Academy of Sciences to become independent

Transformation of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) into an independent economic entity will take place during this election period if the government approaches this subject responsibly, said SAV President Pavol Šajgalík in response to the government's manifesto. The transformation was abandoned in 2018 and the process had to start over. Šajgalík stated that SAV are in harmony with the government in this respect, because support for excellent research is also their vision. However, he noted that many governments had science and scientific work as a priority in their declarations, and therefore implementation will be more important to him than the text of the government manifesto itself. According to Šajgalík, however, even the mention of transforming SAV in the document is important. "It writes explicitly that it needs to be completed, which I also think is a very important fact," he said.