Sociomedical Institute at Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences & Arts (SRC SASA) has operated since November 19, 1981 when the Assembly of Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences created its scientific-research organization. Although it initially existed only de jure, the Sociomedical Institute organised a series of discussions addressing controversial issues in the studies of medicine and health care. In 1994, the academics dr. Lidija Andolšek Jeras, dr. Lev Miličinski and dr. Andrej Župančič prepared a study entitled Transformation of the Institute of Medical Sciences SRC SASA and delivered it to the then Ministry of Sciences and Technology. The study identified fertility behaviour (especially reproductive health) and suicide of the inhabitants of Slovenia as priority research areas. The research program (1999-2003) entitled Fertility behaviour of Slovenians could be seen as a result and a realisation of such efforts.

Several changes in the personnel structure of the Sociomedical Institute have taken place since 1999. Consequently, the Institute’s research orientation expanded to the fields of sociology, social anthropology, psychology, neurobiology, and social work. The research at the Sociomedical Institute excels in its multidisciplinary approach. The study of social phenomena, such as low fertility rate, aging of the population, migrations, auto-and heteroaggressive behavioural patterns and substance abuse, is thus set in a wide spectrum of research areas covering the fields of social sciences, humanities and medical sciences. On the one hand, these research areas link into the sociological and social-anthropological interpretation of classical demographic models and concepts, social-anthropological theory of ethnicity and nationalism, and on the other hand, into the personality, psychosocial, neuropsychological and neurobiological theories of social behaviour.