Statistics and Environmental Protection. In Biomedicine, the PhD is supervised in the scientific fields of genetics and microbiology (alternately with the MF), while in the other two programmes, the PhD is supervised when the PhD student's supervisor comes from the BF. Construction of a wooden extension to the Department of Wood Engineering with new laboratories and relocation of all the Department's staff to one location.
2016 The Faculty of Medicine joined the interdisciplinary PhD programme in Life Sciences, and two new scientific fields were opened: agri-food microbiology and bioengineering in healthcare, the management of which will be the domain of the BF.
2017 On 1 June, Prof. Dr. Boris Sket was elected a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
2020 Prof. Dr. Nataša Poklar Ulrih takes over as the first Dean of the Faculty.
Deans of the Faculty of Biotechnics from its foundation to the present:
2022/... prof. dr. Marina Pintar, full professor
2020/22 Prof. Dr. Nataša Poklar Ulrih, Full Professor
2018/20 Prof. Dr. Emil Erjavec, Full Professor
2016/18 Dr. Miha Humar, Full Professor
2014/16 Dr. Davorin Gazvoda, Full Professor
2012/14 Dr. Igor Potočnik, Full Professor
2010/12 Dr. Mihael J. Toman, Full Professor
2008/10 Dr. Franc Štampar, Full Professor
2006/08 Dr Janez Hribar, Full Professor
2004/06 Dr Jože Osterc, Full Professor
2002/04 Dr Jože Resnik, Full Professor
2000/02 Dr Iztok Winkler, Full Professor
1998/00 Dr. Peter Maček, Full Professor
1996/98 Dr Franc Lobnik, Full Professor
1994/96 Dr Janez Hribar, Associate Professor
1992/94 Dr Andrej Šalehar, Full Professor
1989/92 Dr Jože Kovač, Full Professor
1987/89 Dr. Marijan Kotar, Full Professor
1985/87 Dr Boris Sket, Full Professor
1983/85 Dr Franc Sunčič, Full Professor
1981/83 Dr. Srdjan Bavdek, Full Professor
1979/81 Dr Franc Bučar, Full Professor
1978/79 Dr Franc Ločniškar, Full Professor
1977 Dr Franc Bitenc, Full Professor
1975/77 Dr Andrej Martinčič, Associate Professor
1973/75 Dr Dušan Mlinšek, Full Professor
1971/73 Dr France Adamič, Full Professor
1969/71 Dr Stane Valentinčič, Full Professor
1967/69 Dr Aleksander Konjajev, Full Professor
1965/67 Dr Ernest Mayer, Full Professor
1963/65 Zdravko Turk, Full Professor
1961/63 Vinko Sadar, Full Professor
1959/61 Dr. Srečko Vatovec, Full Professor
1958/59 Jože Levstik, full professor
1957/58 Franjo Rainer, Associate Professor
1955/57 Dr Fran J. Zavrnik, full professor
1954/55 Ivo Jelačin, full professor
1953/54 Franjo Sevnik, full professor
1951/53 Vinko Sadar, full professor
1947/51 Alfonz Pirc, full professor