ZRC SAZU

What ZRC SAZU does

ZRC SAZU (Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) is a nonprofit multidisciplinary research institution headquartered at Novi trg 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia, and operating since 1981. The institution is organized as a network of 18 specialized research institutes covering biology, archaeology, philosophy, geography, ethnology, linguistics, literature, history, musicology, paleontology, art history, and related disciplines, supplemented by 4 regional research stations in Barje, Maribor, Nova Gorica, and Prekmurje. Its core activity is conducting fundamental and applied research, with a documented portfolio of 1,111+ research programmes and projects and 2,444+ indexed publications.

ZRC SAZU monetizes and disseminates its research through multiple channels. The wholly-owned publishing arm Založba ZRC produces academic monographs, journals, and thematic series (including the Alternator thematic journal and Platforma student volumes), distributed via two physical bookstores (Knjigarna Azil in Ljubljana and Knjigarna kavarna Maks in Nova Gorica) and an online bookstore (knjigarna.zrc-sazu.si) with international shipping. Open-access dissemination is operated through OJS journals (ojs.zrc-sazu.si), OMP monographs (omp.zrc-sazu.si), and the Arzenal digital archive. The affiliated Podiplomska šola ZRC SAZU provides postgraduate doctoral and master's education, and the Atrij ZRC serves as an event and exhibition venue. Pricing for publications is unit-based, ranging from €3 to €35 per title, with shipping terms of €3.40 domestically and €15 flat-rate internationally.

The institution is governed by its own administration, operates with 432 current staff (676 total including former employees and external associates in the public directory), and is funded through a combination of Slovenian national research budgets, EU framework programmes (including H2020 GRACE and European Social Fund / EIP projects), and ancillary publishing revenue. Its customer base is horizontally segmented across academic researchers, postgraduate students, and the general public consuming publications, with no disclosed enterprise customer concentration. Compliance posture includes GDPR (EU 2016/679), Slovenian ZVOP-1, Consumer Protection Act (ZVPot), and partial compliance with Slovenia's website accessibility legislation.

Name

ZRC SAZU

Legal name

Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti

Website

https://zrc-sazu.si

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ZRC SAZU is a nonprofit multidisciplinary research institution affiliated with the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, operating 18 specialized institutes and 4 regional research stations to advance Slovenian scholarship across humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, disseminated through publishing, open-access repositories, and postgraduate education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ljubljana

HQ country

Slovenia

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Publishing and book sales: Publishing academic books, journals, monographs, and series through Založba ZRC. Distribution through physical bookstores (Knjigarna Azil, Knjigarna kavarna Maks) and online bookstore.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ZRC SAZU conducts multidisciplinary fundamental and applied scientific research across 18 specialized institutes and 4 regional research stations spanning humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. It disseminates scholarly findings through the Založba ZRC publishing house, open-access journal and monograph repositories (OJS/OMP), and physical and online bookstores. It also operates the Podiplomska šola ZRC SAZU, a postgraduate education program.

Product overview

ZRC SAZU (Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) is a multidisciplinary research institution organized as a network of 18 specialized research institutes and 4 regional research stations. The institution operates Založba ZRC as its publishing arm, which produces monographs, journals, and the thematic publication series Alternator and Platforma. Research outputs are disseminated through open-access repositories for journals (OJS) and monographs (OMP), as well as the Arzenal digital archive. Založba ZRC operates physical bookstores (Knjigarna Azil in Ljubljana, Knjigarna kavarna Maks in Nova Gorica) and an online bookstore. The affiliated Podiplomska šola ZRC SAZU provides postgraduate education, while the Atrij ZRC serves as an event venue at the Ljubljana headquarters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Založba ZRC (ZRC Publishing House) Scholarly publishing house producing academic books, journals, and monographs across humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, serving researchers, libraries, and the general public.
• Prostodostopne revije ZRC SAZU (Open-Access Journals) Open-access online platform hosting peer-reviewed scholarly journals across multiple disciplines, freely available to researchers and the general public.
• Prostodostopne monografije ZRC SAZU (Open-Access Monographs) Open-access online platform hosting scholarly monographs across humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, freely available to readers.
• Podiplomska šola ZRC SAZU (Postgraduate School) Postgraduate education program offering advanced academic degrees and research training to postgraduate students across ZRC SAZU's research disciplines.
• Spletna knjigarna ZRC SAZU (Online Bookstore) Online bookstore selling ZRC SAZU publications directly to individual customers, academic institutions, and libraries with delivery-based fulfillment.
• Knjigarna Azil Physical retail bookstore selling ZRC SAZU publications to walk-in customers in Ljubljana.
• Knjigarna kavarna Maks Combined bookshop and café venue operated by ZRC SAZU, selling publications and serving refreshments to visitors.
• Atrij ZRC On-site event and venue facility at ZRC SAZU used for academic events, conferences, and scholarly gatherings.
• Arzenal (Digital Repository) Digital repository preserving and providing access to ZRC SAZU research outputs, publications, and scholarly materials.
• 18 Research Institutes of ZRC SAZU Eighteen specialized research institutes conducting multidisciplinary fundamental and applied scientific research across humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
• 4 Research Stations of ZRC SAZU Four regional research stations supporting field-based scientific research across Slovenia.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GRACE Consortium (H2020 Science with and for Society project)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 October 2021GRACE (Grounding RRI Actions to Achieve Institutional Changes in European Research Funding and Performing Organisations) is an H2020 funded project. ZRC SAZU participates as a consortium partner focusing on research ethics and integrity and public engagement.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Open Library of Humanities: Library-funder-supported Diamond open-access publisher for humanities and social sciences journals. Comparable to ZRC SAZU's OJS/OMP infrastructure as a Diamond open-access publishing model for scholarly content.

Broad incumbents

• Max Planck Society: Germany's largest non-university research organisation operating specialised institutes across sciences and humanities. Comparable in research-only mandate and institute structure, though at materially larger scale.
• CNRS - Centre national de la recherche scientifique: France's flagship multidisciplinary public research organisation, much larger but structurally analogous: networks of specialised institutes, scholarly publishing, and broad social-science/humanities/natural-science coverage.

Direct peers

• Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU): Parent academic body of ZRC SAZU; operates as the supreme national scientific institution in Slovenia, coordinating academy-level research and membership. Directly comparable as a Slovenian national research and scholarly publishing counterpart.
• Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU): Regional South-East European national academy with research departments and academic publishing. Closely comparable regional peer given shared linguistic and cultural heritage studies focus.
• Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW): Austrian national academy operating multidisciplinary research institutes and a publishing programme (ÖAW Verlag). Highly comparable in mandate, scholarly publishing, and geographic-cultural proximity to Slovenia.
• Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN): Large national academy of sciences with a network of research institutes and its own publishing house (Polish Scientific Publishers PWN / Wydawnictwo PAN). Comparable in mission, scale, and Central-European positioning to ZRC SAZU.
• Czech Academy of Sciences (Akademie věd ČR): National multidisciplinary research institution in the Czech Republic running dozens of specialised institutes plus publishing activities. Closest structural analogue to ZRC SAZU in scale, mandate, and Central-European national-academy context.
• Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) Research Centre Network: Hungary's equivalent national research network with multidisciplinary institutes and an integrated publishing house. Operates a similar model of state-affiliated research institutes producing scholarly publications.

Others

• De Gruyter:

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ZrcSazu
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCVbNfSD_r7m8cbmxq5bmv2w/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/zrcsazu
• Instagraminstagram.com/zrcsazu
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zrc-sazu-research-centre-of-slovenian-academy-of-sciences-and-arts

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries25 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ZRC SAZU