Richard Ďurana

Dr. Richard Durana is a co-founder of INESS – Institute of Economic and Social Studies, leading Slovak economic think tank. Since its inception in January 2006 he is Director of INESS.

He has published numerous articles published in Slovak and foreign newspapers, magazines and books and he has appeared frequently in broadcast media. He is a co-author of several books and studies and he is a frequent speaker at various domestic and international conferences and lecturer at international forums and local events. Fields of his professional interest include public finance, economic and social policy, and entrepreneurial environment, effects of regulation, labor market, and intellectual property rights.

He is also a co-founder and Director of IPEV – Institute for Economic and Political Education, which operates The Political Academy, a globally unique two-semester long expert program for ambitious politicians.

Dr. Richard Durana holds M.Sc. in organic chemistry and Ph.D. in biochemistry. Prior working at INESS he was working as a research scientist at the Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, where he was developing vaccines.

He is still a member of the Slovak Chemical Society. He is an amateur composer and lyrics writer, and has released three albums with his band Space Recorder.