The Department of International Cooperation of the Office of Slovak Academy of Sciences ensures bilateral and multilateral international scientific and technical cooperation.Its activities are managed by the Vice President of the SAS for International Relations and her Deputy Vice Presidents. The Department coordinates and ensures the participation of SAS in various programmes such as ERA-Net, European Partnerships, Joint Research Projects of SAS, the bilateral Mobility Programme and others. It supports excellent research and increases the ability of SAS scientists to succeed in European Research Council (ERC) calls through the Seal of Excellence or SAS-UPJŠ ERC Visiting Fellowship Grants programmes. The Department provides advisory and consulting activities for SAS researchers resulting from the participation of SAS in the mentioned programmes and also takes care of the preparation and implementation of calls based on the obligations of SAS.
The Department organises international conferences, meetings and scientific seminars at the bilateral and multilateral levels. It cooperates with the central state administration bodies, especially with the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. It also prepares Agreements and Memoranda of Cooperation with foreign partner organisations.
The Department ensures the sending of SAS representatives abroad and actively participates in the preparation of visits of important scientific personalities from all over the world to the SAS premises. In cooperation with the Secretariat of the President of SAS, it ensures the reception of foreign and Slovak ambassadors.
Another pillar of the Department’s activities is the cooperation with international scientific organisations such as ALLEA (All European Academies), EASAC (European Academies Science Advisory Council) and ISC (International Science Council). While cooperating with these institutions, it seeks to promote public awareness based on scientific knowledge. Free and responsible scientific research allows to decide on important global issues based on substantiated facts and, at the same time, prevents the spread of dangerous misinformation.
The Department of International Cooperation coordinates or participates in the activities of four commissions: SAS Commission for International Scientific and Technical Cooperation, Commission for Evaluation of International Projects, SAS Commission for International Relations and SAS Commission for Equal Opportunities.