Major leaps in science this year, but staff shortages remain

The discussion revolved around breakthroughs in science this year, with Gregor Anderluh, director of the National Institute of Chemistry and outgoing president of the Coordination of Independent Research Institutes of Slovenia (KOsRIS), saying that in the past four years scientific research had undergone tectonic shifts.

This was facilitated by the Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act adopted two years ago. Its provisions stipulate ways to support such activities and enable research institutions to adopt new working methods and give them greater autonomy in managing their activities, he said.

As for the challenges researchers are facing, Anderluh pointed to staff shortages and a lack of investments in research infrastructure. He said the collective agreement for research activities needed amendments regarding wage disparities.

Director of the National Institute of Biology, Maja Ravnikar stressed the importance of investments to improve researchers' work, saying that it took 15 years for one of the latest, much needed investment to be implemented.

Now that it has been completed, researchers not only have adequate working conditions but also new motivation, she said. Ravnikar does not understand the decision-makers who think that investments in new buildings are not needed.

The greatest challenge for the Jožef Stefan Institute is brain drain, its director Boštjan Zalar pointed out. "The biggest problems we have at the moment are top electronics and IT experts leaving."

"Every day, unit managers tell me that they cannot stop the outflow of staff," he said and pointed out young people were leaving because they wanted to be paid more. He called for a rewards system for employees to be implemented, collective agreements to be arranged, and less red tape as it hinders efficient drawing of funds in science.

The scientific research and innovation activities act being adopted has made a great difference as it is in line with the resolution on Slovenia's scientific research and innovation strategy, which provides guidelines on how science should develop until 2030, said director of the Institute of Contemporary History Andrej Pančur, who is also the newly-elected president of KOsRIS.

"The most important thing is that the new funds are drawn, the act gives us more autonomy; we have become the owners of the buildings, it gives us more responsibility in allocating the funds, to direct them correctly and to act in line with the resolution," he said.

Oto Luthar, the head of the Research Centre at the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences, underlined a major structural problem the scientific community has been facing for decades: that is what share of funds come from the state budget and what share is allocated to actual research.

"The latest proposal to add European funds to national ones because of the lack of ... funds in all sectors shows a lack of understanding of how the system works within Europe and Slovenia," he said and added that since joining the EU, Slovenia had been warned several times it could not solve national problems with European funds.

Director of the Science and Research Centre in Koper Rado Pišot noted research institutions had for the first time in history gotten the chance to autonomously call for programme groups for the next period.