Slovenia

Political framework for bilateral cooperation in education and research

Slovenia has been a member of the EU and of NATO since spring 2004. The country will assume the EU presidency in the first half of 2008. The fact that Slovenia was eligible to join the Eurozone on 1 January 2007 is a further reflection of the stability of the country’s political and economic structures. 

Since the elections in 2004, two ministries have been responsible for research and education policy: the Ministry of Education and Sport and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology.

Slovenian R&D activities are characterized by the relatively high level of investment in R&D measures as well as the high quality of R&D activities in publicly financed institutes with well established international collaborations.
Slovenia uses financial resources from the European Structural Fund to create an atmosphere of innovation, with the aim of strengthening the entire private sector. This is being done through the establishment of regional and national networks of technology parks, incubators, and centres of excellence.

Key strategic and political documents of the Slovenian policy on research and innovation are currently the Slovenian Development Strategy 2006-2013 and the national R&D programme (National Research and Development Programme) 2006 to 2010. The focus is placed in particular on the following priority areas: information technologies, new materials, nanotechnologies, technologies for sustainable development, innovative technologies and life sciences. Furthermore, in October 2005 Slovenia presented a reform programme to achieve the Lisbon goals (Reform Programme for Achieving the Lisbon Strategy Goals); an interim report on implementation has been available since October 2006. At the end of 2008 the programme was revised and adjusted to the altered framework conditions.

Important actors in the Slovenian research sector are the three state universities: the university in Ljubljana, the university in Maribor, which is largely oriented towards technical sciences, and the University of Primorska, which was founded in 2003 and has its head office in Koper. A non state-run university also exists in Nova Gorica. In June 2008, the Euro-Mediterranean University was officially opened in Portoroz during the time of Slovenia’s EU presidency.

Apart from the (state-run) universities, the most important research institution is the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana. Furthermore, Slovenia has 15 national research institutes in the area of applied research and ten Centres of Excellence (CoE) (5.RP/INCO). Content-wise they concentrate on topics from the fields of biotechnology and pharmaceutics, information and communication technologies, environmental technologies and the sustainable development of karst regions. The leading Slovenian research institution in the field of natural sciences and technology is the Josef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana.

Since 2004, the Slovenian Research Agency (SRA) and Slovenian Technology Agency (TIA) have been active in the area of research funding. While the SRA primarily fosters the implementation of the national R&D programme, TIA above all supports the areas of innovation and technological development in Slovenia. International cooperation falls within the SRA’s sphere of responsibility.

Slovenia is an active partner in shaping the European Research Area. Of particular note in its cooperation with Germany is Slovenia’s commitment to the Western Balkans through various network projects. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MHEST), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the International Bureau (IB) of the BMBF are working together on the following projects:

SEE-ERA.NET PLUS is a European network project whose central task is to conduct a joint call for proposals for "Joint European Research Projects" (JERPS). Building on the experiences and results of the project SEE-ERA.NET, the aim is to drive forward the further integration of the South Eastern European countries – in particular the countries of the Western Balkans – in the European Research Area (ERA). «The joint call for proposals was published on 1 September 2009. From the €3.5 million total budget of the joint call for proposals to which all partner countries and the European commission contribute, funding is to be awarded to around 20 JERPS for a term of one to two years. In addition to Germany (BMBF and IB/DLR) and Slovenia (MHEST), other countries participating in the call for proposals include Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, France, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Austria, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Slovenian institutions are partners in 26 of the 70 full proposals that were submitted.

WBC-INCO.NET is a European network project for bi-regional dialogue between the EU, the states associated with the EU-FP7 and the Western Balkan countries.  The aim is to improve the participation of researchers in the target regions in European R&D projects. The consortium of WBC.INCO.NET is comprised of 26 partners from 16 countries, including the ministries of research of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Croatia, the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Austria, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. Furthermore, numerous research institutions are participating. From Germany, the BMBF and the IB/DLR are involved.

In addition, Slovenia is an important partner in the development of the Mediterranean region and in the involvement of non-EU states in the European Research Area.
The EMUNI (Euro-Mediterranean University) initiated by Slovenia is a sign of the country’s particular interest. EMUNI is aimed at the further development of the Euro-Mediterranean higher education area and is one of the six priority project areas of the "Union for the Mediterranean" (UfM). The "Union for the Mediterranean" (UfM) encompasses all 27 member states of the European Union as well 16 countries in North Africa, the Middle East including Turkey and the Balkans (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey).
The Euro-Mediterranean University EMUNI is embedded in an international network of universities. In 2010, this network currently encompasses 141 university members from 37 states.

Funding for collaborations with Slovenia

In view of the EU’s enlargement, the BMBF published a special funding instrument for scientific and technological cooperation with Central, Eastern, and South Eastern European countries in spring 2004. Under the programme “International Cooperation in Education and Research; Central, Eastern, and South Eastern European Region" (which is a so-called regional call for proposals), financial resources are made available for preparatory projects in the areas of applied research, development, and education, with the aim of preparing further submissions under current BMBF funding programmes and the 7th EU Research Framework Programme.
Funding is also given to measures for the elaboration of concepts to establish joint research bases. Since 2006 an additional call for proposals has been published annually in the target region as part of the measure to promote Germany as a key location for innovation (research marketing). The aim is to make German institutions more widely known as attractive partners for competence sponsors and those searching for competence abroad.