Ministrstvo za izobrazevanje, znanost in sport

Their core work

Slovenia's Ministry of Education, Science and Sport acts as the national authority channelling Slovenian research funding into European transnational programmes. Their core H2020 role is co-funding ERA-NET joint calls — pooling national budgets with other countries to fund cross-border research in areas like quantum technologies, raw materials, health, and humanities. They also support National Contact Point networks that help Slovenian researchers access EU funding, and they hosted the 2021 ESFRI Roadmap launch during Slovenia's EU Council presidency. In practice, partnering with MIZS means securing the Slovenian government's financial and institutional commitment to your transnational research initiative.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015–2018), MIZS focused on building foundational NCP networks (COSMOS2020, NCP_WIDE.NET) and joining its first wave of ERA-NETs across diverse fields — bioeconomy, nanotechnologies, and health. By the later period (2019–2026), NCP activities faded and the focus shifted toward European Research Area alignment, circular economy, funding synergies between national and EU programmes, and gender equality — reflecting the EU's evolving policy priorities. The sustained investment in quantum technologies (QuantERA I and II) and raw materials (ERA-MIN 2 and 3) shows deepening commitment rather than exploration.

MIZS is consolidating around fewer, more strategic ERA-NETs (quantum, materials, circular economy) and aligning national funding with Green Deal priorities — expect continued focus on sustainability and digital transformation in future programme cycles.

How they like to work

MIZS operates almost exclusively as a participant (28 of 29 projects), which is typical for a national ministry whose role is to co-fund rather than manage research. Their single coordinator role — the ESFRI Roadmap 2021 presidency event — was a diplomatic occasion, not a research project. With 239 unique partners across 52 countries, they function as a broad-network funder rather than a deep bilateral partner, joining large ERA-NET consortia of 20–30 national funding agencies at a time.

MIZS has collaborated with 239 unique partners across 52 countries, making it one of the most broadly connected Slovenian organisations in H2020. This reach comes from ERA-NET consortia that typically include funding agencies from across Europe and associated countries, giving MIZS institutional relationships with nearly every national research funder on the continent.

What sets them apart

As Slovenia's science ministry, MIZS brings something no university or research institute can: the authority to commit national research funding to transnational calls. For ERA-NET coordinators, having MIZS in the consortium means Slovenian researchers become eligible for co-funded joint calls — it unlocks a country. Their consistent participation across multiple programme generations (ERA-MIN 2→3, QuantERA I→II, M-ERA.NET 2→3) signals reliability and institutional commitment over election cycles.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ERA CoBioTech
  Largest single EC contribution to MIZS at EUR 409,677, demonstrating strong national commitment to biotechnology research funding.
• MIZS-ESFRI
  The only project MIZS coordinated — organised during Slovenia's 2021 EU Council presidency to launch the ESFRI Roadmap 2021, a high-visibility research infrastructure event.
• QuantERA
  One of the flagship ERA-NETs in quantum technologies; MIZS joined both QuantERA I and II, showing sustained strategic investment in this priority area.