Members of the Executive Board

Regarding the Agency, Robert was the driving force behind the foundation of the Agency from the very beginning, from the adoption of the statutes and internal regulations, through the establishment of organizational structures, to staffing. He oversaw the implementation of quality assurance in accordance with the ESG. He was heavily engaged in educating and introducing the systematic implementation of internal quality assurance in HEIs in Slovakia. It was under his chairmanship that the Agency set up the quality assurance rules for HEIs that came into force in 2020. During his tenure the Agency started processing study programme accreditation applications in 2021. Since then, the Agency has granted accreditation of 200 study programmes. In 2022, all HEIs in Slovakia applied for an initial institutional assessment of internal quality assurance. The Agency processed all 33 applications. So far, the Agency Executive Board has made decisions in 32 proceedings. Under his leadership, SAAHE has undergone an ENQA Agency Review, was enrolled in EQAR in 2023 and became a member of ENQA in early 2024. All Agency decisions in relating to ESG are now registered in the DEQAR database. The Agency is looking into the possibility of cross-border assessments in Slovakia and is currently preparing for accreditation of joint study programmes with a European approach. Robert has actively participated in several events organized by ENQA and EUA, such as ENQA Members Forums, ENQA General Assembly, and EQAF. In the SEQA-ESG project he featured as a representative of a participating agency, while in the SEQA-ESG2 project he was a speaker disseminating practical experience. Within the QA-FIT project he presented reflections from the “new agency” point of view at a webinar and took an active part in a focus group on the ESG update. In his previous job, 2011-2019, Robert served as rector of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, the second largest university in Slovakia. As a rector, he made sure he acknowledged outstanding students, teaching staff and researchers; he contributed to secure funding, and managed major investments to the institutional infrastructure. Prior to that, he held the posts of vice-rector and vice-dean at the same university. His main areas of focus were research management, doctoral studies, tech transfer and IT services. He also founded a university technology business incubator with a start-up programme InQb, etc. In addition to that, Robert was a vice-president of the Slovak Rectors’ Conference, a member of several governmental and non-governmental bodies active in the field of research and innovation, and chair of the Research and Technology Council of the Higher Education Institutions Council. In terms of his academic background, Robert (MSc. 1988 STU, PhD 1993) is a professor of electronics. His research focus was on nanoelectronics, quantum semiconductor heterostructures and ultravacuum technologies. He was awarded Nummum Academiae Memorialem Tribut by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, elected professor honoris causa at Obuda University, Hungary and was nominated for TREND TOP manager of the year. Throughout his career Robert has gained extensive academic and research experience abroad. He was granted a one-year research stay at the Electronics department of the University of York in the UK and benefited from the International Visiting Leadership Program on Current Challenges in Higher Education in the US. He gave training courses on innovation in south-east Asia (Vietnam and Thailand) and served for several years on the Executive Council of the International Union of Vacuum Science, Technology and Application (IUVSTA), a global research community.

Author and co-author of 330 outputs of creative activity, for which 1400 citations and references are registered. Member of the Steering Committee of the IGU Commission on “The Dynamics of Economic Spaces”, editor-in-chief of the international scientific journal Folia Geographica, member of the editorial boards of several international scientific journals. Holder of several awards – in 2018 he was awarded honorary membership of the Polish Geographical Society. Until 2019 he was a professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences of the University of Prešov, where he also held several managerial positions – dean (2015-2019), rector (2007-2015), vice-dean (2000-2007). He has supervised 9 PhD students. He was the principal investigator of 6 domestic and 3 international research grant projects. He worked as an extraordinary and visiting professor at foreign universities in Poland and France – Uniwersytet Rzeszowski (2005-2007, 2008-2018), Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille (2006). He was Vice-Chairman of the Cultural and Educational Grants Agency KEGA (2016-2019), Vice-Chairman of the KEGA Commission no. 3 for content integration and diversification of higher education studies (2016-2019), Vice President of ACEU – Alliance of Central-Eastern European Universities (2011-2016), President of the Slovak Geographical Society at the Slovak Academy of Sciences (2006-2014), member of the evaluation commission of the programme “Supporting Individuality” of the Intenda Foundation (2009-2014), Member of the Working Group for Physics and Earth Sciences of the Accreditation Commission – Advisory Body of the Slovak Government (2003-2011), Member of the VEGA Commission for Earth and Space Sciences (2005-2008) and Member of the Scientific Councils of Universities and Faculties in Slovakia, Czechia and Poland. He graduated from the Leadership in Higher Education: A Senior Executive Programme at the Oxford Academy for Education and Development (2013). He graduated from the Faculty of Science of Comenius University in Bratislava (1990 – RNDr./MSc.) and Uniwersytet Łódzki, Łódź, Poland (1997- PhD.).

In his scientific research, teaching and publishing activities at home and abroad, he focuses on the issue of human communication through the prism of general linguistics, comparative, systemic and applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, communication theory, mediology and axiology. His main and long-standing area of interest is interdisciplinary research into communication in society with a focus on natural language and communication: the area of spoken (oral) language and colloquial Slovak, communication in interest-based and professional micro-communities, in the media, political and educational spheres of communication, and in the digital environment. He focuses on language, style and stylistics of text, modern rhetoric, language contacts and culture of expression, managerial and pedagogical communication, Slovak as a foreign language, and the linguistic and communicative essence and socio-cultural mission of information and communication technologies.
He lectures at Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica (his home institution since 1985) and at universities in Košice, Trnava, Karviná, Olomouc, and Prague. He cultivates and maintains professional contacts with domestic and foreign scientific schools and academic institutions. He presents his scientific research results in the form of conference papers and publications in domestic and foreign journals and anthologies and at scientific events (Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia, Lithuania, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Austria, Russia, Serbia). During his teaching career, he has supervised 135 graduates (including 5 abroad) and, as part of the professorial school, has successfully guided 12 doctoral students to completion.
He is the author and/or co-author of 7 books, 17 textbooks and workbooks on Slovak for primary schools, author of 120 scientific studies, 130 professional articles, 30 reviews, 220 expert opinions and assessments; compiler or co-compiler of 40 scientific, professional and artistic publications. Active participant in 102 domestic and international scientific events. Head of the organizational team and co-organizer of 16 international scientific conferences (including 5 in foreign co-partnership). Responsible researcher and co-researcher of 13 domestic and international scientific projects. Creator and/or co-author of 8 university study programs. The database of citations of his scientific research and publishing activities contains 570 citations and references, 180 of which are from abroad.
Memberships in professional associations (selection): International editorial board of the linguistic journal Glottotheory – Akademie Verlag – De Gruyter Berlin, Germany (since 2012); Editorial board of the linguistic periodical Jazykovedný časopis – Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava (since 1998); Commission for Sociolinguistics accredited by the International Committee of Slavists – Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland (since 2010); Accreditation Commission, advisory body to the Government of the Slovak Republic (2014–2019; Vice-Chair in 2018–2019); Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education – member of the Executive Board of SAAVŠ in Bratislava (1st term 2019–2021, 2nd term 2021–2027).
Selected publications: author of books Interdisciplinary Cooperation (Banská Bystrica 2002); Sociolinguistic Aspects Electronically Determined Communication (Karviná 2009); Quick Reading and Thought Processing of Text (Banská Bystrica 2011); Theoretical and Applicative Insights into the Dynamics of Spoken Communication (Banská Bystrica 2016); co-author of book publications Language – Communication – Society (Banská Bystrica 1997); Language in Communication in Selected Social Environments (Language in Communication in Selected Social Environments) (Banská Bystrica 1999); Jazyk, média, politika (Language, Media, Politics) (Ed. S. Čmejrková – J. Hoffmannová; Prague 2003); Manipulačno-komunikačné a persuazívno-komunikačné koncepcie (Manipulative-Communicative and Persuasive-Communicative Concepts) (Banská Bystrica 2018) and others.
Recognition and awards (selection): 1985 Award of the Minister of Education of the Slovak Republic for outstanding results in university studies; 1993 Laureate of Chalupka Brezno ’93 for exceptional artistic performance; 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009 Award of the Rector of the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica in the field of science and research; 2000 Grand Gold Medal of the Matej Bel University and others; 2013 nomination for the XV International Congress of Slavists in Minsk (Belarus) and active participation in the event; 2018 nomination for the XVI International Congress of Slavists in Belgrade (Serbia) and active participation in the event, 2022 nomination for the XVII International Congress of Slavists in Paris (France) and others.

As a specialist in cardiology and angiology, she is one of the leading internationally recognized experts in pulmonary hypertension, thromboembolism, valvular and congenital cardiology, and echocardiography. At the European level, she represented Slovakia as a member of the European Echocardiography Certification Committee (2008-2019), the E-Communication Committee (2016-2019) and the Advocacy Committee (2020-2024) of the European Society of Cardiology. Since 2018, she has led a working group at the European Society of Cardiology on congenital heart defects in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe. She is an honorary member of the Czech and Slovak Cardiology Society (since 2017) and the Slovak Pneumology and Phthisiology Society (since 2024), and served as president and vice-president of the Slovak Cardiology Society (2011–2018). At her workplace, she heads a cardiology department focusing on congenital heart defects and pulmonary hypertension with nationwide coverage, which is part of the European Reference Network. She is the guarantor and coordinator of specialized studies in cardiology in Slovakia (2024–present), in angiology (2011–2024), certification studies in echocardiography (2010–present), guarantor/co-guarantor of the study program in general medicine I and II / internal medicine III at the Faculty of Medicine of the Slovak Medical University in Bratislava. As a supervisor, she has trained 7 PhD students to date and more than 200 specialists in specialized studies in cardiology and angiology. She is the chair / member of examination boards for these specializations, a reviewer of numerous specialization and diploma theses and grants, reviewer of scientific papers in prestigious foreign journals, and organizer of numerous international professional events. Until 2019, she held several management positions at the Faculty of Medicine of the Slovak Medical University – Vice-Dean for Science and Research (2011–2014), Vice-Dean for International Relations (2014–2018), University Coordinator for Erasmus+ (2019 – present). She has been and continues to be the principal investigator and co-investigator of 11 grants, 13 international multicenter studies, and 8 registries. At the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, she was a member of the Accreditation Commission for the Accreditation of Internal Medicine Teaching Facilities (2005–2014) and chair of the Cataloguing Commission in the field of cardiology. She is the author and co-author of 509 publications, including more than 160 original scientific papers in extenso in domestic and foreign scientific journals, author of the monograph Pulmonary Hypertension Through the Eyes of a Cardiologist and chapters in 17 monographs and university textbooks for the study of internal medicine, angiology and cardiology, with 20,877 citations and references. She has given more than 550 professional lectures, 200 at international conferences, including more than 130 on request. She has received numerous awards: Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (2007), Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (2012), Virsík Prize of the Presidium of the Slovak Medical Society (2010) and the Literary Fund Prize for her monograph Pulmonary Hypertension Through the Eyes of a Cardiologist (2010), Bronze (2006) and Gold Medals of the Slovak Medical Society (2016), Slovak Woman of the Year (2014) in the category of education and support of young talent. She is a member and official of numerous national and international professional societies. Editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Lekársky obzor, member of the editorial boards of several international professional journals.
Since her appointment from the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic (March 1, 2019 – present), she has been a member of the Executive Board of the Slovak Accreditation Agency.

He was Vice-Dean (1991-1995) and Head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies (1997-2010), a member of several scientific councils in Slovakia and a member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic, where he was a professor (2016-2020). He supervised 13 doctoral students. He was the principal investigator and investigator of several domestic and international research grant projects (APPV, VEGA, KEGA, EVA 4.0, Center of Excellence, etc.). He was a member of the Grant Agency for Technology – Commission for Petrochemical, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry (1995-1998), Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences – Commission for Chemical and Chemical Technology Sciences (2002-2005) and Agency for the Support of Research and Development APVV, Working Group 3 – Construction, Transport and Communications, Woodworking, Water Management Sciences, Chemical Engineering (2011-2014). He was a member of working groups No. 10 Ecology and Environmental Studies (2010-2019) and No. 23 Security Services (2013-2019) of the Accreditation Commission, an advisory body to the Slovak Government. He is the author and co-author of 142 publications in the Web of Science Core Collection, with more than 2,500 WoS citations, H-index = 29. He is a member of the editorial boards of several international scientific journals. He graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (1982), was inaugurated at the Technical University in Zvolen (2000) and obtained the scientific degree of DrSc. at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (2021).

Education and qualifications
• University of Economics in Bratislava, field of study: finance, engineering studies, completed in 1978
• Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, Department: sectoral and cross-sectional economics, doctoral studies, completed in 2004
• MBA (Master of Business Administration) studies since 2014 at LIGS University, field: strategic management, completed in 2015

FURTHER EDUCATION:
• 1992 – tax advisor exams, certificate number 59/92
• 1993 – expert in Economics and Management, field: Accounting and Taxation
• 1994 – auditor exams, license number SKAU 395
• 2002 – Certified Accounting Expert
• 2005 – IAS/IFRS international financial reporting exam

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
• Slovak Chamber of Tax Advisors – since 1992
• Slovak Chamber of Auditors – since 1994
• Slovak Chamber of Certified Accountants – since 2002
• Slovak Chamber of Experts – since 2003

OTHER MEMBERSHIPS:
• Vice-President for Economics of the Slovak Chamber of Auditors in Bratislava from 2000 to 2008
• Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Audit Oversight Authority in Bratislava from 2008 to 2012
• Member of the Accreditation Commission of the Slovak Republic since 2014
• Member of the Executive Board of the Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education since 2019

Work experience
• EKOPRAKTIK, spol. s r.o., Trnava – Managing Director, Partner, since 1994 – present Providing auditing and expert services, economic consulting and accounting, management of a team of auditors, company management, responsible for the comprehensive management of the audit company, including the management of audit teams
TAX – AUDIT Slovensko, spol. s r.o., Trnava – partner, senior manager, since 1997 – present
providing audit services, economic and tax consulting, responsible for comprehensive management of the audit company, including management of audit teams for clients in the public and private sectors

Author and co-author of 232 creative outputs, which have been cited and referenced 504 times. He was a member of the Accreditation Commission, an advisory body to the Slovak government (2016–2019). Head of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at the Faculty of Law, Trnava University (2000-2019), Vice-Dean for Faculty Development and International Relations (2000–2007) Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and Artistic Activity at Trnava University in Trnava (2007–2011). Until 2019, he was a member of several scientific councils of universities and faculties in Slovakia. He participated in 34 habilitation or inauguration proceedings and two proceedings for the award of the scientific degree of DrSc. He supervised 30 doctoral students. He is the principal investigator and co-investigator of nineteen research projects (VEGA and APVV). He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Forum iuris europeum (FIE) and a member of the editorial board of the international online scientific journal Societas et iuriprudentia (SEI). He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Comenius University in Bratislava (1983 – JUDr.) and the ZNB University in Prague (1987 – CSc.).

In 2019, under his leadership, ŠRVŠ received the Erasmus + KA2 “QA Student experts” project, within which he participated both professionally and managerially in the training of student experts on the quality of higher education institutions in Slovakia. He gained experience in the field of quality assurance as an active participant in international conferences, in 2019-2020 he completed trainer´s training in Brussels with experts from ENQA, EQAR, NVAO, ECA, and ESU and short-term stays in agencies and quality departments of universities in Romania, Ireland, and Great Britain. He himself was the organizer of international student trainings between 2018-2022 and the first quality assurance summer school in Slovakia in 2019. He was a member of the working group of the Minister of Education for the National Program for the Development of Education and Training (2016-2017) and a member of the working group for the creation of the law on quality assurance of higher education. Former member of the Council for Education and Training at Higher education council, member of the interdepartmental working group for youth, and the working group for EU youth dialogue. He was a student representative in temporary working groups of the Accreditation Commission, an advisory body of the Slovak government (2015-2018). He was a member of the university’s and faculty’s academic senate and a member of the university’s disciplinary committee. He briefly worked in the communications department of the Ministry of the Environment. He completed an internship at the European Parliament in Brussels. He is still actively engaged in teaching.
He is the recipient of the Harmónia award, the plaque of the “Honorable Civic Order in Slovakia”, laureate of Talents of New Europe of the CEF Foundation, he was included in the list of young artistic talents EMCY Prize winners. Holder of the plaque St. Gorazda, awards of the Minister of Education of the Slovak Republic.
He studied performing arts and theater management and received a Master of Arts degree from the Faculty of Music and Dance of the University of Performing Arts in Bratislava.