The trends of research and demands of the customers are common source of ideas for basic and applied research. New R&D achievents enable to improve the quality of metallic materials and products. Metallurgy and metall working industry are important part of slovenian national economy. Their products represent important part of the total export in slovenia. Beside that metallic materials are suitable for recycling, and ecological friendly. The R&D achievements in the past period, that are important for development of Slovenia, slovenian steelworks and metall working industrie are the following: - Given are theoretical background for optimizing of processes in EAF and for optimizing of steel alloying, where expensive alloys are necessary. - Study of process parameters during control of VOD process, enables new approach to the process control. Systematical study of the process of stainless steel manufacture on AEF plus VOD plus (LF) plus KL line confirmed, that the control of three the main phases of VOD process - oxidation with oxygen in vacuum, degazation and decarburization with the oxygen from the melt (so called VCD phase) together with reduction of slag, could be improved by shortening of duration of present VOD process. - Introduction of computer controled reheating process of billets, that incorporates data acquisition on furnace parameters, development and evaluation of model of simulation process, visualisation of measured and calculated values, enables to reduce the specific consumption of energy in hot rolling mill. - Based on research data the Time-temperature-Transformation (TTT) diagram was constructed fo new alloy NGJL-400 for Valji, Štore. Determined were parameters of heat treatment that enable to get perlitic-bainitic microstructure. Acquired was new knowledge on the influence of chemical composition and heat treatment on changes in microstructure and its influence on mechanical properties of the alloy. - Research of high alloyed chromium steel casting alloy for heavy castings, increased the knowledge on the influence of the weight of casting, chemical composition of the alloy on changes in the microstructure, castin interval and properties of material. Changes in chemical composition and determined heat treatment parameters the properties of modified Maxidur-5 alloy were improved compared to classical Maxidur-5 alloy. - In continuous cast Al strip casting appeares beside fine grained base (alpha Al) also thin lameles of ternary phases of AlxFeySiz , partly precipitated along the grain boundaries of primary grains, but the main part is in the central evtectic region. It was established that the share of Fe/Si around 1 in AA1200, AA8079 and AA8011 alloys, is necessary for precipitation of fine dispersed, mostly ternary intermetallic phases, that influence on the size of primary grains, as well as influence the process of deformation and recrystalization of the microstructure.