University of Primorska (Slovenian Univerza na Primorskem, Italian Università del Litorale) is the third university in Slovenia. It is located in Koper, Izola and Portorož and is named for the Slovenian Littoral region (Slovenian Primorska) where it is located. The very first efforts to found a Primorska university were made almost one hundred years ago, whereas the first concrete steps towards the establishment of a new Slovene university were taken after the country had become independent. Thus 1992 saw the preparation of the expert study of the development of higher education in the region of Primorska, and a year later a letter of intent was signed envisioning the establishment of the University Study Centre. In 1995, the Science and Research Centre of the Republic of Slovenia was founded in order to garner the intellectual potential of the future university, while 1996 witnessed the formation of the University Study Centre of Koper, which facilitated the development of higher education in the region and prepared the legal basis for founding the university.