Ľuboš Kľučár to Head the SAS Assembly. Assembly Approves Dissolution of the Institute of Political Sciences of the SAS
At its session on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, the Assembly of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) elected Ľuboš Kľučár as its Chair for the second third of the 2025–2029 term of office. The Assembly also approved the dissolution of the Institute of Political Sciences of the SAS.
The report on the Assembly’s activities during the first third of the 2025–2029 term was presented by the outgoing Chair of the SAS Assembly, Radoslav Passia. During this period, the Assembly met seven times, including one extraordinary session held on 4 September 2025, which discussed the analysis of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 conducted by the SAS at the request of the Government of the Slovak Republic. The Assembly took note of the report on its activities.
The SAS Assembly subsequently elected Ľuboš Kľučár as its Chair (Second Chamber of the SAS Assembly) for the second third of the 2025–2029 term. Katarína Gmucová (First Chamber) and Radoslav Passia (Third Chamber) were elected as Vice-Chairs. The newly elected Chair will take office on 23 August 2026.
SAS President Martin Venhart informed the Assembly about current developments within the Academy. Among other matters, he reported on a preliminary agreement with the Ministry of Education for additional funding to reconstruct SAS premises at Patrónka and to operate the PERUN supercomputer for one year. He also addressed preparations for next year’s budget and efforts to secure funding from the SAS for four ERC projects that have advanced to the next stage of evaluation.
President Venhart also provided an update on the Vision 2040: What Kind of Country Does Slovakia Want to Be? document and assured the Assembly that it would be submitted to the Government of the Slovak Republic on 25 June 2026, according to the agreed schedule. In this context, he briefly informed members about the visit of Slovak President Peter Pellegrini to the SAS earlier that day. The Assembly took note of the information presented by the SAS President.
The Assembly then discussed the SAS Presidium’s proposal to dissolve the Institute of Political Sciences of the SAS through liquidation. This step forms part of the organisational changes that the SAS has been implementing since 2024, based on performance contracts arising from the Action Plan of the National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation 2030. The objective is to create larger and more stable research units within the SAS and to improve the efficiency of institutional research funding in Slovakia.
During the discussion, employees of the Institute of Political Sciences expressed their views on the proposal. Representatives of the SAS Presidium stated that the Academy would, within its competencies, create conditions enabling the effective utilisation of the institute’s personnel and professional capacities within other SAS organisations, should the employees be interested.
The SAS Assembly will discuss further ongoing organisational changes within SAS institutes in autumn 2026. The entire reorganisation process is expected to be completed by 31 December 2026.
Martin Nosko, a member of the SAS Presidium, presented information on the rationalisation of the SAS Centre of Joint Activities. The Assembly took note of the information.
Prepared by: Andrea Nozdrovická
Photo: Katarína Gáliková