leading educational and scientific institutions in Slovakia. With its rich tradition it occupies a significant place among Slovak universities. This fact is not only connected with the number of students or offer of interesting and quality study programmes but the university also has the significant research and foreign activities. The current university is no longer focused only on transport and communications. It is a broadly-conceived university located in a unique university campus at Veľký Diel. It has seven faculties (the Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Faculty of Management Science and Informatics, the Faculty of Security Engineering, the Faculty of Humanities). The university also has the following workplaces: the Institute of High Mountain Biology, the Institute of Physical Education, the Institute of Forensic Research and Education, the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, the Institute of Continuing education, the Institute of Competitiveness and Innovations and the Aviation Training and Education Centre.

At present there are about 8 000 students being educated at seven faculties in 182 accredited study programmes in all forms and degrees of university studies at the University. In its successful existence it has become the alma mater for almost 86 000 graduates, highly skilled professionals specialising mostly in transport and technical fields as well as management, marketing or humanities. The quality and readiness of our graduates for the needs of practice is proved by a long-term high interest in hiring them by employers who cooperate with the University in the recruitment process. With its professional profile it is unique in Slovakia. The profile consists of: transport (road, railway, water, air), transport and postal services, traffic routes, transport and civil engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications, informatics, information and communication technologies, management and marketing, mechanical engineering, materials and technologies, robotics, machinery design, energies, civil engineering, crisis and security management, civil security, fire protection, forensic engineering, applied mathematics, teaching of academic subjects, library and information science, high mountain biology.

In the field of science and research the University of Žilina is involved in the solution of nearly 200 national and 65 international scientific projects and organises about 60 scientific and professional events annually. The results of science and research activities of the University have a major influence not only on educational activities, but also on the development of international cooperation or application in practice. Achieving the competitiveness objective of the university was accomplished by a gradual implementation of the state-of-the-art equipment of the university and its laboratories through several projects. 15 scientific research centres and 2 research centres – the University Science Park and the Research Centre were created thanks to these projects. In both centres conditions are created for new business incubators and regional support. Despite the short time of existence, there is a strong perspective of active support for research and innovations in national and international context and the centres are actively engaged in project and publishing activities.

Cooperation with foreign universities and institutions is crucial for UNIZA. The University of Žilina has signed bilateral agreements with more than 60 countries worldwide, not only within Europe, but also in America (USA, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba), Asia (Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan) and Africa (South Africa). In the field of university bilateral cooperation, the university moves forward in developing with the universities, higher education institutions and other institutions concerning the scientific and educational activities. In the history of the ERASMUS programme, the University of Žilina belongs to the most active and successful Slovak universities in terms of student motilities. It is the most successful Slovak university concerning the lectures given by its lecturers at foreign universities. The University of Žilina is a member of international organizations (Magna Charta Universitatum, EUA, IGIP, ECTRI, FEHRL, EARPA, EUROSIS, SDT) and cooperates with them through its representatives.

The University of Žilina has a great ambition to continue in its dynamic growth, to provide high quality education, to educate well-prepared and demanded graduates, to develop international cooperation both in science and education, but its great effort is mainly to provide the space and opportunities for the young generation to learn new, to broaden horizons, to learn how to cooperate, communicate and respect each other.