Domestic research capacities are increasing, especially in companies
Scientific and research policy is one of the basic EU policies also because investing in research and innovation is an investment in the future. The aim is to strengthen international cooperation in research, support innovation in industry and find solutions to global challenges such as climate change or sustainable mobility. Economists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences looked closely at human resources in research and development.
"The number of employees in research has increased significantly, but we still lag behind developed countries. The business sector share in research is growing, especially in large companies and the automotive industry. As far as regional differences are concerned, Bratislava region dominates the number of researchers, but insufficient cooperation between companies and research organizations remains a weakness," said Jaroslav Vokoun of the Institute of Economic Research SAS.
From 2004 to 2022, the number of scientific and research workers increased by 62.9% and reached 23,344 people. This dynamic is, for the most part, associated with the 261.6% growth of research capacities in companies. The high growth of the research base in companies results from the fact that their research capacities were very low in the 1990s. By joining the EU, Slovakia has become an interesting opportunity for foreign investments, and companies here are also gradually strengthening their research capacities.
"Mainly large companies in the automotive and engineering industries invest in their own research in Slovakia. The concentration of research capacities in technical and natural sciences (66.7%) corresponds to the strong position of industrial production in the structure of the Slovak economy. The share of the focus of other research capacities is as follows: social sciences 12.2%, medical and pharmaceutical sciences 8.4%, humanities 8.3% and agricultural sciences 4.4%," explains Jaroslav Vokoun.
The total innovation index of Slovakia in 2024 reached 65.1% of the average EU level, which places our country in the group of weakest innovators. However, human resources in Slovakia are the strongest pillar of the innovation index, as the result of their evaluation is closest to the EU level (78.6%).
"The mobility of researchers is important for Slovak science as part of world science, although this leads to the departure of talented people from Slovakia. In 2019, in our survey aimed at talented people with work experience abroad, respondents compared the attractiveness of a place abroad and in Slovakia. Up to 82% of respondents stated that the working environment abroad was more attractive, and only 18% perceived the working environment in Slovakia as attractive," adds Jaroslav Vokoun.
The popularization of research results by scientists contributes to the fact that, according to public opinion surveys, the Slovak Academy of Sciences and universities are the most credible institutions in Slovakia. To achieve sustainable growth and increase competitiveness, attention needs to be paid to the quality of research, cooperation between the academic sphere and the business sector, and the removal of barriers that prevent the development of research and development.
Edited by Monika Tináková
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