The 8th International Conference on Novel Materials Fundamentals and Applications

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Gregor Bánó

Photonics is an application-oriented discipline at the interface of optics, opto-electronics and quantum optics. It includes classical optics extended by the description of physical phenomena and optical devices that rely on quantum (photon) nature of light.
The main objective of the Photonics course is to provide a comprehensive overview of essential optical and photonic phenomena routinely applied in experimental scientific research while working with various light sources (e.g. in the field of biophotonics). The first chapters are devoted to the description of light at different levels. The logical order of subsections in this part corresponds to the structure of the textbook: B. E. A. Saleh, M. C. Teich, Fundamentals of Photonics. The following chapters contain a description of laser operation and an overview of selected optical instruments and their applications.
The body text is complemented by practical notes on the use of theoretical knowledge during daily work in the laboratory. The course of Photonics requires a basic knowledge of mathematics, electromagnetism and optics, and thus it is recommended to students who previously passed through the courses of the Bachelor's program in Physics.

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Dušan Barabas - Alena Labunová

These study materials aim to provide basic information about biogeographical issues from a geographical perspective, i.e., a perspective focused primarily on the aspect of spatial differentiation of the biosphere. The basis for the division of the biosphere is its historical development, during which individual taxa and communities were formed.

The historical development of the biosphere did not occur under stable, constant conditions, but rather in ever-changing conditions caused by the position of our planet within the solar system, the position of the Earth's axis relative to the ecliptic, and also the position of the solar system within the galaxy. All changes in the Earth's position, together with the movement of continents (drift) and climate changes, created the prerequisites for the spatial expansion of the biosphere. The historical development of the biosphere, various perspectives, the hierarchical level of differentiation, and the causes of differentiation are incorporated in this study material, whose aim is to outline the basic principles of this division.

The goal is also to highlight certain differences in the understanding of terminology, as well as to point out some fundamental relationships operating within the landscape system in the broadest sense of the word. The section devoted to the ecological principles of the functioning and formation of the landscape system, according to MIČIAN and ZATKALÍK (1984), outlines the issues of understanding the terms ecosystem and geosystem. For this reason, the presented text includes chapters that attempt to explain the understanding and approach to some basic concepts.

These study materials are intended for students of single-subject, interdisciplinary, and supplementary studies as basic teaching material. By expanding the knowledge from this study material with further information, which is elaborated in more detail in the literature listed in the bibliography of this text, graduates will gain a comprehensive view of biogeographical issues.

Authors

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Ľubomír Šnajder - Ján Guniš

The publication lists interim results of qualitative educational research focused on the development and evaluation of programming tasks being carried out by authors since 2005 in the frame of programming competition PALMA junior.

The publication consists of three chapters: Computer science competitions in Slovakia, Tasks in computer science education, Selected problems of PALMA junior competition. The first chapter provides an overview of computer science competitions for a primary and secondary schools in Slovakia. The second chapter described the issue of learning tasks - their components, focus, formulation types, and development system of tasks. The third chapter contains the assignments and commented author solutions of selected problems represented focus of PALMA junior competition – programming, algorithms and mathematics.

For each problem is mentioned analysis of pupils’ solutions aimed to ways of thinking, typical misconceptions, sets of preparatory and extended problems. The publication is addressed to computer science teacher trainers, authors of programming competitions problems, and computer science teachers.  

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Božena Mihalíková - Ján Ohriska

This text is intended for first-year students in 76-12-8 ‘General Education Teaching’ in combinations with mathematics. It is based on the authors' lectures and their more than ten years of experience in teaching this subject at the Faculty of Education of the University of Applied Sciences. When writing it, the authors tried to take into account the specificity of mathematics teaching studies.

The present teaching text was not written due to the lack of textbooks on mathematical analysis. The reason for writing it was the authors' findings that the students do not have sufficient experience in working with specialized literature from secondary school, the difficulties for many of them (especially in the first semesters) are caused by even a slightly different interpretation, not rarely also by a change in labeling, which makes them miss the essence of the studied problem. The authors of the text did not set out to be original. Their aim was to make such a selection of topics as is necessary for a future teacher of mathematics and to choose such a method of interpretation which, in their opinion, is suitable for first-year students.

A good mastery of the curriculum (expansion of the mathematical apparatus and the related possibilities of applying other methods of proof as well as the acquisition of the necessary numerical skills) presupposes the use of other literary sources (textbooks, collections of problems) according to the teacher's recommendation.

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Adriana Zeleňáková - Zuzana Ješková - Adela Kravčáková - Gabriela Fabriciová - Erik Čižmár - Róbert Tarasenko - Jaroslava Szűcsová - Ľuboš Nagy (eds.)

Zborník obsahuje abstrakty príspevkov účastníkov 14. česko - slovenskej študentskej vedeckej konferencie vo fyzike, ktorá sa konala 2.-3.mája 2024 na PF UPJŠ v Košiciach.

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Marián Kireš - Renáta Orosová a kol.

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Jozef Bednarčík - Hana Vargová (eds.)

The Czech and Slovak Conference on Magnetism (CSMAG) is a scientific meeting that honors a longstanding tradition initiated in Košice in 1960. Evolving from a regional gathering of the Czechoslovak magnetic community into a prominent international forum, CSMAG brings together researchers from diverse fields of magnetism. The conference covers a wide range of topics including theoretical and experimental magnetism, magnetic materials for energy and spintronics applications, low-dimensional and molecular magnets, rare-earth and actinide systems, and multifunctional materials. With contributions from over 20 countries, CSMAG’25 fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration and showcases the latest advances in both fundamental studies and practical applications of magnetic phenomena.

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Mária Kožurková

These university textbooks are intended for first-year master's degree students at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of UPJŠ in Košice. The scope and content of the works included in these scripts are primarily based on time and spatial constraints, taking into account the material demands of the tasks.

The aim of these scripts is to teach students basic microbiological techniques and to show them the importance of microorganisms in everyday life and their crucial role in nature. The exercises are designed to enhance students' technical skills and teach them to work according to safety principles.

The text is divided into 13 parts. Each part begins with an introduction to the theory related to the practice topic. The appendix includes a proposal for the preparation of protocols for individual exercises.

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Mária Ganajová - Jozef Hanč - Ivana Sotáková - Petra Letošníková (eds.)

The International Conference on Research in Didactics of the Science – DidSci+ 2022, continues in the educational legacy of the successful series of the previous DidSci conferences held from 2004 in Krakow, Prague, Brno, or Trnava. The DidSci+ conferences present a platform for enduring international cooperation, focusing on the frontiers and current challenges in science education research. This special edition of DidSci conferences, celebrating its 10th anniversary, was held in Košice, at the Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, from June 26 to 29, 2022. The careful double-blind review process has led to two major publications offering a comprehensive look at the latest advances in STEM and science subjects education. The first volume of selected papers is published as the IOP Conference Series proceedings, Vol. 3037 with open access at https://iopscience.iop.org/issue/1742-6596/3037/1, and is primarily devoted to STEM education, assessment, evaluation, feedback strategies, and teacher development. The second volume of selected papers, published by ŠafárikPress, focuses more on curriculum development, educational innovation, and digital technologies, primarily in chemistry and biology. Both publications are intended for a wide audience, including in-service and pre-service teachers of science subjects, university students in scientific disciplines, researchers in science education, professionals in pedagogical and methodological centers, curriculum developers, and textbook authors.

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Miroslav Almáši(ed.)

The proceedings of the conference 60 YEARS OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN EASTERN SLOVAKIA comprise a collection of scholarly and scientific contributions presented on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. The conference focused on reviewing the scientific, research, and educational activities in the field of inorganic chemistry in eastern Slovakia and highlighting significant achievements accomplished over the sixty-year history of the department. The abstracts included in the proceedings cover a broad range of topics that reflect current trends and directions in inorganic chemistry. The proceedings are thematically divided into four main areas, encompassing contributions dedicated to inorganic, coordination, bioinorganic, and materials chemistry. This collection offers a valuable overview of the current state of research in inorganic chemistry, as well as its teaching and historical development in eastern Slovakia..

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Rudolf Gális

The presented work provides basic knowledge of astronomy and astrophysics in a completely new multimedia format. The scope of the knowledge presented is mainly focused on stellar astrophysics and supplemented by cosmology beyond the title of the work.

A new approach in this work is the large proportion of visual materials, graphs, and video clips, contrasted with the brevity of the accompanying text. Such a form of presenting knowledge in this field is unprecedented in Slovakia, and therefore this work can be considered a completely innovative piece. It should be emphasized that the engaging form of the presented knowledge does not come at the expense of its content. The work contains all the necessary information that a physics student, especially one with a pedagogical focus, should master. The work can also be an invaluable aid to teachers in secondary and even primary schools, as well as professional astronomers in popularizing astronomical knowledge.

This suggests that the work covers a relatively wide range of needs at various institutions dealing with astronomy, from universities, through faculties of education and grammar schools, to observatories, planetariums, and astronomy clubs.

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Jozef Bednarčík (ed.)

Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice under the auspices of Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic and European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility GmbH in Hamburg organizes School of XFEL and Synchrotron Radiation Users 2024 (SFEL 2024). The school is continuation of the Winter Schools of Synchrotron radiation held in 2011, 2013, 2014 and SFEL 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022. The aim of the SFEL2024 school is to facilitate the growth of new Slovak research community of high expertise in high-efficiency RTG laser and synchrotron and neutron sources. The SFEL school is designed for efficient transfer of the rapidly developing know-how in these areas to young generation – researchers and university students. The next aim of the SFEL2024 is strengthening of personal connections between the local Slovak research community and forming scientific teams of XFEL users. Slovak research community thus can take advantage of the fact that Slovakia is a shareholder of European XFEL GmbH Company in Hamburg, but also makes more efficient use of other closely related scientific facilities, including ILL and ESRF in Grenoble and DESY in Hamburg.

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Soňa Király (ed.)

The book of abstracts from International Meeting on Advanced Materials, IMAM 2025, is composed of contributions from participants of this conference. The conference consisted of 16 lectures by mentioned conference participants. The conference is focused on advanced materials and its application in various research areas. All contributions are professionally processed and inspiring.

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Ľubomír Antoni a kol.

In university textbooks, we present the history of data science, basic concepts in artificial intelligence, machine learning, or deep learning. We describe the relationships between data science and other disciplines and summarize the tasks of the data scientist. We present an overview of university subjects in the field of data science, which were created and innovated at Slovak universities within the national project IT Academy - Education for the 21st Century. We present extended subject annotations, application examples and case studies using various methods in the field of data science. University textbooks are intended for students of bachelor's, master's, engineering and doctoral study programs in computer science, but also in non-informatics fields.

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Peter Paľove-Balang

The text ‘Uptake and transport of mineral substances in plants’ in Slovak language provides a general overview of the uptake and distribution of substances in an easy-to-understand form.

The individual chapters introduce students to the properties of the soil environment, which have a significant influence on the availability of substances, as well as the transport of substances across membranes and over medium and long distances. The text contains the latest findings from the English literature, supplemented by diagrams and graphs created by the author on the basis of his own research or by compiling several sources.

The text is intended primarily for students of a master's degree in biology or ecology and assumes at least a basic knowledge of plant physiology.

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Jozef Strečka

Over the past fifteen years, the course on ’Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Physics’ has become an indispensable ground of the study programme ’Theoretical Physics’ at Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafarik University in Košice. At first, the course based on the first edition of this textbook was intended for undergraduate students only, however, I have later prepared follow-up course taught at a postgraduate level on demand of several ambitious students who wished to continue in studying this exciting research field.

It is already more than decade when our students enrolled in the study programme ’Theoretical Physics’ graduate from ’Introduction to Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Physics’ at a master level and ’Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Physics’ at a postgraduate level. Of course, it was necessary somehow to rearrange topics for the courses of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

More specifically, a few more challenging topics concerned with exact solutions of 2D Ising model (chapter 3) were moved to a more advanced course intended for the postgraduate students, while an introductory course intended for the undergraduate students was contrarily supplemented with a few new topics requiring the second edition of this textbook.

The second edition of this textbook thus contains a completely new chapter 4 devoted to the exact solution of the Ising model on the Bethe lattice using the method of exact recursion relations, while the chapter 5 was supplemented by exact results for ground state of a few frustrated Heisenberg spin models using the variational method. It is my hope that the next edition of this textbook will come soon and it will involve all topics specifically taught within the postgraduate course as well. 

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