Prešov University in Prešov - Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences
The Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences is an institution which provides higher education in accordance with social and regional demands as well as carrying out research activities in various fields of the humanities and natural sciences. The Faculty offers Bachelors and Masters programmes in the following academic disciplines: arts, English language and literature, biology, civics and ethics, ecology, geography, informatics, mathematics, music, pedagogy, physics and psychology. It also provides doctoral programmes for full-time and part-time students in the following research areas: anthropology, environmental ecology, pedagogy and regional geography. In addition, the Faculty carries out habilitation and professorship procedures in geography.
Research conducted in the Faculty is closely related to the instruction carried out in its departments, thus the chief research activities are thematically diversified, at the same time providing unique conditions for interdisciplinary research. Research activities are predominantly operated through projects awarded by the VEGA and KEGA grant commissions, but also through projects commissioned by the Slovak government (Research and Science Scheme and Applied Research Scheme) as well as by international foundations and organisations. The Faculty has been ranked among the leading faculties in Slovakia (the third place in its category according to ARRA evaluation).
The Faculty has achieved impressive results in a number of research fields, including anthropology and molecular genetics, geography, ecology, biology, physical sciences, educational technologies, information and communication technologies, pedagogy and psychology, philology, artistic sciences, social sciences and mathematics-informatics.
The Faculty also includes two top-ranking workplaces. One is the laboratory of molecular genetics, equipped with a unique MEGABACE 1000 instrument that facilitates unique DNA analyses used in population-genetics research, prenatal diagnostics and diagnostics for genetic diseases. The other one is the laboratory of geographical information systems, equipped with the most advanced technology and software (ArcView, GRASS GIS, GPS), focusing on research into renewable energy sources. Both laboratories are specialist research centres which serve as bases for larger projects.
An important part of Faculty life is represented by artistic activities. Fine artists regularly display their work at national and international exhibitions (in China, USA, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Spain, Portugal, Romania). In the field of musical art there are several ensembles that regularly achieve excellent results, such as the Torysa folk ensemble, Musica Historica, Camerata Academica, Nostro Canto, and Iuventus Paedagogica. The Faculty organises national as well as international scientific conferences and symposia and publishes scientific journals, conference proceedings and textbooks.
International connections include European universities and also some universities overseas. The Faculty has close contacts with institutions and agencies involved in the field of international co-operation (such as the Slovak Ministry of Education, the Slovak Academic Information Agency (SAIA), the Austrian Institute for Eastern and Central Europe, the Open Society Fund, the Fulbright Commission, the British Council, USIS, DAAD, Robert Bosch-Stiftung) through which various research projects are carried out and staff as well as student mobility are organised. In addition, the Faculty is involved in numerous projects within the ERASMUS scheme (Comenius, Gruntvig, Leonardo da Vinci), CEEPUS, COST and others.
