The Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (abbreviated in Slovenian as ZRC SAZU) was founded in 1981. Since that time, it has established itself in the Slovenian public space as the leading scientific-research institute, working primarily in the humanities, social sciences, and selected disciplines within the natural sciences. Today it is composed of eighteen institutes, most of which are housed at Novi trg in the center of Ljubljana and one being located in Postojna. More than 350 researchers work at ZRC SAZU’s institutes. Their work includes basic research projects (such as the continuous measurement of the Triglav Glacier, which has been monitored over the past seventy years and is now carried out by the Anton Melik Geographical Institute) and applied projects such as the Slovenian dictionary portal Fran designed, produced, and maintained by the Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language. 

One of the most important missions of a public scientific-research institute such as ZRC SAZU is the regular presentation of its research results to the public. ZRC SAZU performs this aspect of its mission by holding events in its public spaces, such as the ZRC Atrij where it hosts the annual event entitled Generations of Science. It also hosts smaller events such as conversations and round tables about research projects and book publications. In the decades of its existence, the ZRC Atrij has become a fixture in Ljubljana’s cultural, social, and urban life. Although the promotion of the research work of ZRC SAZU is a priority, the ZRC Atrij can also be rented for private presentations and events.

In addition to its eighteen institutes, ZRC SAZU also includes the publishing unit Založba ZRC, which publishes both academic and non-academic books, and a large number of academic journals. Založba ZRC also operates the Azil Bookshop, which specializes in literature in the fields of the humanities and social sciences. The bookshop was renovated in 2021.

ZRC SAZU’s expansion from Slovenia’s capital city Ljubljana to other parts of the country in only four decades speaks to a tremendous about of dedication and hard work. During this time, ZRC SAZU has established the following four research centres outside of Ljubljana: Research Station Nova Gorica, Research Station Maribor, Research Station Prekmurje, and most recently, Research Station Barje established in 2018. 

In accordance with the spirit of the times, ZRC ZASU has begun to disseminate the results of its scientific research not only on analog platforms but also on digital platforms in the virtual world. In this context, ZRC SAZU and its institutes are active on social media. Its social media activities are not one-directional, limited to the passive presentation of scientific research, but are responsive to questions and initiatives that come from the public. Examples of this include ZRC SAZU’s Jezikovna svetovalnica (Linguistic Advising) and Terminološko svetovanje (Terminological Advising), both of which are run by the Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language. More recently, during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the following achievements are particularly worthy of mention: the digital scientific publication Alternator (which ZRC SAZU, in collaboration with other scientific-research institutes, began to publish in February 2020), the scientific publication Heriskop, the blog of ethnological findings Vsakdanjik, and the online book fair Knjige n@ recept run by Založba ZRC and the Azil Bookshop. 

ZRC SAZU is the main organizer of the Slovenian branch of the global movement March for Science, which held protests in 2017, 2018, and 2019. 

In 2021, on ZRC SAZU’s 40th anniversary, the ZRC SAZU logotype was redesigned. The design changes, aimed at refreshing our visual image, were undertaken by the designer Nataša Vuga and the Vuga Studio. The new design takes its inspiration from the concept of a circle’s surface area. Due to the infinite number of decimals in the number pi, the area of the circle cannot be precisely calculated. Thus it represents a kind of endless process, similar to research itself.