The InnoRenew CoE story began when Dr Andreja Kutnar and Dr Michael (Mike) Burnard had the idea to apply for funding to establish a research institute in Koper. But how did Andreja, from a small town in Slovenia, and Mike, from the west coast of the United States, meet?

Dr Kutnar twice spent time at Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis, Oregon (USA), first as a visiting PhD student and then again for her post-doc before becoming a faculty member at the University of Primorska (UP) in Koper, Slovenia. This is how she became fond of Oregon, and she wanted to stay in touch with the people she met there – including Dr Burnard.

As Dr Burnard was nearing graduation from OSU’s wood science and engineering master’s program, Dr Kutnar was developing the idea of bringing an American student to Slovenia to complete a doctorate under her mentorship. On recommendation from her OSU colleagues, Dr Kutnar reached out to Dr Burnard and, about a year after their initial conversation, he arrived in Slovenia to begin the next stage of his academic career.

Shortly after that, an inspiring visit to a new research centre in Telč, Czech Republic led the two, with critical advice along the way from OSU’s Eric Hansen, to eventually secure funding and establish the InnoRenew CoE.

Today, the connection with OSU remains strong. Several OSU alumni have become InnoRenew CoE employess and faculty visits between the two organisations are frequent. In addition, the InnoRenew CoE, UP Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies and OSU College of Forestry join together to organize and host the biannual Alpine Europe Summer School, a program that gives OSU and UP students the opportunity to study in Central Europe and visit to the InnoRenew CoE.

Read more about Dr Kutnar’s first steps in the USA, her connection with Dr Burnard, and the InnoRenew CoE’s ongoing involvement with OSU in the article “Embracing partnership in Slovenia”, published on the OSU College of Forestry website.