Since 2003, Prof. Andrej Simončič is the Director of the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (AIS) where, in addition to his managerial tasks, he also carries out research activities in the field of plant health, pesticides and environment protection. Before joining the AIS, he worked as a researcher and then Director (until 2003) of the Slovenian Institute for Hop Research and Brewing in Žalec.

Prof. Simončič graduated in Agriculture Sciences at the University of Ljubljana, where he also obtained the PhD in Agricultural Sciences (Plant protection). He published over 150 professional papers related to agriculture, plant protection and ecology as of 1990. He has been involved in Slovene Public Advisory Service for 15 years (from 1988 until 2003) with over 500 lectures for different target groups. Since 2003, he  is Associated Prof. at the University of Maribor, University of Primorska and the Environmental Protection College Velenje where he teaches Plant Protection and Ecology of Pesticides.

He is certified by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment as expert for the evaluation and pesticide risk assessment of herbicides. He is currently member of the  Council for Agriculture of the Slovenian Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Council for Higher Education of the Slovenian Ministry for Education, Science and Sport. He is also member of the Management Board of EFSA (European Food Safety Authority).