Completion of the 5xPRO Project

The 5xPRO Project – Consortium of Project Offices for Strengthening Excellence, Interdisciplinarity, and International Integration of the Slovenian Research Area will conclude in June 2026. The project was selected under the public call of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (MVZI), “Activities for Strengthening Project Offices at Public Research Organisations”, co-financed through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (funded by the European Union, NextGenerationEU) with a total value of EUR 1,249,965.09.

The project was coordinated by the National Institute of Chemistry (KI), with participation from the National Institute of Biology (NIB), the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Institute of Contemporary History (INZ), and the Institute of Metals and Technology (IMT). The official duration of the project is from 20 April 2023 to 30 June 2026.

Upon completion of the project, a final networking event of the consortium’s project offices took place at the National Institute of Chemistry on 20 May 2026, where project results and achieved objectives were presented. Among the most significant achievements identified were the strengthening of human resources capacities in the project offices of participating public research organisations (10 new staff members hired through the 5xPRO project), the establishment of a project office at the Institute of Contemporary History, and improvements in the quality, quantity, and success rate of applications submitted to centralized Horizon Europe calls. 

The 5xPRO consortium exceeded several performance indicators to which it had committed under the project. It achieved remarkable growth in the annual number of submitted project proposals at consortium level, increasing from 85 to 181 applications, demonstrating enhanced competencies of project support staff and underscoring the importance of recognising project offices as a key factor in the competitiveness of public research organisations within the European Research Area.

Throughout the implementation of project activities, employees involved in 5xPRO also recognised the crucial importance of collaboration among project offices and staff across different public research organisations. They remain committed to continued cooperation and maintaining professional networks that support their daily work and strengthen the professionalisation of research management and administration.

A key outcome of the 5xPRO project was the preparation of recommendations for policymakers on future measures to improve the support environment for research activities, coordinated by ZRC SAZU.

The recommendations summarise insights into the position of project offices within the Slovenian research landscape and propose ways to further enhance their current operational framework. The key measures identified include recognising project offices as a form of strategic research infrastructure in national strategic documents, ensuring stable funding for their operation, establishing the professions of research manager and research administrator, and creating a national network of research managers and administrators.

The preparation of the recommendations was coordinated by ZRC SAZU and signed by the directors of all participating public research organisations, reflecting their support and commitment to further strengthening project offices as an important component of successful public research organisations. On 14 May 2026, employees of the 5xPRO project also participated in the final event gathering all consortia selected under the call “Activities for Strengthening Project Offices at Public Research Organisations”, held at the InnoRenew CoE in Izola. On this occasion, the Head of the Project Office at the National Institute of Chemistry, Nastja Vodeb, symbolically presented the Recommendations for Policymakers on behalf of the 5xPRO consortium to Tomaž Boh, Director-General of the Directorate for Science and Innovation at MVZI.

In doing so, the 5xPRO project ensured appropriate visibility of its outcomes and supported their transfer into practice and policy development at the national level.

The recommendations are available at the following link.