The Slovak Academy of Sciences is the main scientific and research institution in Slovakia fostering basic and strategic basic research. It was founded in 1942, closed after World War II, and then reestablished in 1953.

Its primary mission is to acquire new knowledge of nature, society and technology, specifically targeted at ensuring scientific basis for the advancement in Slovakia. It comprises 58 scientific institutes and 13 ancillary institutions. The SAV edits 44 scientific and scholarly journals and 100–120 monographs per annum. Moreover, 41 scientific and scholarly societies, which associate scientists and scholars from various disciplines, are affiliated with SAV.

Nowadays, the Slovak Academy of Sciences successfully presents itself nationally and worldwide through the results in basic and applied research. It consists of 69 organisations, of which 48 are budgetary and 21 are subsidised. The Academy publishes 57 scientific and professional journals and 8 yearbooks. There are 51 scientific and scholarly associations, societies and unions affiliated with the SAS, which operate in accordance with the Law on Civic Associations. The Assembly, the Scientific Council, and the Presidium are the Academy’s self-governing bodies.