Wednesday, 20 May 2026 Dr. Vita Poštuvan finalists for the 2025 Mentor of the Year Award
The Young Academy Association has presented the Mentor of the Year Award for the seventeenth consecutive year. The award highlights the importance of quality mentorship for successful doctoral studies. This year, they received 78 valid applications, in which 68 different mentors were nominated. Among the five finalists is Dr. Vita Poštuvan (UP IAM, UP FAMNIT) , who was nominated for the award by her doctoral student Vanja Gomboc, also on behalf of her colleague Lucija Rojc, as well as Dr. Nina Krohne and Dr. Meta Lavrič, who have already earned their doctorates under her mentorship. Thus, her nomination was supported by absolutely all of her former and current mentees, which in itself is proof of her high-quality work.
Dr. Vita Poštuvan is a psychologist who, in her research and intervention projects, focuses on the study and prevention of suicidal behavior, the promotion of mental health, the grieving process, and ethics; she is the deputy head of UP IAM SCRS. She is actively involved in teaching at various faculties and coordinates the doctoral program in Suicidology and Mental Health at UP FAMNIT.
She has supervised more than 80 students on their final projects, primarily master’s students in psychology and doctoral students in suicidology and mental health. She is the author of numerous publications: she has published 85 scientific articles—a large proportion of which in the world’s most prestigious journals—more than 50 chapters in scientific monographs, and has over 620 entries recorded in the SICRIS database; and in the SCOPUS database, she has an h-index of 33, which ranks her among the most cited Slovenian experts in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. She is a regular guest at prestigious institutions and conferences both in Slovenia and abroad.
She is the editor-in-chief of the journal GeroPsych and an active member of professional associations such as the IASP and EFPA at the international level, and the DPS and DVKT at the national level. As a researcher, she has visited Austria, the United Kingdom, and Japan, and has also worked professionally in China and India. As a cognitive-behavioral therapist, she provides psychological counseling, and as a member of the National Civil Protection Unit for Psychological Assistance, she offers psychological support during crises and disasters. By providing direct support to people, she combines her academic and scientific work with professional psychological practice.
Upon her nomination, Vanja Gomboc emphasized that she values her mentor’s ability to identify the mentee’s strengths and, through professional support, encourage them to achieve the best possible results.
We sincerely congratulate Dr. Viti Poštuvan and wish her continued success in supporting young people at the start of their research careers!
The Young Academy (MA) is the successor to the Slovenian Association of Young Researchers (DMRS), which was founded in 1995. After twenty years of operation, they decided in 2016 to expand their focus beyond doctoral students to include early-career researchers in their activities. The main purpose of the association is to bring together doctoral students and early-career researchers, as well as young people active in research and higher education in Slovenia and Slovenians working in these fields abroad.
