News

The representatives of the ministries responsible for higher education from Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Malta, Cyprus, Portugal, Croatia and Slovenia, a representative of the Union for the Mediterranean and a representative of the European Commission attended a ministerial meeting at Brdo pri Kranju. This was the first event since Slovenia assumed the one-year Presidency of MED9, a group of EU Member States in the Mediterranean.

Ministry of Digital Transformation and Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
Slovenia joins the countries that will play a key role in the future of AI in Europe. Under the EU's latest initiative, Slovenia will host one of six new AI factories, backed by a high-performance supercomputer. This is a strategic step towards the development of a state-of-the-art computing infrastructure that will strengthen research, innovation and digital sovereignty of Slovenia and Europe.

During its presidency of MED9, Slovenia will focus on strengthening Europe's resilience and competitiveness, youth empowerment and capacity-building in higher education, digitalisation and culture as well as the EU enlargement and other foreign policy issues. A number of events will be organised during the Presidency, which you can follow on the dedicated MED9 website.

The Commission for Equal Opportunities in Science of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation would like to carry out a special survey to examine the working conditions and career prospects of science employees in Slovenia.

At the Consultation of Slovenian Diplomats in Brdo pri Kranju, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon and Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Igor Papič signed an agreement whereby Slovenian diplomatic missions and consular posts abroad will contribute to promoting the achievements of Slovenian science, innovation and research excellence.

Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Science and Innovation Directorate 10 November marks World Science Day for Peace and Development, which highlights the significant role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues.

Congratulating them at today's press conference, Minister Igor Papič said that without their efforts it would be hard to imagine the continued successful development of society.

On the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, high-tech companies, centres of excellence and research institutes, the Slovenian Science Foundation, together with the Jožef Stefan Institute and the Embassy of India in Ljubljana, organised the first Slovenian-Indian Day of Science and Innovations at the Jožef Stefan Institute.

On the occasion of the visit of the Slovenian Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Igor Papič, to Rome, the Directorate for Economic and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia organised an event entitled "Science and Innovations, Slovenia - Italy" at the headquarters of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Rome.

On 10 May 2023, Slovenia became a member of the Instruct-ERIC European Research Infrastructure Consortium by the Instruct-ERIC Council decision, and thus joined the fourteen existing members together with Greece. The membership enables researchers from Slovenia to participate in the entire portfolio of services, including the technology catalogue, internships, training programmes, and research and development funding.

At the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Prime Minister Robert Golob ceremoniously signed an agreement between business, science and politics entitled "For a smart, sustainable and competitive Slovenia".

Dr Igor Papič, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, met with Matjaz Gruden, Director for Democratic Participation at the Council of Europe. They discussed current issues and activities planned by the Council of Europe.

The adoption of the Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act allows for more effective and consistent implementation of scientific research and innovation policy measures.

An informal meeting of the Competitiveness Council (COMPET) has concluded in Stockholm, where ministers responsible for research discussed open science and research infrastructures. The meeting was also attended by Minister Dr Igor Papič.

Last year’s Horizon Europe call for Marie Sklodowska Curie COFUND projects (MSCA COFUND) was one of the most successful calls so far for Slovenian applicants.

On 18 May 2022, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Research Infrastructure Roadmap 2030 (NRRI 2030). NRRI 2030 is an implementation document of the Resolution on Research and Innovation Strategy of Slovenia 2030 (ReZrIS30) revising all field segments, i.e. priority international projects as well as national priority areas within research infrastructures. This will be followed by a presentation and definitions of links with the Smart Specialisation Strategy and a presentation of different ways of funding research infrastructures.

2020 first entry deadline for all undergraduate and master programmes extended until 9 April 2020.