Science and Research Centre Koper

The Science and Research Centre of the Republic of Slovenia in Koper (ZRS Koper) was established on 1 December 1994. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia was its founder, with the Association of Coastal Municipalities (the legal predecessors of the present-day municipalities of Koper, Izola, Piran and Ankaran) and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts as co-founders. Between 2003 and 2015, ZRS Koper operated within the new-founded University of Primorska, serving as its core research hub. ZRS Koper's researchers and the research foundations of its projects acted as an incubator for numerous undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at the university. Seeking a new organisational structure, the researchers of ZRS Koper aimed to responsibly shape its future. On 26 November 2016, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia established the Science and Research Centre Koper as a public research institute. ZRS Koper comprises ten institutes, six centres for applied research, three laboratories, a publishing house, and a library. It develops its activities through concrete collaborative projects with national and international academic and research communities, as well as through interaction with direct users of knowledge and the wider society. Adopting a distinctly interdisciplinary approach that combines the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, ZRS Koper's research activities focus on studying specific aspects of individuals' and societies' lives and work in the Mediterranean environment and the Northern Adriatic region, thus establishing the institution as a Crossroads of Mediterranean Wisdom. The institution's core activities include basic and applied research, preparing expert studies, providing consultancy services, and delivering educational, publishing, editorial, documentation, and library services. ZRS Koper is actively involved in international scientific cooperation within these activities and collaborates with related organisations worldwide. In addition to their research work, researchers participate in educational processes at all Slovenian universities and many universities abroad, thereby ensuring the transfer of research findings into the educational sphere. For several years, the institution has acted as a lead or partner organisation in various national projects. In addition, it has gained extensive experience in managing and participating in European research projects, framework programmes and territorial cooperation programmes. ZRS Koper collaborates on research projects with numerous public institutions, institutes, public bodies, associations and companies, providing key infrastructural and research support to certain government services within ministries and agencies.