STA, 30 March 2022 - A public research institution will be founded in Novo Mesto in April to unite the scientific, technological and development potential of south-eastern Slovenia and wider. The Rudolfovo Institute - Science and Technology Centre Novo Mesto (Rudolfovo - Znanstveno in tehnološko središče Novo mesto, JRZ Rudolfovo) is to start work this summer. Initially, it is to employ 30 people.
The institute will be an upgrade of efforts that started in 2016 with the foundation of the Development, Research and Innovation Centre by four municipalities from the region, and the Laboratory for Factories of the Future, said the head of the Novo Mesto Development Centre, Franci Bratkovič.
The project, in which over a million euro in regional funds has been invested so far, will unite the scientific, technological and development potential in the region and wider, enable applicative research in cooperation with businesses and promote innovation.
The new hub will be created in line with a government decision adopted on 24 March. "We have a team of competent experts and equipment, we are cooperating with businesses and education institutions. And we have purchased land where the new institute is to be based," Bratkovič said.
Staff will be hired gradually, and Borut Rončević was appointed interim head yesterday. In the first phase, 30 people will be employed.
Initially, the hub will use the facilities of the Development Centre and later move to a new building with a technological campus.
In the next 15 years, it plans to help set up 15 companies that will employ 1,500 people, said Bratkovič.
Rudolfovo will be the first public research institution in SE Slovenia and regional mayors agreed today that it would open development opportunities, contribute to decentralisation of the country, enable access to technology, boost regional cooperation and promote innovation.
The newspaper Večer has reported the government will secure EUR 5.2 million in funding for the hub in two years, of which EUR 2.6 million the first year, more than initially planned, probably due to the upcoming election.
According to the paper, the hub is the brainchild of Borut Rončević, the head of the RTV Slovenija supervisory board who served as the director of the Education Ministry's Higher Education Directorate during the second Janez Janša government.
