Facts and figures

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in central Europe created by the division of the former Czechoslovakia in 1993. A parliamentary democratic republic, Slovakia is a member of the European Union and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.¹

Slovakia has 33 higher education institutions including the country’s oldest university – the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice founded in 1657.² Around 26% of Slovak adults attain a tertiary education.³

The World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Global Innovation Index 2024 ranked Slovakia 29^th of 39 economies in Europe and 46^th globally.⁴  In 2023 the country had more than 24,300 full-time person equivalent working in R&D.

Gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) increased by 65 % between 2019 and 2023 to reach 1.28 billion Euro or 1.04% of Gross Domestic Product. The main sectors financing GERD in 2022 were the private business sector providing 47%, government with 34% and inward investment contributing 17%.⁵

The European Patent Office granted 30 patents to residents of Slovakia in 2024.⁶

Life scientists in Slovakia have access to funding from the Slovak Research & Development Agency, the Science Grant Agency, private sources,⁷ and through Horizon Europe and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions⁸ as well as EMBO.