3rd Strategic seminar to support cooperation between the academy, universities and companies in Slovakia.

On June 21, 2022, the 3rd year of the strategic seminar was held at the Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics SAV, which aims to create a platform for meeting representatives of the academic, educational and industrial sectors and to enable them to develop cooperation not only at the national but also at the international level. The seminar offers new opportunities to strengthen cooperation by creating joint projects, primarily oriented to support the implementation of innovative solutions to specific production problems of modern industrial practice.

Even this year, although after a longer - 2-year pandemic break, it was a stimulating seminar attended by 40 representatives from Slovak Universities, SAS institutes and representatives from 9 companies operating in Slovakia and expanding abroad.

During the seminar, the possibilities of SAS, Universities and especially Slovak companies in the Horizon Europe programs were also discussed. The main discussants in this section were Lucia Dávidová (ADDSEN, s.r.o.), Dominika Zsapková Haringová (European Projects Support Office, SAS) and Miroslav Poláček (PEDAL Consulting, s.r.o.), who talked about their experiences in choosing suitable challenges, finding project partners, submitting projects in EU programs and later also in managing such projects. Dr. Karol Iždinský presented the FIT-4-NMBP project "Strategic and targeted support for stimulating talented newcomers in NMBP projects within the Horizon Europe program", which helps in acquiring projects within the Horizon Europe program challenges through consulting activities and connecting partners.

We plan to organize this type of seminar in cooperation with the Society for New Materials and Technologies (SNMT) every year. We believe that with this platform we will reach the largest possible number of representatives from SAS institutes, universities and industrial partners and thus enable to start and deepen the cooperation between the mentioned sectors.