JAVNA AGENCIJA ZA ZNANSTVENORAZISKOVALNO IN INOVACIJSKO DEJAVNOST REPUBLIKE SLOVENIJE

Their core work

ARIS is Slovenia's national research and innovation funding agency, responsible for financing and coordinating the country's participation in transnational research programs. In H2020, ARIS acts as a co-funding body in ERA-NET Cofund schemes, channeling Slovenian national funds into joint European research calls on topics like sustainable urbanization, environmental change, governance, and digital transformation. Their role is not to perform research but to connect Slovenian researchers with international funding opportunities and ensure Slovenia's strategic presence in pan-European research initiatives.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ARIS's early H2020 involvement (2016–2017) centered on environmental sustainability and urban development, funding transnational calls through JPI Urban Europe and the Belmont Forum on topics like the food-energy-water nexus and sustainable urbanization. From 2018 onward, the agency shifted toward social sciences, democratic governance, and digital transformation, culminating in the CHANSE network for humanities and social sciences in Europe. This trajectory mirrors a broader European trend of connecting environmental research with its social, political, and digital dimensions.

ARIS is moving toward funding interdisciplinary research at the intersection of digital transformation, democracy, and societal resilience — a growing priority in Horizon Europe calls.

How they like to work

ARIS always participates as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with its role as a national funding agency contributing co-funding to multilateral ERA-NET schemes. With 57 unique partners across 31 countries, the agency operates as a broad network node rather than a repeat-partner organization. This wide reach means partnering with ARIS provides access to Slovenia's national research funding streams and its community of funded researchers.

ARIS has collaborated with 57 distinct partners across 31 countries, reflecting the inherently multinational structure of ERA-NET Cofund actions. Their geographic spread is pan-European with global reach through the Belmont Forum partnership in T2S.

What sets them apart

ARIS is not a research performer — it is the gateway to Slovenian national research funding. Partnering with ARIS in an ERA-NET means access to co-funded calls where Slovenian research teams can be mobilized with national budget support. For consortium builders designing new ERA-NET or partnership proposals, ARIS brings a committed national funding agency with proven experience in managing transnational call contributions across environment, urban, and social science domains.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CHANSE
  Largest funding contribution (EUR 105K) and the most recent project, signaling ARIS's strategic pivot toward humanities, social sciences, and digital society research across Europe.
• EN-SUGI
  Highest single project funding (EUR 107K) and longest duration (2016–2022), addressing the food-energy-water nexus in urban settings — a globally relevant sustainability challenge.
• T2S
  Connected ARIS to the Belmont Forum, extending its network beyond Europe into global sustainability research with interdisciplinary and comparative methods.