Špela Stres is the head of the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation at the Jožef Stefan Institute and a visiting professor at the University of Ljubljana and the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. She holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Ljubljana, a Masters Degree of Law in the field of Intellectual Property of the University of Turin and World Intellectual Property Office (Geneva); an Executive MBA of Cotrugli Bussines School (Lichtenstein) and a Patent Attorney Exam. Since 2014, she has been a holder of the CLP certificate.

She began her career as a pedagogical and professional associate at the Jožef Stefan Institute and later continued in Hamburg at the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron. She served as a Vice President of "European Association of Science and Technology Professionals". She was also a member of the Advisory Group on Future Emerging Technologies and a member of the SWAFS Advisory Group to the European Commission (DG Connect and DG R&I).

Špela is a member of the expert group that advises the EIC project group for the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation in Europe. She is also a representative of the CERN Knowledge Transfer Forum and the Medical Applications Forum.

Today, she is active in the field of business development and the creation of a financial support environment for innovation. She works in various fields of technology such as industrial robotics, nanomedicine, nanotechnology and smart cities. Over the past 10 years, she has played a key role in setting up 11 spin-off companies.