Doc. Ing. arch. Katarína Smatanová, PhD.

Vice-rector for Public Relations and International Cooperation

As an STU Vice-Rector, Associate Professor Katarína Smatanová develops strategic partnerships, fosters the status of technical departments in society and supports international cooperation of STU. She pays special attention to the presentation of student talents and projects, and contributes to building the University as an open and inclusive community. 

She graduated in 2011 from the STU Faculty of Architecture, while receiving MA at the Newcastle University, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape in 2009. In 2015, she completed her doctoral studies in urban planning at STU. In 2020, she habilitated in the field of architecture and urban planning.

She has been working for the STU Faculty of Architecture and Design since 2014, heading the Institute of Urban Planning and Spatial Planning, co-guaranteed the Bachelor degree programme of Architecture and Urban Planning, and the Master degree programme of Art in Public Space. Between 2022-2025, she was a member of the Faculty Academic Senate. Her teaching activities comprise the courses focused on urban design and interdisciplinary aspects of urbanism. She supervises doctoral students in the field of city and health, which connects urbanism with public health, neuroscience and urban stress research.

She is a co-author of the Architectural Policy of the Slovak Republic, and a researcher in several national and international projects (APVV, Interreg, SlovakAid, EEA).

Her research focuses on digitization and innovative approaches to planning and healthy urban environments. She collaborates with universities and institutions in Europe and the global South (UN-Habitat), contributing thus to the shaping of the international agenda in the field of urbanism. She has applied her professional experience also in cooperation with public administration, particularly in the fields of social inclusion and regional development.

Her work has also been recognized outside of academia – she won the EU Civic Society Prize (2014) for the project “Building Hope”; several of her projects were presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale (2025). In addition to her academic career, she is also involved in the civic sector, where she has long been active in the areas of cultural heritage, community development and inclusive housing.