Miroslav Baláž: Changing Slovak science for the better
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Loading... - Berta Celko
- 30 Mar 2023
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SAV scientist applying for prestigious ERC grant.
In the space of just a few months, two scientists in Slovakia received European Research Council (ERC) grants after years of no one from the country being awarded the prestigious funding. Having spent years at the Swiss federal institute of technology ETH Zurich, Miroslav Baláž, who is applying for an ERC grant to study metabolic processes and develop treatments for non-communicable diseases, has returned to Slovakia.
The Slovak Spectator spoke to Baláž, who is now at the Biomedical Research Centre at the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV), about how he hopes to help improve science in Slovakia.
You spent seven years in Switzerland. Why did you leave Slovakia to work abroad?
I wanted to learn how cutting-edge science is done abroad, and then at some point come back and pass on my experience to younger colleagues, students and my team. I had visited the translational nutrition research at the department of health science and technology at ETH Zurich during my doctoral studies through the National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic, and after just a few weeks I realized how different the environment was, how it enriched me. When I returned to Slovakia to finish my PhD in Bratislava, I knew I would come back eventually. Read More…
