History
1946-1952
After the geology of the Slovenian territory had already been studied by the geologists of the Austrian Geological Institute, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia established the Geological Institute for Slovenia within the Ministry of Industry and Mining on 7 May 1946 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia No. 34/46). Following the decentralisation of the economy in 1950, it came under the administration of the Council for Energy and Extractive Industry of the Republic of Slovenia and was renamed the Administration of Geological Research of the Republic of Slovenia on 8 July of the same year by government decree.
In the early years, there were only five geologists working at universities in Slovenia, so geological tasks were mainly carried out by university professors and students. In 1952, the first graduate geologists came from the university and the Institute was able to function normally.
On 4 July 1952, the Geological Research Administration of the Republic of Slovenia merged with the Deep Drilling Company to form the Geological Institute of the Republic of Slovenia in Ljubljana, which settled in the same year in premises at 33 Parmova Street. In 1954, the Geological Institute of the Republic of Slovenia in Ljubljana was declared a financially independent institution and renamed the Geological Institute of Ljubljana. The number of employees increased rapidly to meet the demands of the market. The number of employees rose from 4 in 1947, to 347 in 1959 and to almost 3 000 in 1980.
1974-1979
In 1974, the Geological Survey of Ljubljana was divided into three units:
- Geology, geotechnics and geophysics
- Geotechnical and mining works
• Žirovski vrh uranium mine
In 1979, however, the three units are further subdivided into six TOZDs:
• Geology, geotechnics and geophysics
• Mining work
• Geotechnical works
• Drilling and mining work
• Machine production and maintenance
• Commercial activities and shared services
1989
In 1989, the Geological Survey of Ljubljana moved to a new office building at 14 Dimičeva Street.
Following the 1990 Companies Act, the six units of the Geological Survey of Ljubljana were transformed into six independent companies, united in the interest group Geological Survey of Ljubljana:
• Institute of Geology, Geotechnics and Geophysics
• Mining works company
• Geotechnical works company
• Drilling and mining company
• Machine production and maintenance
• Machinery manufacturing and maintenance company
The Institute of Geology, Geotechnics and Geophysics takes over as the national geological institute.
At the end of 1998, when the Institute was reorganised (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia No 66/98), it was transformed into a public research institute, the Geological Institute of Slovenia, and a company, Geonženiring, d. o. o., Geonženiring, d. o. o.
2016
In 2016, the Geological Survey of Slovenia celebrated its 70th anniversary. During the anniversary year, we published the Atlas of Geological Maps of Slovenia and the book 70 Geological Sites of Slovenia. A portal was launched eGeologija, which provides online access to a wide variety of geological data from our rich digital archive.
A key component of our work is good cooperation with more or less related institutions at home and abroad. There is hardly an institution in our field or in a related discipline on home soil with which we have not successfully cooperated over the years. Cooperation beyond national borders has been the main thrust of the GeoZS since its foundation and we are becoming more active in the international field every year. This is one of the reasons why, and not only for this reason, we were honoured to host a meeting of the highest representatives of all European geological institutes in Ljubljana in our anniversary year.
Events
Presentation of the results of the Evaluation of Research Networks (ERA-NET) - A new approach and presentation of GeoERA good practices, 20 November 2025
The Slovenian Society of Evaluators (SDE) and GeoZS cordially invite you to a presentation of the results of the ERA-NET evaluation and a good practice example. The event will take place on Thursday, 20 November at 14:00 at GeoZS, Dimičeva ulica 14, Ljubljana, in the 6th floor meeting room. The European...
Travelling Exhibition on Citizen Science, GeoZS Reading Room, 10-21 November 2025
The travelling exhibition "Discover, Collaborate, Explore: citizen science in Slovenia" gives visitors an insight into the history of citizen science, presents Slovenian citizen science projects and initiatives that have shaped the field, and shows how they can get involved in scientific research processes or initiate...
International Scientific Conference SEGH 2026 in Ljubljana, 13-17 July 2026
The 41st International Scientific Conference on Environmental Geochemistry and Health - SEGH2026 will take place in Ljubljana from 13 to 17 July 2026. The conference will address a wide range of current global challenges in the field of environmental geochemistry and health. The main conference themes are: inorganic and organic pollutants in the geosphere, geochemistry...