President Appoints Venhart to SAV Chairman Post

Bratislava, 6 June (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini appointed Martin Venhart to the post of chairman of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) on Friday.
        Venhart has thereby started his four-year term, replacing Pavol Sajgalik in the post.
        In his speech, the president highlighted Venhart's experience at home and abroad, his long-term service in SAV's presidium and his scientific activities. He stated that the new chairman faces the challenging task of contributing towards resuming a dialogue between the professional and lay public and restoring trust in science itself.        
        "The Slovak Academy of Sciences should be and must remain a beacon of truth, facts and scientific evidence. This issue is especially topical today, when part of society seems to have given up interest in scientific knowledge and stopped trusting scientific authorities or institutions. Rejection of medicines, medical care, and sometimes even denial of the most basic knowledge and scientific facts undermine our society at its foundations," noted the president.
        According to Pellegrini, the country's chances of success depend on the quality of education and science. "Although natural sciences are close to you, you have also expressed the opinion that the 21st century will be the century of social sciences, maybe to overcome the polarisation of society and the increase in those very negative phenomena," added the president.