The Center of Excellence SlovakION aims to become Eastern Europe’s leading research centre for ion beam and plasma technologies in materials engineering and nanotechnology. Based on cutting-edge research and closely integrated in an international network of research facilities, SlovakION’s holistic approach to innovation transfer and its close interaction with the regional industry will contribute to the economic development of Slovakia. The main focus lies with the automotive and electronics industry as pointed out in Slovakia’s Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation. The TEAMING project shall help to develop the new Centre of Excellence as an internationally acclaimed source of excellent research. In close cooperation with the Slovak government and relevant industrial partners, SlovakION will establish and develop an integrated system for technology transfer and applied research. As a long term vision, this Slovak transfer model should be extended on other areas of research and industrial fields. The SlovakION project draws its strength from three major sources: (i) STU is Slovakia’s leading technical university with a long tradition of excellent research and education, (ii) As of today, already €42M has been committed for creating a state-of the- art facility for ion and plasma technologies. These funds were provided by the European Structural Investment Fund (ESIF), the Slovak Republic Government and the STU, and (iii) HZDR Dresden will be the leading support for SlovakION building on more than a decade of close collaboration. HZDR will not only bring its own experiences in breeding excellent research and develop fruitful technology transfer, but could draw on the whole Dresden research cluster including a leading technical university, several thematically linked Fraunhofer sites as well as several public-private partnerships fostering technology transfer.
