Abstract
With regard to the distinguished role played by the scientific and research abilities of the institutions of higher education in the highly developed countries, the authors characterize the interior position of the research activities in Slovakia. The conditions unfavourable to the reform of scientific activities are financial constraints met by the education sector and the social and institutional instability of the transformation process. The cutback of funds is accompanied however by the modification of the research financing mechanisms, the introduction of the research project grants and competition for funds. The differentiation of opinions, within the scientific community, regarding the direction of the scientific and research abilities development is presented. They are concerned with such issues as grants’ role as compared to other financial instruments, definition of the researcher’s position within institutions of higher education, and so on. The authors advocate for multiplicity and flexibility of solutions. Also, they pay attention to the role played by grants and applied studies within the institutions of higher education and the acceptable staffing in such institution. The transformation problems related to the lack of the research priorities, which, according to the authors, should not be imposed by the bureaucracy but should be negotiated by the scientific community and the state administration, are presented in the final paragraph.