SYCP > Policy / Institutional Frame > RTD & Innovation

Main Info

Responsible Body
Policy Overview
Milestones
International Cooperation
Main Documents
Slovenia vs. EU
Basic Indicators
Contact Persons
Useful Links

Responsible Body

Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology
(Ministrstvo za visoko šolstvo, znanost in tehnologijo)

Trg OF 13, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: +386 1 478 46 00
Fax: +386 1 478 47 19
E-mail: gp.mvzt@gov.si
Web Page: http://www.mvzt.gov.si/index.php?L=1

Ministry of the Economy
(Ministrstvo za gospodarstvo)

Kotnikova 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: +386 1 478 33 11
Fax: +386 1 433 10 31
E-mail: info.mg@gov.si
Web Page: http://www.mg-rs.si/english

Slovenian Research Agency (SRA)
(Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije – ARRS)

Tivolska c. 30, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: +386 1 400 5910
Fax: +386 1 400 5957
E-mail: info@arrs.si
Web Page: http://www.arrs.gov.si/en/index.asp

The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology performs tasks in the field of higher education, research, technology, metrology and promotion of the information society in the areas not covered by other ministries. The ministry also co-ordinates work in the field of the information society.

Directorate for Science and Higher Education performs tasks in the field of professional higher and university education, and research.

Department for Higher Education performs tasks enabling planning, directing and financing of higher education activities, residential facilities for students and higher education libraries. It defines starting points and objectives of higher education policy; analyses the attainment of concrete goals; draws up the National Higher Education Programme, monitors and evaluates its effects; prepares legislative and other proposals; approves the calls for enrolment and the distribution of study programmes; determines, implements and analyses integral financing of higher education institutions, analyses socio-economic issues for students; performs expert tasks related to integration into the European Union Higher Education Area. It also participates in creating an information system for higher education; analyses and monitors financing; examines and settles at second instance appeals concerning Ad futura and students’ residential facilities.

Department for Science defines the expert bases for the adoption of political documents in the field of research policy. It drafts laws and implementing regulations on research activities. It establishes and enhances the system of comprehensive analyses and monitoring of the situation and development in research, develops new tools for attaining research policy goals, and plans the required financial resources for research.

Directorate for Technology performs tasks in the field of technological development and innovation by introducing modern concepts that promote technological development and innovation in the Slovenian industry. In its work it follows four basic orientations: horizontal incentives for R&D projects of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); technology programmes in selected technological fields; R&D infrastructure and human resources development; participation of the economy in the international R&D area.

Directorate for the Information Society is responsible for accelerated, harmonised and efficient development of the information society based on knowledge and life-long learning. This is in practice reflected in the transfer of knowledge, information and communications technologies and contents to schools and research institutions, public administration and local self-government bodies, the economy and civil society. In its work the Directorate co-operates with various organisations, including those in the field of legislation, security and privacy in the e-world, education, monitoring of indicators of the information society development, promotion of software development and its localisation based on an open and free source, scientific and expert meetings, projects bridging the digital divide and others.

The Ministry’s basic areas of work in the field of international co-operation encompass bilateral and multilateral scientific and technological co-operation. The Ministry represents Slovenia and participates on its behalf in the work of the European Commission committees. It is actively involved in the 5th, 6th and 7th EU Framework Programmes. It also covers the activities of Slovenia in the R&D field of South Eastern Europe. Within the Ministry, the UNESCO Office performs tasks concerning Slovenia’s co-operation with UNESCO, the realisation of UNESCO objectives in Slovenia, collaboration with national commissions and bodies in other countries as well as NGOs.

Policy Overview

Defining Stategic Developmental Goals of Research & Development Activities in Slovenia and Proportion of these Goals for 2006 - 2010
The new National Research and Development Programme (NRDP) 2006–2010, being drawn up by the Ministry, will contain clearly defined goals and measures in Slovenia's research and development sector. It will also set out the new relationships between research areas, thereby giving emphasis to technical natural science and biomedical research, and research of the natural and cultural heritage of Slovenia in the area of the humanities.

New criteria will be set out for financing technical natural science and biomedical research groups that will carry out projects obtained in the market (from the EU, the commercial sector and the public sector). Efforts will be made in the budget for 2005 to secure an increase in funds for research and development amounting to 0.1% of GDP. The goal of foreseen investment in R&D in the next years will be assured through activities of the Slovenian Research Agency (SRA) established by the Government in October 2004, which performs professional, development and executive tasks relating to the National Research and Development Programme. Also, eight research Centres of Excellence will be set up in Slovenia with the support of the commercial sector in five priority areas of research and technological development, with European structural policy funds.

Harmonising Higher Education with the Bologna Guidelines
Alongside accrediting study programmes in line with the Bologna guidelines – here, the number and orientation of the new Bologna programmes will be pursued – the majority of work relates to adapting and supplementing Slovenian legislation in this area. The Higher Education Act, adopted in June 2004, lacks the majority of implementing regulations, so an analysis will be made of the necessary amendments to the law. One of the most important jobs of the Ministry in the area of higher education will be the drafting, coordination with all higher education institutions and then adoption of amendments and supplements to the Professional and Scientific Titles Act, which is important for the evaluation and recognisability of the new education system. In line with the Government of the RS guidelines, another priority goal is the changing and coordinating of the proportions of open places at various faculties in favour of technical natural science and biomedical disciplines, and increasing investment in equipment and laboratories at natural science and technical faculties, and this will be facilitated through the adoption of the relevant implementing regulations.

Promoting a Favourable Macroeconomic Environment for Innovation Through Financial Support for Companies in the Field of Technological Development
The main role in achieving this goal will be played by the Slovenian Technology Agency (TIA), established by the Government in October 2004. It will assume the majority of tasks and measures for promoting entrepreneurship and competition. In the previous period, the emphasis on the technological field shifted primarily towards supporting investment, cohesion and internationalisation. In line with the Lisbon declaration, greater emphasis will be placed on research and development activities and on specific objectives such as:

preparing new technological programmes to promote investment in technological development;
increasing the proportion of innovative companies and
increasing the proportion of personnel trained to carry out research and development in the commercial sector.

A tender will be prepared for small and medium-sized enterprises, for the development of products and services with higher added value and a higher degree of technological complexity. In the same way a tender will be prepared to promote investment in strategic R&D projects for companies and to include young, highly educated personnel in these projects. A partnership of companies, research institutions and the state will, in the next three to five years, draw up new technological programes. By the end of the year all activities for determining developmental priorities will also be coordinated.

Coordinating Implementation of the Programme in the Area of the Information Society
In the area of the information society the Ministry will elaborate a concept of coordination between ministries. Coordination will contribute towards a general growth in IT awareness, since there is a desire to penetrate the most remote regions of Slovenia. In this way we will rank in the top half of European countries by criteria relevant for assessing the level of development of the information society. The cornerstone of the information society is e-accessibility, which contributes to awareness and education and to a greater general familiarisation with IT and applications, and in consequence to their greater use. The Ministry will therefore strive to achieve the highest possible level of equipping of educational and scientific institutions with IT in the most cost-effective way, and to enable the conditions for distance learning that will be affordable for all inhabitants seeking knowledge. By promoting the development and introduction of new domestic technologies and applications, we will strive to facilitate the participation of small and young innovative companies.

Establishing Broadband Networks to Link up Educational, Cultural, Research and Development Spheres
One of the most important projects in the area of the information society in 2005 will be constructing the infrastructure for a broadband network which will enable, for public institutions in the area of education, science, research and culture, high-capacity access to the Internet and implementation of programmes to computerise educational institutions included in national programmes and financed from the national budget. These programmes are: distance learning, videoconferences among institutions, school partnerships (e-twinning), the development of digital content and so forth. The Ministry will coordinate the medium-term and long-term work of the JRZ with the NRDP and will determine the relationship between key aspects of financing: financing the founder's obligations; financing a public service (programme financing and concessions); funds obtained in the market (commercial sector, EU projects and other public tenders).

Innovation and Technology Policy is incorporated in “Entrepreneurship and competitiveness policy”. It is implemented by the Ministry of the Economy and oriented towards the following goals:

Strengthening key performance factors such as knowledge, innovation, technology and entrepreneurship,
Creating legal framework that ensures a sustainable and balanced development for all market players, and
Strengthening competitive capacity of Slovenian companies through exports, foreign direct investment and the quality inward foreign direct investment

The objective of the policy is to boost enterprises’ economic efficiency and international performance in order to:

Attain an economic structure comparable to the European Union one which will require faster growth and an increased share of activities with high added value,
Improve competitive capacity of enterprises, which signifies in particular reducing the productivity lag, measured in gross added value per employee in comparison with the EU average,
Create balanced economic capacity at the regional level in Slovenia.

Milestones

972-1039		The earliest known Slovene document in Latin script: “Freising Manuscript”.
The 14^th century		Gave rise to a whole range of great thinkers of Slovene origin, who were active in European courts and universities, including Tomaž Prelokar, a bishop and tutor of the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Bernard Preger, Dean of the University of Vienna and author of a very successful Latin textbook with German annotation, Matija Hvale, a professor at the University of Vienna and a proponent of the universal philosophy of knowledge.
1490		The discovery of mercury in Idrija, which become the second biggest mine of this metal in the world. The subsequent 500-year extraction of mercury in Idrija was a powerful stimulus to the development of science, medicine and technology in Slovenia and in the greater European continent.
End of 15^th century		Slovene physician Dr. Sanctorio Sanctori introduced precise measurement – chiefly of body temperature – into medicine.
1688-89		The first scientific association in Slovenia was founded in Ljubljana, in parallel with the beginning of the movement to establish a Slovenian University.
1689		Publication of the momentous work, “The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola”, by Janez Vajkard Valvasor. This great scholar described the nature and life in the greater part of Slovenia and neighbouring regions in fourteen thick, richly illustrated volumes. In his works, he tried to collate the entire body of contemporary knowledge about this part of Europe. As a result of his study of the complex mechanisms which regulate the intermittent lake at Cerknica, Valvasor was elected a member of the Royal Society in London.
1693		The Slovene Academy of Sciences was established with assistance of Marko Gerbec, a Slovene physician of high international reputation.
1778		Baron Žiga Zois, a Slovene patron and inventor, funded the first ascent to Mount Triglav, at 2864 metres the highest Slovenian peak and the national symbol.
1783 – 1797		A Slovene mathematician and ballistics expert Jurij Vega established ballistics as a scientific discipline. His logarithmic tables were remained the most commonly used technique for calculation until the introduction of electronic computers.
1830		Frederik Baraga, a missionary of Slovene origin, who later became a bishop, started working among the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Canada. He contributed important research in ethnology and linguistics and was the author of the first grammar of an Indian language.
1827		Josef Ressel, an inventor of Czech-German origin, developed his idea of the screw propeller while he was working in Ljubljana. He patented it in two years later, in Trieste. He became the first in the world to use it in civil navigation.
1835		The first steam industrial engine was set up in Ljubljana. Soon after, steam power was used for the first time in the Idrija mine.
1849 and 1857		The introduction of steam power in Slovenia reached its peak, when the railway line from Vienna reach Ljubljana and Trieste, respectively.
1850		Ignacij Knoblehar, also known as Abuna Soliman, travelled 4100 km along the White Nile from the Nile Delta, penetrating farther then any other contemporary explorer.
1879		Slovene physicist Jožef Stefan, Director of Physics Institute in Vienna, founder of the Austrian School of Theoretical Physics and Vice-president of the Austrian Academy of Science, discovered the Law of radiation.
1880		The age of electricity started in Slovenia, when the first electric light bulb was switch on in Tržič.
1884		The first public power station began to operate in Škofja Loka.
1888		The first steam powered generating station was build in Ljubljana.
1897		Slovene professor of physics Albin Belar established the first modern European earthquake monitoring system, and one of the first on the World, at the Ljubljana Polytechnic.
1898		Slovene Baron Anton Codelli, who later became a pioneer in the introduction of long-range radio links and the inventor of television system, brought the first car in Ljubljana.
1901		Ljubljana acquired an electric tram.
1906		Slovene engineer Franc Wels devised the world’s first flying wings, basing on design on the shape of the plant seed. Using this aircraft, he completed the first powerless flights in Austria-Hungary.
1906		Slovene scientist Josip Plemelj solved a Rieman’s problem of differential equations, which many thought was insoluble.
1909		Slovene airman Edvard Rusjan made the first flight with powered aircrafts in this region of Europe.
1911		Slovene inventor Ivan Slokar was granted a patent for the invention of a powered aircraft with two evolving rotors instead of wings. Such aircraft, however, only became technically feasible 25 years later.
1914		Slovene professor of physics at the Idrija Technical High School Julij Nardin worked on a patent application of his idea for a two-stage rocket. In the sea, the rocket would become a self-propelled torpedo. It would operate by using a pro- gram printed on a perforated strip. Thus Nardin was one of the first to introduce cybernetics to Slovenia.
1916		Scientist of Slovene origin Dagobert Mueller successfully tested his construction of a hovercraft (the literature cites the year 1955 as the year of its invention).
1919		The first Slovene University was founded in Ljubljana.
1923		Slovene physician and chemist Fritz Pregl, Nobel Prize Laureate, developed microanalysis technique for organic chemistry, for which he received the Nobel Prize.
1923-1925		Slovene marine officer Miroslav Štumberger developed a rocket motor driven by liquid fuel.
1929		Slovene spaceage visionary and pioneer of geostationary satellites Herman Potočnik-Noordung wrote a book entitled “The problem of Space Travel”, a text book for a whole generation of space pioneers. Potočnik was also the first to calculate the basis for a geostationary satellite to be positioned above the equator and intended for use in communications.
1930-1933		Slovene electrical engineer Vladimir Šlebinger successfully participated in adapting the cathode ray tube for television technology at the Hertz Institute in Berlin.
1933		A skyscraper was built in the Slovenian capital on earthquake-safe principles. It was designed by the architect Vladimir Šubic and was at that time the highest residential building in Europe.
1938		The Slovene Academy of Science and Arts was founded in Ljubljana. Its first president was Rajko Nahtigal, expert in Slovenian language.
1906 – 1996		Slovene theologian Anton Trstenjak, philosopher and psychologist, in the world literature considered as founder of the psychology of colours and researcher of emotions. He was also a founder of graphology in Slovenia. In all his works there are tendencies towards the integral study of man.
1952		Establishment of the Government Office for Technical Assistance of the Republic of Slovenia.
September 1963		Based on the Government Office for Technical Assistance of the Republic of Slovenia, the Government of Republic of Slovenia established the Administration for Scientific and Technical Cooperation of the Republic of Slovenia - ZAMTES.
1971		Based on the Research Foundation of Boris Kidrič, the Research Committee of the Republic of Slovenia was established.
1975		Cultural and Educational cooperation were integrated into the Administration ZAMTES.
1980		The monthly periodical journal “Researcher” was established by the institution Slovenian Research Community, with aim to inform the research sphere and broader public about Slovenian R&D strategic activities, promotion of R&D successes as well as the effective use of scientific results in industry.
25 June 1991		After the Slovenian independence, the Ministry of Science and Technology was established taking over the responsibilities of Administration ZAMTES. At the same time the Councils were formed - The Council for Science and Technology; and the National Council for Scientific Research. The Council for Science and Technology was established to advise the Government regarding scientific and technological development. The responsibilities of the National Council for Scientific Research were to advise the ministry on policy matters concerning scientific research policy
Autumn 1991		Slovenia and its researchers officially started active participation in the European programmes such as Tempus, COST, PECO, EUREKA, Copernicus and the 4th Framework Programme of research and technological activities of the EU.
1995		The National Research Programme of the Republic of Slovenia 1995-2000 was adopted.
10 June 1996		The Europe Agreement Establishing an Association between the Republic of Slovenia and the European Communities was signed and Slovenia applied for full membership of the EU.
July 1996		Slovenia became the candidate country for the EU membership and started negotiations with the European Communities in the Chapter of Science and Research.
September 1998		The Ministry of Science and Technology issued a 5-year overview of Governmental activities, institutions, strategic documents and statistical data in Slovenian R&D in publication “Science in Slovenia”.
November 1998		Slovenia concluded negotiations with the European Communities in the field of Science and Research and got officially the status of an Associated country to the Fifth Framework Programme of research and technological activities of the EU.
1999		The Ministry of Economy introduced a new concept of industrial policy, enterprise and competitiveness development policy, which has been implemented since 2000. It is based on values such as quality economic growth, based on ideas, knowledge, information and high-tech. It was officially adopted the National Development Plan 2000-2006 and Strategy for Economic Development 2001 – 2006.
Beginning of 2001		The Slovenian Government established the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport by merging former two line ministries – the Ministry of Science and Technology; and the Ministry of Education and Sport. By the same decree, the Technology sector was transferred to the Ministry of the Economy.
July 2001		The Strategy of the Economic Development of the Republic of Slovenia was adopted.
September 2001		The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport in cooperation with Slovenian Business and Research Association in Brussels and other partners released the CD-Rom and Internet based Integrated Information System with Internet-based Partner Search Tool called “Find your R&D Partner in Slovenia” – Link: http://www.slomap.com
2001/2002		The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport issued an updated 5-year overview of Governmental activities, institutions, strategic documents and statistical data in Slovenian R&D in publication “Science in Slovenia 2002”.
2002		The Ministry of Economy adopted its scheme of innovation support measures called simply Programme of Measures to Promote Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness 2002–2006. It brought various actions focused on co-operation between industry and academia, clustering and internationalisation.
October 2002		The Ministry of Education, Science & Sport in cooperation with Slovenian Business and Research Association in Brussels and other partners issued the CD-Rom and Integrated Information System with 5-year overview of Governmental activities, institutions, strategic documents and statistical data in Slovenian R&D as well as specially developed Internet-based Partner Search Tool for the areas of R&D and business called “Slovenia-your R&D and Business Partner” – Link: http://www.rtd.si/eng/slordb.asp
November 2002		The Ministry of Education, Science & Sport created the Slovenian inter-ministerial web portal www.rtd.si (Research and Technology Development in Slovenia).
2004		The Ministry of Economy co-ordinated drafting of additional strategic document, namely Single Programming Document (SPD). It represents a set of activities to be co-founded by the EU European Regional Development Fund from 2004-2006). It has recognized the new needs of economy, especially SMEs, and has devoted substantial financial assets for concerted actions in R&D projects and larger infrastructure investments where the participation of clusters, technology networks and technology centres is obligatory.
December 2004		The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology was established comprising former departments from three different ministries – Departments of Higher Education and Science from the former Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Department for Information Society from the former Ministry of Information Society and the Technology sector from the Competitiveness & Entrepreneurship Department of Ministry of the Economy.
June 2005		The Strategy of Development of Republic of Slovenia for 2005-2013 was adopted.
September 2005		The National Research and Development Programme 2006-2010 was adopted.
December 2005		Innovative Integrated Information System with Internet-based Partner Search Tool covering 28 different activity areas named “Slovenia - Your Cooperation Partner” is released and integrated into the inter-ministerial portal www.rtd.si. The Integrated Information System developed in cooperation with the line ministries, public institutions, enterprises and Slovenian NGOs contains promotional poster “Slovenia – Country of Excellence”, 20.000 copies of DVDs and interactive features in the web-portal: www.rtd.si/sycp.

International Cooperation

International Scientific Cooperation

Slovenian research has become more visible and better known internationally since Slovenia joined the EU in 2004. In addition to EU RTD Framework programmes, it is important to further develop science and technology cooperation with other regions, countries and research organization in the world. Bilateral cooperation is vital for both scientific progress and efficient use of research findings.

Today Slovenian scientists and research organisations are fully involved in international co-operation. In all areas of scientific and technological co-operation, the EU places Slovenia is high on the list of Central and Eastern European countries, both with regard to the professional level of its human resources and the quality and number of its projects.

For Slovenia, the transition towards knowledge-based economy and society is essential for our integration into the European economic area and the European society as a whole. On the way towards knowledge-based society our country has to establish networks linking research, production and distribution and integrate them into the regional ones and in particular into the European Research Area (ERA).

From this viewpoint the international scientific and technological cooperation is of essential importance for the successful technological development of Slovenia as a small country. Our extensive experiences were reflected especially in the field of international scientific and technological cooperation within the process of entering the European Union and in successful cooperation in research programmes of the EU.

International co-operation in the area of RTD & Innovation comprises bilateral and multilateral co-operation in scientific and technological fields, and is also connected with international co-operation in the field of higher education (see Education – International Cooperation).

Bilateral Scientific & Technological Co-operation

Bilateral scientific & technological co-operation is based on bilateral acts concluded with individual countries. According to government decisions, priorities in bilateral co-operation include the European Union Member States, neighbouring countries and developed overseas countries and regionally important countries. Bilateral co-operation is conducted on an annual basis through calls for proposals.

Co-financing of bilateral international cooperation proceeds in accordance with the Rules on Financing and Co-financing of International Scientific Cooperation by the Republic of Slovenia and on the basis of public tenders for cofinancing scientific and technological cooperation with individual countries.
The Republic of Slovenia has signed 25 bilateral scientific agreements with the following countries:

Republic of Albania (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of The Republic Of Slovenia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania, signed on 23 February, 2005),
Republic of Argentina (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Argentina, signed 1997),
Republic of Austria (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Austria on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1998),
Federative Republic of Brazil (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, signed 1998),
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed 1995),
Cyprus Republic (Protocol of Cooperatiion Between the Government of the Republuc of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus on Research and Development, signed in Ljubljana on the April 2005),
Czech Republic (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Czech Republic, signed 1995),
Hellenic Republic (Greece) (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Hellenic Republic on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1999),
Republic of the Philippines (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1996),
Republic of Croatia (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1994),
Republic of India (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of India on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1995),
Republic of Italy (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Italy on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1998),
People's Republic of China (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the People's Republic of China on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1993),
Republic of Korea (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Korea, signed 1994),
Republic of Hungary (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Hungary on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1994),
Republic of Macedonia (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1993),
Republic of Poland (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Poland, signed 1996),
Portuguese Republic (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Portuguese Republic on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 2001),
Romania (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of Romania, signed 2000),
Slovak Republic (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Slovak Republic on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 2001),
Republic of Turkey (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Turkey, signed 2001),
United States of America (Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the United States of America on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1999),
Republic of Serbia and Monte Negro (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and The Ffederal Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, signed on 31 May, 2002,
Kingdom of Spain (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Republic of Slovenia and the Kingdom of Spain, signed 2002),
Kingdom of Thailand (Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand, signed 2004, 8 September),

The Republic of Slovenia has also signed three interministerial agreements with the Russian Federation (Agreement Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Science and Technology Policy of the Russian Federation on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, signed 1994; Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Higher Education, signed 1994; Agreement on Cooperation in the Development of Satellite Communications for Linking the Academic and Research Networks of the Republic of Slovenia and the Russian Federation, signed 1993),

Four interministerial memoranda of cooperation with the following countries:
Islamic Republic of Iran (Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Science, Education and Research Between the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia, signed 1994),
Japan (Memorandum of Understanding on Scientific Cooperation Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Japanese Association for the Promotion of Science, signed 2001),
Federal State of Minas Gerais in the Federative Republic of Brazil (Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Science and Technology Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Secretariat of Science and Technology of the State of Minas Gerais, Federative Republic of Brazil, signed 1997)
Federative Republic of Brazil (Memorandum of Understanding Between the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federative Republic of Brazil relating to R&D cooperation in priority fields, signed 2002),

Four joint declarations with the following countries:
Kingdom of Denmark (Joint Declaration on Cooperation Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Research and Information Technology of the Kingdom of Denmark, signed 1997),
Kingdom of Norway (Joint Declaration on Cooperation Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway, signed 1998),
Republic of Estonia (Joint Declaration on Scientific and Technological Cooperation Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Estonia, signed 1996)
Republic of Lithuania (Joint Declaration on Cooperation Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, signed 1998), and

Protocol of Intent with the Republic of Latvia (Protocol of Intent on Cooperation in the Field of Scientific Research and Technological Development Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, signed 1998).
Co-operation is also proceeding with the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Japan on the basis of succession.
Review of cooperation with individual countries by number of joint bilateral research projects in 2005 (including projects concluded in 2004, ongoing projects carried over from 2004 and projects approved for co-financing up to December 2005) is shown in the presentation of the Slovenian Research Agency (SRA).

In 2005 Slovenia concluded 42 agreements, memoranda and joint declarations with different countries.
706 projects were inititated.

Slovenia strives to establish a higher level of institutionalised bilateral cooperation with states considered as Slovenia’s most important partners, and redirect bilateral cooperation to multilateral or regional joint R&D projects contributing to ERA.

Main partners:

EU member states
Neighbouring countries
West Balkan countries
Non-European S&T leading countries (US, Japan, etc.)
Regionally important countries in other continents

Number of Bilateral Research Projects with participating Slovene Partners in 1994 – 2005

Number of Bilateral projects by country
(2000 - April 2005)

Multilateral Scientific & Technological Co-operation

Multilateral scientific & technological co-operation is primarily geared towards providing Slovenia’s integration into wider EU developmental and integration processes on an equal footing. The Ministry is thus actively involved in creating the European Research Area (ERA) and other EU activities in the field of scientific and technological co-operation. Co-operation in this field is also underway with South Eastern Europe. Multilateral co-operation encompasses also co-operation with various international organisations (UNDP, EMBC, ICTP, ICS, ICGEB, CIESM, GBIF, IIR).

Priorities of Slovenia:

EU programmes (6th Framework Programme and EURATOM);
Other European research and development programmes (COST, EUREKA);
NATO Science Programmes;
Co-operation with international organisations (UNDP, UNIDO, ICGEB, ICS, CERN, ICPE, ICTP, ICSD, EMBC, IIR, etc.);
Special attention paid to stabilisation of the Western Balkan (ERANET WESTBALKAN).

Fifth Frammework Programe (FP5)

Contracts with at least one participation in selection
Participations in selection
EC contribution
('000 euros)
1 HEALTH
17
21
4.817,80
2 IST
79
96
16.184,50
3 NMP
36
42
6.230,70
4 AERONAUTICS
6
7
1.194,30
5 FOOD
15
18
2.705,10
6 ECO
36
43
4.200,50
7 SOCIETY
29
30
3.770,30
Policy support
29
35
3.138,20
SME
15
24
1.763,70
INCO
12
18
1.203,70
Coordination of Activities
18
18
1.729,20
Research&Innovation
20
25
3.768,70
Marie Curie
25
27
4.450
Infrastructure
6
6
670,1
Science&Society
9
10
449,8
Euratom
8
9
205,8
TOTAL
360
429
56.482,40

Sixth Frame Programme (FP6)

Number of Projects in FP6 per Million Inhabitants, 2003

SI in FP6 Contracts Success Rate
EU25 population	460 mio.
SI population	2 mio.	0,43%

FP6 proposals submitted in 2004	15.953	100%
with SI participants	587	3,68%

retained projects	1.952	100%
with SI participants	95	4,87%

Supporting Cooperation & Coordination of National or Regional Research Funding Programmes

Total 195 ERANET Projects (submitted in 4 calls)

90 Projects were selected
Slovenia is participating in 20 Projects
- Ministry (MHEST) is participating in 16 Projects

Competitiveness & Innovation

The Competitiveness Department of Ministry of Economy is in charge of participation of Slovenian enterprises in multilateral initiatives such as EUREKA and EU’s Framework programmes. In implementing those activities, Ministry of Economy closely cooperates with Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. Besides representing Slovenia’s interest in these international programmes, the Ministry offers a range of free of charge consulting services to enterprises.

The Competitiveness Department is also involved in implementation EU’s multi-annual Programme for entrepreneurship and is a is a signatory of the European Charter for Small Enterprises.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/enterprise_policy/charter/charter-2004_cc.htm

The department participates in various international benchmarking actions, most notably European Innovation Scoreboard where Slovenia’s performance in innovation can be compared with the rest of EU-25.
http://trendchart.cordis.lu/CountryPages/index.cfm?fuseaction=CountryTrend&CountryNumber=19

Main institutions outside the Ministry supporting the work in domain of international co-operation are the networks of Euro Info Centres and the Innovation Relay Centre Slovenia. They offer information on possibilities for funding and help in partner search for interested parties.

Main Documents

Year	Document	Goals
1994	Slovene Technology Policy	to move from basic to applicative research (by increasing the funds for technological development on average by 10% a year during the period 1995-2000.) to involve several ministries in a co-ordinated action during implementation
1995-2000	National Research Programme	to increase investments in R&D up to 2% of GDP until year 2000 to increase a share of researches working in technological development with regard to basic and applicative development researches in national financing to encourage the development of young researchers to develop ICT infrastructure in R&D to increase cooperation between public and private business sphere to ensure stability in public research institutions
2001	Slovenia in the new decade: sustainability, competitiveness, membership in the EU - Strategy for Economic Development of Slovenia (2001 – 2006)	to introduce the knowledge based society with various polices (human resources development, employment, information society…) while the policy of technological development remains explicitly mentioned as a key policy for transition to knowledge based society. To identify the lack of co-operation between companies in general and especially in R&D as the main weakness of technological development. To present the future priorities of the policies promoting research, technological development and innovation: stimulate co-operation increase absorption capacity for the transfer of knowledge and innovation invest more in R&D and change its structure set up research institutes and R&D units in the private sector create an environment conducive to technological development tap into the research potentials of Slovenians working abroad
2001	National development Plan (NDP) and Programme of measures to promote Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness (PMEC) 2001 - 2006	The NDP is a long-term indicative implementing document of the Strategy for the Economic Development of Slovenia 2001-2006 which defines the national development priorities. The PMEC is a working document for annual set of calls for proposals To explicitly recognise the factors of growth: “technology and innovation, flexibility, competitiveness, entrepreneurship and organisation which enable the maximum innovation, entrepreneurial spirit among the employees and strategy of constant changes in production procedures, products and planning.” To propose very defined measures (including a kind of innovation policy within the first priority: Promotion Of The Corporate Sector And Competitiveness) which are later developed and implemented by PMEC: internationalisation and networking in R&D activities clustering co-operative research (encouraging companies to carry out development and research activities by themselves or in co-operation with research and academic organisations) establishing an R&D support environment (technological parks, development of computer literacy, use of information and information management). national movement for competitiveness and quality by supporting companies in the systematic transfer of knowledge and introducing programmes of continuous improvement. promotion of entrepreneurship (elimination of key problems and obstacles to firm development such as administrative barriers
2003	Law on research and development	To improve governance by establishment of an Agency for Science and of an Agency for Technology.
2004	Law on Entrepreneurship	To institutionalise the actors of technology transfer and innovation process (cluster, technology centres, technology parks) and provide them with long term financing
2004	Single programming document	Present a programme of measures for the implementation of EU structural policy. to design a plan for using the European Regional and Development Fund sources, whose 4 sets of measures aim at enhancing national competitiveness, in particular: measure 1 “Innovation environment” is intended for infrastructure investment of institutions of cooperative research (namely technology centres, excellence centres, technology parks, industrial clusters...). The funded projects have to be implemented within consortia of private and public investors. measure 3 “Guarantee schemes and loans for SMEs” aims at improving innovative capabilities by providing improved financing mechanism for SMEs.
2004	National Research and Development Programme (in preparation)	In preparation. The proposed objectives are: to prioritize fields of research, to determine priorities in science with regard to national economy to increase the investments of public and private sector in R&D in accordance with Lisbon and Barcelona declaration

Slovenia vs. EU

The share of R&D investment in GDP increased in 2004 to 1.61% from 1.53% in 2003, whereby the gap between Slovenia and the EU-25 average was the narrowest ever, a development which can be partly attributed to the relative drop in R&D investment in the EU-25 which can be witnessed since 2003. A positive development is that since 1996 the R&D investment of the Slovenian business sector has been growing faster than that of the government sector, which helps to narrow the private sector's gap with the EU-25 average. Despite this, Slovenia remains far away from the Barcelona goal whereby the business sector should be investing 2% of GDP in R&D by 2010. The number of researchers per 1,000 active people in Slovenia does not lag much behind the EU-25 average, yet the structure of their employment differs considerably. The share of researchers working for the business sector has been increasing since 2000[1] but, with 38% in 2004, still lags well behind the EU-25 average (49.5%). On the other hand, the share of researchers working for the government sector is much bigger than in the EU-25.

The ability of a country to introduce new products and technologies largely depends on the availability of suitable staff and particularly the inflow of science and engineering graduates. The number of science and engineering graduates per 1,000 population dropped in 2003 to 8.7, which further widened the gap with the EU-25 average of 12.3. Moreover, the share of these graduates in the total number of graduates dropped from 23.8% to 18.6% in the period from 1998 to 2003, while it remained almost unchanged at 26% in the EU-15. Slovenia is too slow in adjusting its structure of higher education graduates to the needs dictated by fast technological development. Should this trend continue, it could weaken the ability of Slovenian companies to innovate amidst international competition. Another drawback is that technical and science faculties have not yet begun reforming their curricula in line with the Bologna process and are instead waiting for legislation to force them to reform. On a more positive note, the competent institutions are aware of the shortage of science and engineering graduates so they have already taken measures to increase enrolment levels in these studies.

Slovenia has made some progress in innovation and innovativeness as well as patent applications. While new data on innovation in Slovenian companies is not available[2] (Development Report 2005, 2005), the Summary Innovation Index (SII) makes it possible to identify trends in Slovenia and compare them with EU-25 member states to see where Slovenia is doing well and where it has problems. The European Innovation Scoreboard 2005 (EIS) established that in 2005 Slovenia made some progress over 2004 in the value of the summary innovation index[3], placing it as the second best new EU member, behind Estonia, and the 14th EU-25 nation. The country has a good grounding particularly in the generation of knowledge, but does not sufficiently use its innovation potential to boost the competitiveness of the economy. Its SII categories are fairly balanced yet its indicators of intellectual property have a poor rating. Another drawback is the low share of innovating companies, poor marketing of new products and services (the process of transferring inventions into marketable innovations), and the small share of high technology products in exports. Slovenia is seriously lagging behind in the number of patent applications filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) per one million population. In 2003 it had 21.9 patent applications with the EPO (interim data), whereas the EU-25 had 133.6 (2002). The average annual growth rate of patent applications in the EU-25 in the period between 1996 and 2002 was 6.5%. Slovenia posted growth of 10.5%, thus outpacing all the other new EU-25 members as well as Spain, Greece and Portugal.

Slovenia has intensified its efforts over recent years to improve the instruments which strengthen the ability of the economy to innovate, yet as a result of the slow change in the institutional set-up of R&D in 2005 there was no fresh impetus to narrow the gap. The most problematic areas are the poor co-operation between the business sector and public research institutions, financial support to small and medium-sized companies for innovation and no systematic evaluation of the effects of new instruments

Share of population with tertiary education

The population’s education structure in Slovenia continues to improve; however, the share of the population with tertiary education has been slowly approaching the average EU level. The share of the population aged 25-64 with tertiary education reached 20.0% in the second quarter of 2005 according to the labour force survey (1.2 p.p. more than a year ago and 5.8 p.p. more than in 1995) while the share of the population having attained secondary education remained the same as in 2004 (60.5%, i.e. 6.0 p.p. more than in 1995). Within that, the share of people having attained a vocational secondary education is contracting while the share of people with a technical or general secondary education is rising. The share of the population aged 25-64 who have completed at least secondary education thus rose to the high 80.5% by Q2 of 2005 (68.7% in 1995 and, according to census data, 75.9% in 2002 and 59.1% in 1991). In the EU, the average shares of the population aged 25-64 with a tertiary education was 22.5% in the EU-25 and 24.0% in the EU-15 in 2005, which is a respective 2.8 and 4.0 p.p. more than in Slovenia (see the table).

The participation rate of young people and adults in the formal education system continues to rise. In the 2004/2005 academic year, around 80% of the generation aged 15-19 were enrolled in secondary schools (67.2% in 1994/1995). The Lisbon strategy target was thus met. The shares of pupils enrolled in grammar schools and technical secondary schools have risen notably, while enrolment in secondary vocational schools and lower-secondary vocational programmes has declined. In 2004, 95.5% of the generation had attained secondary education[4] (26.4% of the generation finished vocational schools while 69.1% graduated from technical and general secondary schools). In 1995, the corresponding percentage was 72.9% (32.5% of the generation from vocational schools and 40.4% from 4- to 5-year secondary schools). The number of adults enrolled in formal secondary education, which had already exceeded 20,000 in the 2000/2001 academic year (8,460 in 1994/1995), continues to climb slowly. In 2003/2004, a total of 21,732 persons were enrolled in adult secondary education programmes, while 6,227 people finished secondary schools (3.4-times more than in 1994/1995).

The number of tertiary level students and graduates is also rising steadily. In the 2004/2005 academic year, a total of 112,228 students were enrolled at all three tertiary education levels; 12,621 thereof in post-secondary vocational, 91,229 in higher professional and university, and 8,378 in postgraduate programmes. The ratio of the number of students per 1,000 population rose to 56.2 in 2004 (24.1 in 1995), while the share of students in the population aged 20-29 was 37.9% (16.4% in 1995). Slovenia has thus achieved the level of EU members with the highest ratios of students to total population[5]. The number of full-time students is rising; together with graduation candidates and full-time postgraduate students, it already includes more than 50% of the generation aged 19-23 (23.6% in 1994/1995). The number of part-time students is also still rising while their ratio to total students has stabilised at the level between 35% and 36% (24% in 1995). The number of part-time students is growing notably in post-secondary vocational schools and at the postgraduate level, whereas it is decreasing slowly at the higher professional and university levels. The growing number of students has been matched by a rise in the number of graduates, which currently totals 50.2 per 1,000 population aged 20-29 (24.5 in 1995) and is approaching the average EU-25[6] level.

Table: Share of the population aged 25-64 having completed tertiary education in Slovenia and the EU-25, 1995-2005 (second quarter), %

1995
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
EU-25
N/A
20.0
20.1
20.4
21.3
22.2
22.8
EU-15
17.7
21.2
21.5
21.8
22.6
23.4
24.0
EU-10
N/A
13.9
13.1
13.5
14.7
15.9
17.0
Austria
N/A
14.5
15.2
15.1
15.2
18.4
17.6
Belgium
23.3
27.2
27.8
27.9
28.2
29.8
30.7
Cyprus
N/A
25.1
26.8
29.1
29.5
29.4
27.8
Czech Rep.
N/A
11.5
11.6
11.8
11.9
12.3
13.1
Denmark
27.2
25.8
28.1
29.0
31.8
32.4
33.0
Estonia
N/A
28.9
29.8
29.7
30.4
31.5
33.6
Finland
21.0
32.6
32.5
32.4
32.8
34.0
34.5
France
N/A
21.6
22.6
23.5
23.5
23.9
24.6
Greece
14.3
16.9
17.2
17.9
18.6
20.6
20.5
Ireland
19.9
21.6
23.4
25.1
26.8
28.3
29.0
Italy
7.4
9.6
10.0
10.4
10.8
11.4
11.9
Latvia
N/A
18.0
18.1
19.6
18.2
19.4
21.5
Lithuania
N/A
21.8
22.4
21.9
23.2
24.2
26.5
Luxembourg
15.5
18.5
18.1
18.8
19.9
22.8
22.8
Hungary
N/A
14.0
13.9
14.0
15.2
16.6
17.0
Malta
N/A
5.4
9.6
8.6
9.0
10.9
12.2
Germany
22.1
23.8
23.5
22.3
24.0
24.9
24.4
Netherlands
N/A
24.1
24.0
24.9
27.3
29.3
30.3
Poland
N/A
11.4
11.7
12.2
13.9
15.3
16.5
Portugal
11.3
9.0
9.3
9.5
10.5
12.6
12.7
Slovakia
N/A
10.3
10.6
10.8
11.6
12.8
13.9
Slovenia
14.2
15.7
14.1
14.8
17.8
18.8
20.0
Spain
16.4
22.5
23.6
24.6
25.0
26.4
28.2
Sweden
27.7
29.7
25.5
26.4
27.2
28.1
29.5
United Kingdom
21.8
28.1
28.5
29.2
30.5
29.1
29.5
Sources: SORS, Eurostat:
http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/extraction/getExport/en/theme3/lfsq/lfsq_pgaed?OutputDir=EJOutputDir_1203&OutputMime=application%2Fx-tab&OutputMode=U&OutputFile=lfsq_pgaed.tab&NumberOfCells=1089&Language=en.

Science and technology graduates

In Slovenia, the number of science and technology graduates per 1,000 inhabitants aged between 20 and 29 dropped in the years 2003 and 2004, which increased Slovenia’s gap behind the European average. The indicator[7] gives information on one of the major factors that have an impact on innovativeness and knowledge-based society development. The indicator and the differences between various countries are inter alia influenced by the intensiveness of cooperation between the economy and universities and the demand for such human resources by the economy (Education at glance – OECD indicators 2005). In 2003, Slovenia had 8.7 science and technology graduates per 1,000 inhabitants aged between 20 and 29, which is a considerable reduction in comparison to the year 2002 (see table). However, along with the increase in the total number of graduates in most EU Member States also the number of science and technology graduates has been increasing accordingly from year to year. In 2003, the total number of graduates in the EU-25 average increased to 52.9 persons per 1,000 inhabitants aged between 20 and 29 (49.0 in 2002; 40.7 in 1999; in the period 1999 – 2003 this was an average of 29.9%[8] ), whereas the number of science and technology graduates increased to 12.3 persons (11.4 in 2002; 9.8 in 1999). In the period from 1999 to 2002 the total number of all graduates had increased rapidly also in Slovenia (from 36.3 to 47.6 persons per 1,000 inhabitants aged between 20 and 29, i.e. 28.4% %), whereas the number of science and technology graduates had increased from 6.3 to 9.5. However, in 2003 it was the first time that Slovenia recorded a reduction in the total number of all graduates (to 46.6) and at the same time Slovenia was together with Cyprus also the only EU Member State that had to face a decline in the number of science and technology graduates. As per indicator value Slovenia’s position among EU Member States fell from 9th to 13th place and the gap behind the European average (12.3 in the year 2003) increased considerably in comparison to the previous years. The number of science and technology graduates continued to drop also in the year 2004, when the indicator value fell to only 7.6 (the total number of graduates in this field dropped by only 11.5% – from 2,600 graduates in 2003 to 2,250 graduates in 2004).

In 2003, also the share of science and technology graduates in the total number of all graduates in Slovenia dropped more than in the previous years.

In 2003, the share of science and technology graduates in the total number of graduates in Slovenia dropped as much as by 1.3 percentage point (from 19.9 % in 2002 to 18.6 % in 2003), whereas in the period 1998 – 2003 only by 1.0 percentage point per annum, i.e. by a total of 5.2 percentage point. A reduction in the share of science and technology graduates in the period from 1998 to 2003 was actually recorded in more than a half of the EU-Member States (see picture) and in the EU-25 average the share dropped from 25.1% in 1998 to 24.1% in 2003. A slightly lower decline in the number of science and technology graduates was observed in the EU-15 Member States (from 26.3% in 1998 to 26.1% in 2003), since some countries, in particular Spain and the Scandinavian countries, succeeded in increasing also the share of science and technology graduates despite the rapid growth of the total number of all graduates. In Slovenia, the decline in the share of science and technology graduates was far more drastic than in the majority of EU-Member States and only the decline in two countries, Latvia and Hungary, exceeded that of Slovenia.

Table: Number of science and technology graduates per 1,000 inhabitants aged between 20 and 29

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
EU-25	N/A	N/A	9.8	10.2	11	11.4	12.3
EU-15	N/A	10.2	10.7	11	11.9	12.3	13.3
EU-10	N/A	N/A	5.8	6.4	7	7.6	8.2
Austria	4.3	7.9	6.9	7.2	7.3	7.9	8.2
Belgium	N/A	N/A	N/A	9.7	10.1	10.5	11
Cyprus	N/A	N/A	3.8	3.4	3.7	3.8	3.6
Czech Republic	N/A	4.6	5	5.5	5.6	6	6.4
Denmark	N/A	8.1	8.2	11.7	12.2	11.7	12.5
Estonia	4.2	3.3	6.3	7	7.3	6.6	8.8
Finland	15.8	15.9	17.8	16	17.2	17.4	17.4
France	17.5	18.5	19	19.6	20.2	N/A	22.2
Ireland	21.8	22.9	23.8	24.2	22.9	20.5	24.2
Italy	5	5.1	5.5	5.7	6.1	7.4	9
Latvia	6.9	6.1	6.4	7.4	7.6	8.1	8.6
Lithuania	7.3	9.3	11.7	13.5	14.8	14.6	16.3
Hungary	5	5	5.1	4.5	3.7	4.8	4.8
Malta	N/A	N/A	3.9	3.4	2.7	3.1	3.1
Germany	9.1	8.8	8.6	8.2	8	8.1	8.4
the Netherlands	N/A	6	5.8	5.8	6.1	6.6	7.3
Poland	3.8	4.9	5.7	6.6	7.6	8.3	9
Portugal	4.8	5.2	6.1	6.3	6.6	7.4	8.2
Slovakia	4.9	4.3	5.1	5.3	7.5	7.8	8.3
Slovenia	6.3	8	8.4	8.9	8.2	9.5	8.7
Spain	7.6	8	9.6	9.9	11.3	12	12.6
Sweden	7.8	7.9	9.7	11.6	12.4	13.3	13.9
United Kingdom	14.5	15.2	15.6	16.2	19.5	19.5	21
Norway	8.4	7.5	7.2	7.9	8.6	7.7	9.3
Switzerland	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	15.2	14.1
Japan	N/A	12.3	12.6	12.6	12.8	13	13.2
USA	N/A	9.2	9.3	9.7	9.9	10	10.9

Source: Population and social conditions – Education and training, Eurostat (2005).

Figure: Share of science and technology graduates in the total number of all graduates expressed in %

Source: Population and social conditions – Education and training, Eurostat (2005).

Investment in knowledge

Knowledge, innovation, new technologies and entrepreneurship are the key factors of competitiveness in modern economies and significant drivers of economic growth. In the future, Slovenia should raise both the level of its investment in knowledge[9] and its efficiency.

According to the latest comparable data available (2002), investment in knowledge as a share of gross domestic product in Slovenia stagnated (compared to the previous year) and totalled 3.0%, which is less than the EU average (3.8%). In OECD countries, investment in knowledge reached around 5.2% of GDP in 2002. A breakdown by country shows that in some countries the share of investment in knowledge exceeded 6% of GDP (6.8% in Sweden, 6.6% in the USA, 6.0% in Finland), while in the Southern European countries it was lower than 2.7% of GDP. In most OECD countries investment in knowledge is rising rapidly; its average annual growth in the 1990s topped 7.5% in several countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Greece, Portugal)[10] and was much higher than the increase in gross fixed capital formation. The fastest growth within expenditure on knowledge has been generally recorded in investment in software. The only exception was Finland, where R&D expenditure rose most rapidly. In the last few years, investment in software in Slovenia has also recorded a swift pace of growth; the average growth rate in 1995-2004 totalled 31.2%.

Despite the swift dynamics seen in the last few years (due to the very low comparative basis), Slovenia’s performance in comparison with other EU countries was particularly poor in investment in software, according to the latest comparable data (2002; see the table). In the eight-year period[11], investment in software as a share of GDP rose by 0.3 p.p. in Slovenia. Bigger increases were meanwhile recorded in Sweden (0.7 p.p.), Denmark (0.6 p.p.) and the Netherlands and Austria (both 0.5 p.p.). Slovenia's level of investment in software expressed as a % of GDP was 50% lower than the corresponding levels in Austria, Spain and France in 2002. In the Netherlands this proportion was triple that of Slovenia, while in Scandinavian countries it was four-times higher.

Slovenia’s investment in R&D is similarly below the EU average (see the table). The gap between Slovenia and the EU-15 average in this field is narrowing gradually. It totalled 0.34 of a percentage point according to the latest provisional data (2004) (see the Indicator: Gross domestic expenditure on research and development). In 1996-2004, investment in R&D as a share of GDP rose by 0.3 p.p. in Slovenia. Better results were achieved by Finland (up 1.0 p.p.), Denmark (0.8 p.p.) and Austria (0.7 p.p.).

Slovenia’s total (public and private) expenditure on tertiary education (excluding expenditure on R&D in tertiary education) expressed as a share of GDP was higher than in most EU other countries in 2002. Only Denmark topped Slovenia according to this indicator, while Finland achieved the same level (see the table). Denmark and Finland were also in the lead in other education-related indicators: the share of the population with a tertiary education, writing skills and inclusion of adults in education, where Slovenia’s levels were still much lower.

Table: Investment in knowledge in 2002; changes from 1994 to 2002

	% of GDP, 2002				Change in the % of GDP, 1994-2002
	Expend. on R&D	Software	Tertiary education2	Investment in knowledge	Expend. on R&D	Software	Tertiary education 2	Investment in knowledge
	1	2	3	4=1+2+3	1	2	3	4=1+2+3
EU 1	2.1	0.9	0.7	3.8	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.5
OECD 1	2.5	1.3	1.4	5.2	0.3	0.5	0.1	0.9
Austria	2.1	0.8	0.5	3.4	0.6	0.5	0.1	1.2
Belgium	2.2	0.7	0.9	3.8	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Denmark	2.5	1.6	1.3	5.4	0.8	0.6	0.4	1.8
Finland	3.4	1.5	1.1	6.0	1.2	0.1	0.1	1.3
France	2.3	0.8	0.6	3.7	-0.1	0.4	0.0	0.3
Greece (2001)	0.6	0.5	0.8	1.9	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.8
Ireland	1.1	0.2	1.0	2.3	-0.1	0.1	-0.1	-0.2
Italy (2001)	1.1	0.7	0.6	2.4	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.3
Germany	2.5	0.7	0.7	3.9	0.3	0.2	0.0	0.5
Netherlands	1.8	1.2	0.8	3.8	-0.2	0.5	0.0	0.3
Portugal	0.9	0.2	0.7	1.8	0.3	0.0	0.1	0.5
Slovenia	1.5	0.4	1.1	3.0	0.33	0.33	N/A	N/A
Spain	1.0	0.8	0.9	2.7	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.7
Sweden	4.1	1.8	0.9	6.8	0.8	0.7	0.2	1.7
United Kingdom	1.9	1.1	0.7	3.7	-0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2
Japan	3.1	1.3	0.7	5.0	0.3	0.7	0.2	1.2
USA	2.7	1.8	2.2	6.6	0.2	0.6	0.3	1.2

Sources: OECD, Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2005, SORS Statistical Yearbook 2005, Rapid Report No. 149/2005, First Release No. 74/2005.
Notes: 1EU-15 excluding Greece and Italy; 2Expenditure on R&D in tertiary education is subtracted from the total (public and private) expenditure because it is already included in the figure on the share of expenditure on R&D; 3) Data for the period 1996-2004.

Number of researchers per thousand labour force

The number of researchers per thousand labour force remained unchanged in Slovenia in 2004. According to the SORS' first estimate, 5,003 researchers expressed in the full-time equivalent (FTE) worked in Slovenia in 2004, which is the biggest human research potential recorded in the 1996-2004 period. The number of researchers increased by 3.9% over 2003 while in 2000-2004 the average annual increase was somewhat lower (3.6%). The number of researchers per thousand labour force in Slovenia was again 5.0[12] in 2004. In the EU-25, there were 5.4 researchers per thousand labour force in 2003 (latest available data). According to the indicator's value, Slovenia is ahead of some EU-15 member states (Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy) while also still outperforming all the new EU members (see figure).

The composition of researchers by employment sector has been changing in the proper direction as the number of those working in the business sector has been on the rise; the situation, however, is still significantly different than in the EU. 2004 saw a continuation of the rising trend in the number of Slovenian researchers working in the business, higher education and private non-profit sectors and, conversely, of the falling trend in the government sector's number of researchers, which was also reflected in the structure of researchers by employment sector (see table). Despite the favourable shifts in the structure, however, the Slovenian business sector still employs significantly less researchers relative to the EU-25 average (by 11.5 structural points in 2004), and so does the higher education sector (by 8.3 s.p. in 2004). In comparison with the EU 25 average, more researchers work in the Slovenian government and private non-profit sectors (by 16.6 and 3.2 s.p., respectively, in 2004). The composition of researchers in the new EU member states is very different[13] from Slovenia's in terms of employment sector while the biggest similarity was detected in the relatively strong government sector where 23.4% of researchers work (29.8% in Slovenia)[14].

The sectoral distribution of the government's R&D budget importantly reflects a substantially different Slovenian structure of researchers by employment sector as compared with the EU's. In 1996-2003, the majority of the government's R&D budget was earmarked for basic research (69.5% in 2003, 55.2% in 1996), followed by applied research (28.0% in 2003, 29.6% in 1996) and experimental development (2.5% in 2003, 15.3% in 1996). The bulk of the budget for basic research went to the government sector (56.5% in 2003, 53.9% in 1996) while the biggest recipient of the government's budgetary funds for applied research and experimental[15] development since 2001 has been the higher education sector (42.1% in 2003, 42.6% in 1996; 44.4% in 2003, 5.8% in 1996). Therefore, it is no surprise that a relatively big share of Slovenian researchers are employed by the government sector (29.8%; 13.2% in the EU-25, 23.4% in the EU-10) while the share of those working in the business sector is comparatively small (38.0%; 49.5% in the EU-25, 20.7% in the EU-10).[16]

Table: Number of researchers in Slovenia in the full-time equivalent (FTE)

	Number of researchers per 1,000 labour force	Number of researchers	Distribution of researchers by sector of employment, %
	Number of researchers per 1,000 labour force	Number of researchers	Business sector	Government sector	Higher education sector	Private non-profit sector
1996	4.7	4,489	30.5	35.2	31.4	2.8
2000	4.5	4,336	31.8	34.5	30.9	2.8
2001	4.6	4,498	33.6	32.3	30.7	3.5
2002	4.8	4,642	34.9	32.2	29.4	3.5
2003	5.0	4,8151	36.4	31.0	28.6	3.9
2004	5.0	5,0032	38.0	29.8	27.8	4.4

Source: SORS, calculations by IMAD.
Notes: 1 SORS’ revised estimate, 2 SORS’ first estimate for 2004.

Figure: Number of researchers in the full-time equivalent (FTE) per 1,000 labour force in Slovenia and other EU-25 member states

Sources: Towards a European Research Area. Science, Technology and Innovation. Key Figures 2005. European Communities, 2005, SORS.

Notes: *the figure for the EU-25 average excludes Luxemburg and Malta, **SORS’ first estimate for 2004.

(Source of text: Development report 2006; Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development; http://www.gov.si/zmar/aindex.php)

[1] It should be noted that, despite special tax relief, the number of researchers with a PhD in the business sector is only increasing very slowly. This means that the sector is employing primarily development experts which, however, does not encourage their own research in companies nor co-operation with public research institutions and universities.

[2] The most recent available data is from a statistical survey of innovation activities in manufacturing and some services which the SORS carries our biannually, and refers to the period between 2001 and 2002.

[3] The summary index consists of 26 indicators distributed in five categories which show different segments of innovation: innovation drivers, knowledge creation, innovation & entrepreneurship, application of knowledge and intellectual property.

[4] The generation aged 15 at the time of enrolment in the respective types of secondary schools.

[5] Eurostat’s statistical database enables calculations of these ratios for 2003. The highest ratios of the number of students to 1,000 population were found in Finland (56.0%) and the Czech Republic (53.2%) while the EU-25 average was 37.0%. The highest ratios of students to the population aged 20-29 were recorded in Finland (44.7%), the Czech Republic (43.2%) and Sweden (38.4%). The EU-25 average stood at 27.6%, while Slovenia’s score was 50.9 students per 1,000 population and 34.0 students per 1,000 population aged 20-29, ranking Slovenia 6th among the current 25 EU members according to both indicators (IMAD's calculations based on Eurostat's data).

[6] In 2003, the EU-25 average was 52.9 graduates per 1,000 population aged 20-29. Ireland (82.6), United Kingdom (81.4) and Poland (77.8) had the highest ratios. The value of this indicator in Slovenia in 2003 was 46.6.

[7] In accordance with ISCED 97, indicators for science and technology cover two broader fields, i.e. the field “science, mathematics and computing” (ISC 42, 44, 46 and 48) and the field “engineering, manufacturing and construction” (ISC 52, 54 and 58).Within this framework the International Standard Classification of Education ISCED 97 and the Eurostat Fields of Education and Training Manual, 1999, were taken into consideration. The indicator covers the number of all tertiary education graduates in the field of science and technology who completed their studies at a public or private university at ISCED 5 and 6 Levels (graduate and post-graduate levels) in the calendar year under observation. The indicator is expressed per 1,000 inhabitants aged between 20 and 29.

[8] Such increase in the number of graduates is also related to the fact that the number of higher degree graduates has been increasing. In 2003, 16% more students obtained their doctor’s degree in the EU-25 in comparison to the year 1998 (Statistics in focus 19/2005).

[9] According to the OECD’s definition, investment in knowledge comprises expenditure on research and development, expenditure on tertiary education (both public and private), and investment in software.

[10] The average annual growth rates in 1992-2000 totalled 10.8% in Ireland, 9.7% in Sweden, 8.8% in Finland, 8.8% in Greece, 8.3% in Portugal, and 7.5% in Denmark (OECD, National Accounts, Economic Outlook; MSTI and Education databases; International Data Corporation, June 2003).

[11] Due to difficulties in obtaining comparable data, the eight-year period spans 1995-2003 for Slovenia and 1994-2002 for other mentioned countries.

[12] In 2004, both the rise in the number of researchers (up 3.9%) and the even somewhat higher rise in the number of the labour force (up 4.8%) contributed to the indicator’s value (5.0) while in 2003, despite a similar increase in the number of researchers (up 3.7%), the indicator’s value was the same mainly owing to the drop in the number of the labour force (down 1.0%).

[13] On average, the majority (as much as 55.4%) of researchers in the new EU member states were employed in the higher education sector in 2004 while the figure for the business sector was considerably lower (20.7%).

[14] Slovenia’s high share of researchers working in the government sector with respect to other new EU member states is mainly attributable to the fact that Slovenia managed to preserve large public research institutions in the transitional period while their number shrank considerably in other new members.

[15] Before 2001, the business sector (13.3% in 2003, 81.3% in 1996).

[16] The data are for 2004.

Basic Indicators

Slovenia GDP 12.447 €/ per capita (2003)
Slovenia GERD as % of GDP: 1.52% (2003)
by government sector 0.54%
by business sector 0.90%
other 0.08%

Main Characteristics of Slovenian R&D System:

Small R&D system;
R&D in public sector of relatively high quality with well established international cooperation;
Negligible brain drain;
Modest cooperation between the research, education and business spheres, as well as within those spheres;
Academic research not enough driven by “joint goals of understanding and use”.

Institutional organisation of public R&D system

Research Policy / Funding System

Government sector
• Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology
• Ministry of the Economy
• Other ministries (Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Transport, etc.)

Agencies (established in 2004)
• Slovenian Research Agency
• Slovenian Technology Agency

Foundations:
• Slovenian Science Foundation
• Ad Futura

Business Sector

Strategical / Policy Documents

Research and Development Activities Act 2002
Single Programming Document 2004-2006
Strategy for the development of Slovenia 2005
National R&D Programme 2006-2010 (in final stage of adoption)

information and communication technologies
advanced materials and nano-technologies
complex systems and innovative technologies
technologies for sustainable development
health and life sciences

National Funding Instruments

Research and infrastructure programmes (IP like projects): 5 years
- 262 Research Programmes (2004 to 2008)
Research projects: 2-3 years
Basic / Applied / Targeted research projects
Postgraduate education
Research infrastructure
Institutional funding
International co-operation
Scientific communication

Research Topics of Special Interest to Slovenia (NRRP Resolution 2006-2010)

Information and Communication Technologies
New Materials and Nanotechnologies
Complex Systems and Innovative Technologies
Technologies for Sustainable Development
Health and Life Sciences

Research programmes

Cover selected research fields expected to be relevant in the next 10 years and important for Slovenia;
Every 5 years there is a public call for a new round of research programmes according to National R&D Programme;
Preparation, implementation, and evaluation by Slovenian Research Agency;
The decision to start the research programmes is taken by the Government;
Implemented by programme groups in public research institutes, universities, higher education institutions and private and/or public legal entities with research activities;
Minimum 5 researchers (Ph.D), plus professional and technical staff, doctoral students from one or different institutions;
Slovenian Research Agency administratively support the research programmes;
Evaluated by annually reports, final evaluation conducted at the end by indicators as scientific excellence, social and economic relevance, human resource development, and international cooperation.

National R&D Programme 2006-2010

Evaluation criteria not oriented enough toward object driven research
Independent evaluation difficult to achieve in a small country
No thematic priorities and systematic encouragements for emerging areas
Control over public financing R&D activities not efficient enough
Too few opportunities for reintegration of Slovenian researchers from abroad
Not enough survey of transfer of research results
Definition of thematic priorities
Definition of priority instruments
Increase of R&D financing and change of its structure
Improvement of conditions for R&D activities
Enlarge the transfer of research results
Improvement of the control system
Monitoring of the implementation of the National R&D Programme
Encouragement of international cooperation

Research Infrastructure

Institute of Information Sciences IZUM
The Institute is an information infrastructural service for Slovenian science, culture and education
Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES)
The main task of ARNES is development, operation and management of the communication and information network for education and research

“2000 Young Researchers” (since 1985)

Goals

Renewal and rejuvenation of research personnel in research institutes and universities
Education of highly skilled R&D personnel for business sector
General support of (post) graduate study in Slovenia
So far 5300 participants
4084 finished, 942 running, 247 (5%) to be at a standstill (16/2/2005)
45% PhD, 40% MSc, 15% Specialists training
Enrollment around 250 candidates each year

Benefits for candidates:

Temporary employment
Funding of material’s expenditures
Cost – covering of graduate study

Young researchers' distribution among different fields of science
Natural sciences 25%
Engineering sciences 35%
Medical sciences 10%
Agricultural sciences 10%
Social sciences 10%
Humanities 10%

Innovation policy

Innovation policy is horizontal in nature and should therefore provide interference with other policies in order to create impetus to change in national economy. Fields particularly important are pointed out, as follows:

human capital,
generation of knowledge,
transmission and application of knowledge, and
demand for innovation.

Those factors combined create a national innovation capability and are yearly examined by European Innovation Scoreboard. The table bellow presents the most important findings from Slovenia.

European Innovation Scoreboard 2003 – overview of Slovenia’s indicators
Indicator	Slovenia	EU-15	Leader EU-15	New Member States
New Science & Engineering graduates	8.2	11.3	21.7 –Ireland	8.2 - Slovenia
Population with 3rd education	14.8	21.5	32.4- Finland	44.0 - Lithuania
Life-long learning	5.1	8.4	22.3 – United Kingdom	9.0 - Slovak Republic
Employment in med/high-tech manufacturing[1]	9.28	7.41	11.36- Denmark	9.28 - Slovenia
Employment in high-tech services[2]	2.35	3.57	5.23- Sweden	3.09- Czech republic
Public R&D / GDP	0.69	0.69	1.02- Finland	Slovenia
Business R&D / GDP	0.94	1.30	3.31- Sweden	Slovenia
EPO[3] high-tech patents / population	8.6	31.6	136.1 - Finland	Slovenia
USPTO[4] hi-tech patents / population	0.5	12.4	47.3- Sweden	0.6- Cyprus
EPO patents	40.7	161.1	366.6 - Sweden	Slovenia
USPTO patents	13.1	80.1	213.7- Sweden	Slovenia
SMEs innovation in-house, manufacturing	22.0	37.4	55.1- Germany	39.1- Estonia
SMEs innovation in-house, services	12.7	28.0	43.9- Germany	33.5 - Estonia
SMEs innovation co-op, manufacturing	8.4	9.4	22.0- Finland	18.0- Turkey
SMEs innovation co-op, services	4.4	7.1	18.3- Finland	12.7- Lithuania
Innovation exp, manufacturing	4.20	3.45	6.42- Sweden	8.80- Slovakia
Innovation exp, services	2.60	1.83	19.11- Sweden	7.50- Slovakia
Hi-tech venture capital / GDP	-	45.4	71.2 -Italy	17.5- Poland[5]
New capital	-	0.037	0.098- Sweden	0.019- Czech Republic
New-to-market production, manufacturing[6]	-	10.5	27.2- Finland	-
New-to-market production, services	-	7.4	17.9- Greece	-
New-to-the firm production, manufacturing	-	28.6	40.3- Germany	-
New-to-the firm production, services	-	18.8	37.1 -Greece	-
Internet access / population[7]	0.33	0.51	0.97- Sweden	0.44 -Malta
ICT[8]/GDP	4.7	7.0	9.8- Sweden	9.6- Estonia
Value added in high tech[9]	15.9	14.1	30.6- Ireland	22.4 - Malta
Entry/exit rate manufacturing	-	12.7	16.0- United Kingdom	-
Entry/exit rate, services	-	16.6	20.4- Denmark	-
[1] Employed in chemicals (NACE 24), machinery (29), office equipment (30), electric equipment (31), telecommunications (32), instruments (33), automobile industry (34) and other transport equipment (35).
[2] High tech services include: post and telecommunications (NACE 64), computer programming and consultancy (72) and R&D activity (73).
[3] EPO = European Patent Office
[4] USPTO = United States Patent Office
[5] Data on new member states available for Poland and Hungary only (1.6).
[6] No data is available for entry of new products/ services to the market or for new products/ services to the firm for the transition countries covered by the Scoreboard.
[7] Integrated indicator composed of access of households to Internet and number of SMEs with web page.
[8] ICT = Information Communication Technologies
[9] Calculated as the relation of value added in five high tech activities (pharmaceuticals (NACE 24.4), office equipment (30), telecommunication and similar equipment (32), instruments (33) and other transport equipment (35)) to the total value added in manufacturing.
Note:
• Group 1: Indicators of human resources
• Group 2: Indicators of Creation of new knowledge
• Group 3: Indicators of transmission and application of knowledge
• Group 4: Indicators of innovation finance, outputs and markets.
Source: European Innovation Scoreboard, 2003

Slovenia’s cumulative innovation capability is the highest between new member states to the EU and is even better than capability of some less developed old EU-15 members (EIS, 2003) Slovenia ranks especially well on indicators from Groups 1 and 2. They represent a direct investment of the state to schooling and research system. They are also more R&D focused which corresponds to the focus of Slovene innovation policy in the last decade.

However, the analysis of Group 3 confirms that innovation in private sector is not wholly understood and that firms’ behaviour, especially SMEs’, should be further moved in this direction. One can expect that with introduction of entrepreneurship as a priority action field for the Ministry of Economy this will improve.

The weakest points for Slovenia’s innovation capability are indicators in Group 4. They clearly call for action in establishing more financial instrument to bring innovation to markets.

Contact Persons

Mrs. Ida Praček, Chief of Minister's Office
Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology
Trg OF 13, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: +386 1 478 47 08
Fax: +386 1 478 47 23
E-mail: ida.pracek@gov.si

Mrs. Nataša Gerkeš Lednik, Public Relations
Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology
Trg OF 13, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: +386 1 478 46 85
Fax: +386 1 478 47 23
E-mail: pr.mvzt@gov.si

Mr. Aleš Gnamuš, Ph.D., International Cooperation & Integrated Information System SYCP
Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology / Slovenian Research Agency
Trg OF 13, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: +386 1 478 46 80 / 46 91
Fax: +386 1 478 47 19
E-mail: ales.gnamus@gov.si

National Contact Points