Ana Žužul is a Master of Speech and Language Pathology from the University of Zagreb with a strong interest in psycholinguistics, bilingual language processing, and developmental language disorders. She currently volunteers at the Laboratory for Psycholinguistic Research (POLIN) in Zagreb, where she is involved in collecting eye-tracking data for the Croatian language. During her Short-Term Scientific Mission at the University of Ljubljana (29/09/2025–10/10/2025), hosted by Professor Anja Podlesek, she collected eye-tracking data from Slovenian speakers to expand the corpus and support multilingual research within the network.
This autumn, I spent two weeks at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, with the aim of collecting eye-tracking data for the Slovenian language. I was warmly welcomed by the host research team, with whom I collaborated on setting up the eye-tracking experiment and collecting participant data. At the beggining of the dana collection, we encountered different challenges during the setup phase of the experiment. Although this delayed the beginning of data collection, looking back, it was a very valuable and important experience through which I learned a lot and gained a much deeper understanding of how the experiment works. The process of solving problems together was an experience that helped us get to know each other better, learn collaboratively, and celebrate every small success. Ultimately, we were extremely pleased when we successfully launched the experiment and the data collection finally began.
The laboratory in which I spent many hours during those two weeks became very dear to me, as did the people I met there. It was truly inspiring to meet and exchange experiences with young doctoral students, from whom I learned a great deal. I particularly appreciated the opportunity to assist in training a volunteer who will continue the data collection for the Slovenian language. Over time, we became friends and shared many meaningful hours working together on data collection and solving various technical issues.
To end on a personal note, I was fortunate and privileged to spend every lunch break in the beautiful city of Ljubljana — bathed in autumn sunlight, lively, vibrant, and full of life. Strolling along the Ljubljanica River, sitting in the sun, and relaxing on the city’s green spaces were the best breaks I could have imagined. Ljubljana has always been close to my heart, but through this experience, I have come to love it even more and have met wonderful people I truly look forward to seeing again!
