Biography
EIC Ambassador, former EIC Board member, Senior Research and Innovation Advisor and Head of the Innovation Relay Centre, Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
Dr. Špela Stres is a principal research and innovation advisor and Head of the Innovation Relay Centre at the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS), Slovenia. She previously led the Centre for Technology Transfer and Innovation at IJS for more than a decade and also served as Assistant Director for Evaluation and Quality at the Institute. In these roles, she built and professionalised comprehensive knowledge and technology transfer support structures and contributed to strengthening institutional quality and evaluation frameworks. Her work has supported the creation of 11 spin-off companies, the establishment of proof-of-concept and investment-related funding mechanisms, and the development of national and European innovation support instruments.
Her career spans research organisations, innovation policy and European governance. She served as Director and Acting Director of the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) during its establishment phase and was a member of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board for two consecutive terms. She is a national delegate to the CERN Knowledge Transfer Forum and has been actively involved in European knowledge transfer networks, including the TTO Circle.
At the international level, she is a former member of the United Nations High-Level 10-Member Group on Technology Facilitation for Sustainable Development and a former Vice-President and Board Member of the European Association of Science and Technology Professionals (ASTP). She has served as an expert on advisory groups of the European Commission (DG R&I, DG CONNECT) and on European research and innovation organisations.
Dr Stres holds a PhD in Physics, an LLM in Intellectual Property and an MBA. Her background combines research in accelerator and medical physics with long-standing experience in innovation systems, knowledge transfer, and research and innovation governance.