Žiga Turk (Ljubljana, 1962) holds a PhD in technical sciences, an MSc in computer science, and a BSc in civil engineering. Before taking office he had an internationally recognized career as a scholar - a professor for construction informatics at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering at the University of Ljubljana. During his academic career he was guest lecturer or professor in Sweden, Croatia and Turkey. He is the co-founder and co-editor of the international scientific magazine 'ITcon' and author of well over a hundred scientific papers. He has been participating in European research programs since 1994, and has coordinated two projects worth several million euros. He reviews national research projects and scientific articles for several international scientific journals and sits on the committees of most international events in his field.
In Slovenia the wider public knows him from the 1980s as the initiator and expert editor of the magazine on microcomputers 'Moj mikro'. He was one of the pioneers in introducing the internet to Slovenia, and developed several Web applications which have earned him international acclaim. He was chairman of the supervisory board of few companies, including the Telecom Slovenia and Mobitel.
Dr Žiga Turk has collaborated in the drafting of National Research and Development Programme for 2006-2010 and the Strategy of target research projects. He was a member of the group for tax reform with the Reform Committee, a member of the Scientific Council at the Slovenia Research Agency and Vice-President of the Strategic Council for Culture, Education and Science. He was appointed minister in March 2007.