The aim of the project is to increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (hereinafter referred to as “STU”) and the Comenius University in Bratislava (hereinafter referred to as “UK”). The intention supports their cooperation in research and innovation through coordinated investments in research and innovation capacities, existing and new spatial, instrumental and higher education infrastructure. The project has three strategic objectives:1) Strengthen the competitiveness of both universities in the European Higher Education Area in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), stop reducing the number of students and attract new students not only from Slovakia but also from abroad, retaining the most talented students as future researchers and university teachers.2) Increase the participation of STU and UK in joint research in selected areas through the modernisation of existing research infrastructure and effective marketing of existing and new capacities between potential domestic and foreign research partners.3) Strengthen cooperation between academic and industrial spheres and create more opportunities for technology transfer, especially in the field of biotechnologies, biomedicine, advanced materials and information and communication technologies (hereinafter referred to as “ICT”).The project’s objectives will be met by activities aimed at the restoration and reconstruction of selected building objects, modernisation of IT infrastructure, procurement of cutting-edge equipment and equipment, joint research programmes in the field of ICT, biomedicine and industrial biotechnologies, advanced materials.Both universities are the main drivers in the field of research and innovation in the Slovak Republic and the joint project will increase the potential of higher education, research and innovation in the three areas that are closely related to the priorities of RIS3, thus supporting the further and lasting development of the thriving Slovak economy and the justified ambition of Bratislava as a regional innovation center.
