Department in brief

  • the department started teaching in the academic year 1952/1953 and it already celebrated 70 years of existence,
  • since 2019 the department adjusted its official name to the Department of Economic and Social Geography, Demography and Territorial Development,
  • it consists of two divisions – Economic and Social Geography (1) and Demography and Demogeography (2),
  • currently, the department has three professors, five associate professors, 11 lecturers and researchers, two administrative and technical staff, 5 doctoral students,
  • we are the only department specialised in education and training in human geography (with attention to economic, social, political, urban, and cultural geography), demography (focusing on population structures and processes, population policies, forecasting) and related GIS applications in Slovakia,
  • we provide education in geography and demography at all levels – bachelor, master, and PhD, including participation in geography teachers training, we are providing a rising number of courses in English,
  • we co-operate extensively in education activities with other two geography departments integrated into the Geographical Section at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Comenius University, as well as e.g., with colleagues based in the Demographic Research Centre at INFOSTAT in Bratislava,
  • our programmes are regularly updated, newly adopted and accredited programmes started in the academic year 2022/2023,
  • the department has a well-developed network of partnerships, including those serving for Erasmus+ student study abroad (e.g. Bremen University, Freie University Berlin, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan, Warsaw University, Charles University Prague, University Szeged, University de León, University of Minho – Guimares, L. Eötvös University Budapest, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Münster, Université Clermont-Ferrand, etc.), other partners for student studies abroad are available e.g. within ENLIGHT network of universities (Bern, Bordeaux, Galway, Gent, Groningen, Tartu, Göttingen, Uppsala, Bilbao/San Sebastian/Vitoria),
  • since 2005, we prepared a whole series of new or updated university textbooks in Slovak,
  • publication outcomes document our research leadership in this field in Slovakia thanks to more than 60 studies published and registered in databases WOS/Current Contents/SCOPUS during 2020-2022,
  • usual research outcomes are also numerous monographs and book chapters (including those published in leading foreign publishers like Springer, Routledge, De Gruyter, etc.),
  • we are regularly working on research projects funded by research agencies in Slovakia, projects funded from EU sources in Slovakia (in wider partnerships), and other international projects supported by various sources and with various partners,
  • members of our staff are participating in the work of nationwide advisory bodies (including those affiliated to central state ministries) and associations, regular are our consultancy activities and research on behalf of various public administration and commercial entities,
  • the department is deeply involved in the activities of the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance (see www.igu-gog.org), as well as other professional associations active in geography and demography.