Slovakia

The country is looking to boost its research, development and innovation landscape with a massive increase in the budget and new focus after decades of stasis

The Cassovia New Industry Cluster launched in 2021 with the aim of bringing universities and industry together to increase the industrial competitiveness of an economically deprived region

An anthropologist studying conspiracy theories is just the second researcher in the country to win a European Research Council grant, a small step forward as Slovakia struggles to improve its research system

Academics want to see a new system that values competition and internationalisation - and which distributes R&D money based on results and excellence