SMASH MSCA

Home
Slovenia
Nova Gorica
SMASH MSCA

SMASH is a MSCA program supporting 2-year postdoctoral fellowships in Machine Learning in Slovenia

31/08/2026

Lots of inspiring talks, discussions, and exchanges at the yearly EUCAIF Conference, this time hosted in beautiful Heidelberg. 🇩🇪

The event brought together researchers working at the forefront of AI for fundamental physics, with lively conversations taking place across working group panels, coffee breaks, and conference dinners.

It was a great opportunity to discuss the fast developments shaping the field, connect with the community, and explore new ideas for future research. ⚛️

16/07/2026

fellows Justyna Skibińska and Muniba Ashfaq took part in the European Summer School on Artificial Intelligence 2026, ESSAI, in Vienna, Austria. 🇦🇹

The summer school offered a wide range of courses covering advanced machine learning, deep learning, digital humanities, and research career development.

For Justyna and Muniba, ESSAI was a valuable opportunity to gain new knowledge, connect with researchers from around the world, and broaden their scientific horizons. 🤝

A big thank you to all the organisers, including Vida Groznik, General Chair of ESSAI and one of the SMASH supervisors, for making this inspiring event possible.

The knowledge and connections gained at ESSAI will support our fellows’ research and inspire their future work. 🔬

14/07/2026

fellow Matjaž Puh attended the ECMWF Machine Learning Pilot Project All-Hands Meeting in Wildhaus, Switzerland. 🇨🇭

The event brought together meteorological services and research institutions to share progress and exchange ideas on machine-learning-based weather prediction.

Matjaž presented his work on regional data-driven weather forecasting for the Eastern Alps and Northern Adriatic using the Anemoi framework developed within the Pilot Project. His research focuses on transfer learning and adapting pretrained models to the Slovenian domain. 🌦️

The meeting also provided valuable discussions on model verification, ensemble forecasting, data assimilation, and the challenges of integrating machine learning into operational weather prediction.

These exchanges will help refine the next steps of his project and identify promising directions for future research.

13/07/2026

fellow Lukas Kugler participated in the 8th Workshop on Machine Learning and Data Assimilation for Dynamical Systems, MLDADS, held as part of the 26th International Conference on Computational Science at the DESY campus in Hamburg. 🇩🇪

The workshop brought together researchers working at the intersection of machine learning, data assimilation, and dynamical systems. It provided a valuable forum for presenting recent advances, exploring new methods for modeling and forecasting complex systems, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. 🤝

For Lukas, MLDADS was an opportunity to present his research to an international audience and engage with leading experts in machine learning and data assimilation, including pioneers in latent space data assimilation. 🔬

08/07/2026

fellow David Calhas gave a talk titled “Survival Analysis with Neural Networks”. 🧠

The talk was connected to his secondment at Queen Mary University of London, where he worked with Petra Proitsi and her lab on research related to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

His work focuses on identifying patient profiles whose symptoms progress at different speeds and using clinical and genomic features to better understand and explain symptom progression. 🩺

This research highlights how machine learning can support more personalized approaches to studying neurodegenerative diseases.

06/07/2026

fellow Areeb Ahmed attended the Machine Learning Summer School on Reliability & Safety, MLSS R&S 2026, in Kraków, Poland. 🤖

Over five days, the summer school explored key topics in AI safety, reliability, and the robustness of machine learning systems, bringing together researchers in AI security for insightful talks, discussions, and knowledge exchange. 🛡️

A big thank you to ML in PL, ELLIS Unit Warsaw, IDEAS Research Institute, Jagiellonian University, and GMUM for organizing such a valuable event.

The insights gained during the week will support Areeb’s ongoing research and future work in AI security and trustworthy machine learning. 🔬

30/06/2026

fellow Judita Mamužić contributed to the theatre play Komarji at SNG DRAMA Ljubljana . 🎭

As part of the production, several physicists from the Institut "Jožef Stefan" jo were interviewed about the LHC, particle physics, the Higgs boson discovery, the LHC startup, and what it is like to work at CERN and in science.

These recordings were incorporated into the play, bringing voices from the scientific community into a theatre setting and connecting particle physics with the wider public in a creative way. ⚛️

The play Komarji is still being performed at Drama Theatre in Ljubljana.

More info: https://www.drama.si/dogodek/komarji/

18/06/2026

fellow Areeb Ahmed gave an invited talk at AiSEK 2026, the International AI & Information Security Conference, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 3 June 2026. 🛡️

AiSEK 2026 brought together experts, innovators, and decision-makers to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and information security in real-world systems.

In his talk, “AI and Cybersecurity: Emerging Threats and Resilient Defenses”, Areeb discussed emerging adversarial threats targeting AI systems, the limitations of current defense mechanisms, and new directions toward resilient, adaptive, and trustworthy AI security architectures. 🤖

Watch the full talk here:
🔗https://youtu.be/FleBJNAN1EE?si=8Fsz6HTuqi6XHI7j&t=10470

More info:
🔗https://aisek.palsit.com/predavanja #562

16/06/2026

fellow Marko Đukanović has successfully completed his three-month secondment at the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, hosted by Dr. Tome Eftimov and his research group. 🤝

The secondment brought together research in combinatorial optimization, machine learning, network science, and large language models, leading to several important scientific outcomes.

One key result was the paper “Graph Instance Landscapes: When Structural Similarity Does (Not) Reflect Shortest-Path Performance”, accepted for presentation at IEEE CEC 2026. The work explores how the structure of graph instances relates to the performance of shortest-path algorithms. 📊

The collaboration also led to a submitted manuscript on improving LLM benchmark efficiency through graph-based prompt selection, helping reduce the cost of evaluating large language models.

In parallel, Marko contributed to a recently published study in Water on explainable machine learning for streamflow forecasting in the Bosna River Basin, highlighting the growing role of Explainable AI in scientific applications. 🌊

The secondment opened several promising directions for future joint research and strengthened collaboration between the participating institutions.

Related links:
Water journal article: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/18/10/1226
LLM benchmarking preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.01400

12/06/2026

fellow Justyna Skibińska hosted Prof. Nirvana Popescu from the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest and Dr. Jair Gonzalez from Ansys at the Fakulteta za računalništvo in informatiko on 3 June. 🧠

Prof. Popescu delivered an insightful lecture titled “AI-Powered Clinical Intelligence: From Diagnosis and Predictive Models to Explainable Decisions”, highlighting the growing role of artificial intelligence in medical data analysis, disease diagnosis, prediction, and clinical decision-making. Her talk included AI-driven approaches to Parkinson’s disease management using MRI data and wearable sensor records, as well as applications in chest X-rays and melanoma detection. 🩺

Dr. Gonzalez demonstrated how academic research can be successfully transferred to industry. Using an AI-based system for detecting heart valve diseases as a case study, he illustrated the pathway from innovative research to real-world industrial applications. 🔬

Thank you to both speakers for their valuable visit, insightful presentations, and engaging discussions in Ljubljana.

Address

Vipavska Cesta 13, Rožna Dolina
Nova Gorica
5000

Website

https://smash.ung.si/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when SMASH MSCA posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to SMASH MSCA:

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Nova Gorica?