Dr Borut Rončević

Dr Borut Rončević (born on 25 August 1975) is a Full Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Information Studies in Novo mesto and a Research Counsellor at Rudolfovo – Science and Technology Centre Novo mesto.

As a university lecturer, he contributes to doctoral education and is primarily engaged in research within large international consortium projects that bring together stakeholders from the education, industry, public administration and the non-governmental sectors. His work focuses on issues at the intersection of knowledge creation and transfer, research policy, innovation, and regional development. He has participated in numerous European research and development projects under the Horizon Europe, Interreg and Erasmus+ programmes. He is the author or co-author of 11 scholarly monographs and 40 scientific articles, has edited seven conference proceedings, and has published numerous other scholarly and professional papers. He actively participates in international professional associations. Since 2022, he has been the first Slovenian to serve as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Sociological Association (ISA).

He began his academic career as a junior researcher at the University of Ljubljana. As a doctoral student, he held a Marie Curie Fellowship at Aalborg University in Denmark in 2002.

 He has twice been awarded a Jean Monnet Chair and has led a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on three occasions. From 2023 to 2024, he spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar at Troy University in the United States, combining teaching and research. Throughout his academic and research career, he has been a visiting professor and researcher at numerous universities and research institutions in Slovenia and abroad, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Lebanon and Croatia.

Between 2012 and 2013, he served as Director-General for Higher Education and Science at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia. He has also led several higher education and research institutions, including the Novo Mesto University and Research Centre, the Faculty of Applied Social Studies and the Faculty of Media. For many years, he served as Chair of the Governing Board of the Faculty of Information Studies in Novo mesto and as Chair of the Supervisory Board of RTV Slovenia.

In his work, he advocates open, high-quality and development-oriented education systems and a strong role for science, research and innovation in Slovenia's long-term development.