Dr Kolar is the chair of ESFRI and the Executive Director of a research infrastructure CERIC-ERIC. She is an ambassador of the European Innovation Council and chairs the Board of Slovenia’s research agency.
She has a broad range of expertise, ranging from policy development and implementation to research and innovation. Among others, she was Director-General of Science in Technology at a ministry in Slovenia, a member of the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and was chairing the Board of Slovenia's Technology Agency. She was a member of ERA Council Forum Austria - a high-level expert body advising the Austrian Minister responsible for Science and Research, for which she was awarded a Golden badge of honour for services to the Republic of Austria.
Trained as a chemist, she had published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and a European patent.