COMENIUS UNIVERSITY STILL PRODUCES MOST OF EXCELLENT SCIENCE IN SLOVAKIA
Bratislava, 17 June 2025: Comenius University Bratislava (CU) continues to produce the highest-quality scientific output among all higher education institutions in Slovakia. This follows from data published by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic, which recently distributed funding to universities based on excellent scientific output for the second time. Of the total amount allocated in this round: €526,000, CU received €264,000, representing 50.19%.
The ministry assessed excellent output using four international databases:
- Publications in the Nature Index – the world’s most prestigious scientific journals
- Highly cited publications in the Web of Science (WoS) database, i.e. those ranked among the top 1% most cited in their field
- European and US patents, registered with the European Patent Office or the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Grants from the European Research Council (ERC)
The data from international databases used in the second round covered the period up to 31 May 2025. Regarding Nature Index publications, as many as 69.57% of all Slovak university outputs came from CU researchers. CU researchers accounted for 40% of highly cited works in WoS. No patents were recorded during this period. As for ERC grants, there were no Slovak outputs during the reference period.
The fields in which CU achieved excellent scientific output include physical sciences, chemistry, biological sciences, mathematics, medical sciences, psychology, and earth and environmental sciences.
In the first round (covering the period up to 31 January 2025), CU was also the leader in terms of highest-quality scientific outputs in Slovakia. Out of the total allocation, CU received €1,188,000 (54.10%). Works of CU researchers accounted for 76.22% of Nature Index publications. CU received 36.64% for highly cited works in WoS and SCOPUS. Among the patents recorded in the same period, CU held a 54.17% share.
In 2025, the Ministry of Education introduced a new financial instrument to support excellent research at Slovak universities. It is an immediate, automatic, and continuous system for rewarding outstanding scientific achievements and innovations. Three times a year (on 31 January, 31 May, and 30 September), the ministry obtains data from international databases and instantly disburses funding to universities based on results.
According to the ministry’s methodology, universities are required to pay half of the funds directly to the authors of excellent outputs and innovations. The other half may be used to develop the centres of excellence where these results were produced.