President wants no more funding cuts to research

The change of legislation, the rewarding of high-quality scientists' work and useful research were the main issues discussed between President Andrej Kiska and management as well as employees of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) during the Head of State's visit to the Academy in Bratislava on Tuesday. The reason for the visit was also to monitor the transformation of the SAV to a public research institute; something Kiska believes could usher in better conditions for research. On this subject the President claimed that state resources allocated to science should not be cut any further. "However, we also need to open up new sources of funding", he said. As for the transformation of SAV, Kiska claimed that every research department of SAV will have a right to seek private investors for its projects. "If they can realise useful research, they'll be able to secure also higher amounts of money, which translates into higher salaries and better conditions for research". According to Kiska, in foreign countries the ratio between private and state funding for science is 2:1 in favour of private sector. "In Slovakia, this ratio is only one to a very small number", stated the President. After the legislation sees relevant changes, researchers will face a difficult challenge of convincing private investors that the research will yield results they expect, said Kiska. "I perceive the visit of Mr. President in a very positive light. He inquired about a great deal of issues and listened carefully, asking what he could do to help", said SAV chair Jaromír Pastorek, who views the transformation of SAV to a public institution as necessary, as he believes it will give more options to the Academy in terms of funding.