The Infrastructure Programme of the University of Primorska (UP) provides the basic structural connectivity of highly diverse research groups within UP, as this was the only viable option for establishing infrastructure funding at the time of the University of Primorska’s establishment. At the establishment of UP, the University’s development priority was the establishment of natural sciences and engineering as independent study programmes. Since the foundation of these fields of study is experimental research, the Infrastructure Programme initially developed within a research institute and on an interdisciplinary basis. This interdisciplinarity has also proven to be a competitive advantage in the subsequent development of the programme, particularly through innovative interdisciplinary integration of scientifically and research-complementary interdisciplinary fields of study within UP. Through this programme, the University promotes interdisciplinarity within its member institutions, as well as more broadly within Slovenia and, in particular, internationally, thereby contributing to scientific excellence, high-impact publications, new scientific collaborations, numerous internationally prominent conferences, and new initiatives and projects.One of the first and fundamental groups within the Infrastructure Programme (IP) at UP was the field of applied natural sciences, which at the beginning of its operation included research in agri-food sciences, biodiversity, and Mediterranean crops. This field has continued to develop and is already achieving excellent results, including in the field of molecular biological techniques, which researchers are increasingly incorporating into their research. In this particular field, the Infrastructure Programme has enabled the maintenance and development of laboratories and systems that form the basis for the next generation of development in the field and for a potential breakthrough into the global research arena. Today, this is the Department of FAMNIT, which also includes outstanding new research groups, such as the Bioinformatics Laboratory, the Language Technologies Laboratory, Human-Computer Interaction, Immersive Analytics, and research into cognitive and behavioural processes. Today, this department represents one of the most interdisciplinary groups within the IP at UP. Important milestones and developments in the IP at UP included the establishment of, and subsequent integration into the IP of, the departments for technology, psychology, and health research. In terms of their research content, they were also joined by a group of researchers from the Faculty of Health Sciences. With the inclusion of the Department of Technology, the IP acquired a highly equipped research group comprising numerous researchers and a substantial portfolio of projects obtained at the global level. The Department of Technology is also one of the departments with the most international composition, as its researchers originate from virtually all continents. This international dimension of the department’s activities increases the visibility and impact of its projects and research results, while also enabling greater secondary involvement in international projects. An important body of research distributed across the fields of health sciences, psychology, health research, and health sciences more broadly is conducted by researchers primarily as interdisciplinary and innovative health research. This research also provides the foundation for certain faculty study programmes, programme groups, centres, and projects. This is certainly a field of research that will account for a significant share of IP activities in the coming years. The youngest component of the IP at UP is represented by the research units of the Faculty of Humanities, namely the Institute for Intercultural Studies (IMŠ), the Institute for Archaeology and Heritage (IDS), and the University of Primorska Press. Similarly to other research units, the humanities programmes are multidisciplinary, while the activities of the University Press cover the publishing needs of numerous research groups, disciplines, and publishing formats. As the youngest public university in Slovenia, with a single Infrastructure Programme and limited funding, UP has developed into a research institution with numerous new international projects. As such, it demonstrates comparatively the greatest potential for growth in scientific research and academic excellence within Slovenia across several scientific fields and disciplines, while further consolidating its position and growth in global university rankings. It therefore also makes a significant and substantial contribution to the global visibility of Slovenian science, university education, and research.The Infrastructure Programme provides the foundation for strengthening the excellence of research groups within UP that have already achieved global recognition. At the same time, it provides support for promising new sub-fields and researchers with the potential to achieve above-average research results and international recognition. Such an approach also creates greater opportunities for accelerating international research collaboration with the aim of achieving outstanding results as researchers and research groups advance.The objective of expanding the Infrastructure Programme is to increase scientific research activity among a larger group of researchers in fields that have not yet achieved an adequate level of international recognition at UP. Through the expansion of the programme, we envisage promoting scientific output, research mobility, and research project activities in various forms, taking into account the specific characteristics of individual research disciplines and in accordance with the principles of open science.
1.) Strengthening the excellence of globally established research groups, projects, and programmes; supporting promising and above-average researchers; and accelerating international research collaboration with the aim of achieving outstanding results, deepening existing links, and establishing new partnerships with recognised research institutes abroad.
2.) Developing innovative interdisciplinary research fields, supporting development projects and programmes, and achieving breakthroughs in excellence, including by encouraging researchers to apply for national project calls and international funding programmes such as the ERC, as well as supporting international projects and programmes.
3.) Promoting scientific output, research mobility, and research project activities in accordance with the specific characteristics of individual research disciplines and the principles of open science.
4.) Ensuring the human-resource, financial, and infrastructural conditions required for the implementation of scientific research activities by current and future researchers, thereby enabling the research activities of foreign researchers who obtain funding, for example, through calls such as MSCA.
8.) Strengthening cooperation and establishing new partnerships with industry and knowledge users at the local, national, and international levels.
10.) Strengthening the quality and global reach of international partnerships, including through measures such as the promotion and popularisation of science within industry, local communities, and international networks.
To achieve the aforementioned medium-term objectives, it will be necessary to strengthen the infrastructure group and identify additional sources of funding, as the existing scope of activities already significantly exceeds the current resources available to individual components of the programme and existing departments.