Biography
Michaela Kršková has been serving as the first Chief Innovation Officer of the Slovak Republic since 2021. As the Director General of the Research and Innovation Authority (VAIA) at the Government Office, she is responsible for inter-ministerial coordination of research and innovation policy.
She is overseeing the implementation of National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation 2030 as well as managing 570 million euros in public funding calls for research and innovation within the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Krskova also leads the Secretariat of the Slovak Government Council for Science, Technology and Innovation.
Before embarking on a career in civil service, she co-founded one of the first seed and venture capital funds in Slovakia and also co-founded and led Startup Awards.SK, a startup competition and an accelerator, which played an important role in the early development of the Slovak innovation ecosystem. She also worked as an innovation consultant for Civitta and Oxford University Innovation, University of Oxford’s technology transfer office. Michaela holds university degrees from Princeton University (B.A.) and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva (M.A.).