June 4, 2021 - With the scientific community in Croatia busy and involved in international projects, meet the CASCADE Project. Learn how Italian and Croatian scientists are working together in monitoring ecosystems.

Croatian scientists in Croatia are running various projects which either don't get reported on by journalists, or if they are reported on, they sadly don't get too much attention from the public.

One such project is the Projekt CASCADE which started back on January first, 2020, and will continue until the very end of 2022.
As reported on the website of The Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (IOR), the 5,817,547 euros, 85 % of that capital (4,944,914.95 euros) is secured by The European Regional Development Fund (ERFD).

CASCADE is short for „CoaStal and marine waters integrated monitoring systems for ecosystems protection and management“, and is part of the Interreg Italy-Croatia 2014-2020 strategic program. Assess the quality of coastal marine ecosystems in order to restore the habitats of endangered species and provide support for integrated management is the main goal set by 2022.

For the next three years, the project team from the Laboratory for Plankton and Shell Toxicity and the Laboratory for Chemical Oceanography and Sedimentology will work on monitoring, gathering knowledge about habitat and ecosystem biodiversity in the field of project cooperation (Adriatic Sea). It will participate in the establishment of new, as well as the improvement, of existing coastal systems for monitoring and management of coastal and open water ecosystems. Joint actions will assess and protect coastal and marine biodiversity and establish restoration actions. The pilot area of ​​the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (IOR) within the EU CASCADE project is the mouth of the Neretva River“, explains the IOR website.

There are eleven pilot areas in Croatia and Italy where the researches will be conducted: lagoon Grado and Marano and Gulf of Trieste, coastal belt of the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, marine protected area Torre Guaceto (natural reef), Punta Della Contessa, Melendugno in the Italian region of Puglia, the mouth of the Neretva river, the coastal zone of the Italian region of Veneto, mouth of the river Miljašić Jaruga, coastal belt of the Italian region of Molise, the northeastern part of the Adriatic Sea in Croatia, mouth of the river Cetina, Torre del Cerrano and Pineto Marine Park on the Abruzzo coast, and finally, the coastal zone of the Italian Marche region.

„At the mouth of the Neretva River (P4 pilot area), the IOR team members will sample sediment, shells, and seawater, depending on the type of matrix, they will analyze various parameters such as salinity, oxygen concentrations, heavy metals, and nutrients, with the aim of establishing an optimal system of observation of coastal and open waters“, added IOR.

The head of the projects within the IOR side is Dr. Sc. Ivana Ujević and various Italian and Croatian regions/counties, regional development agencies, scientific institutes, and two ministries from Italy and Croatia are included as associated partners.

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May 28, 2021 - A recently published study on ionic liquids with solid state nanopores at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (IRB) can help the energy storage sector.

The top scientific and research institution in Croatia, the Ruđer Bošković Institute (IRB), continues to be the home of interesting scientific progress.

Researchers from the IRB's computer bioscience team, Nataša Vučemilović-Alagić, and dr. Mario Špadina under the mentorship of dr. Ana Sunčana Smith cleared the phenomenon of transport inside liquids on the principle of nanopores in the solid-state. A nanopore is a small cavity in solid matter, invisible to the naked eye. This IRB research was done in collaboration with dr. Sanjin Marion and dr. Aleksandra Rađenović from École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and the research results are published in the prestigious scientific journal Small which specializes in nanotechnology.

Professor Ana Sunčana Smith's IRB team deals with molecular descriptions of chemical and physical interactions of ionic liquids (liquids that are not neutral but have either positive or negative electric charge) on various solid surfaces. The goal was to determine the impact of specific ions and specific surfaces. The appliance of this knowledge is in line with guidelines of the EU Green Deal, and the UN sustainable development goals", explained IRB in the official press release.

The press release added this knowledge is useful in storing energy, as ionic liquids in nanopores represent an alternative to batteries.

„In this research, starting from the principle of water solutions, we combine ionic fluids and nanopores of different geometric features and materials to secure new nanofluid functionalities. This solves some of the relevant issues in the understanding of basic principles of transports in space-limited ionic liquids and ensuring better control of the speed of translocating within an analyte“, explained Dr. Ana Sunčana Smith.

It's worth noting that dr. Sunčana Smith is one of the Croatian scientists that received support from the Croatian European Research Council (ERC) for a very prestigious project in researching biological membranes worth 1,5 million euros.

Energy efficiency is something IRB shows to be really dedicated to, as evident by the progress IRB researchers made in exploring materials for converting CO2 to methanol alcohol, and IRB's Rovinj Sea Research Centre that celebrated 130 years of existence this year priorities maritime ecology and its protection in its research.

Learn more about Croatian inventions & discoveries: from Tesla to Rimac on our TC page.

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May 15, 2021 -The Ruđer Bošković Institute of Science (IRB), the top science facility in Croatia, is hosting a public event. Despite the event being online, the educational and entertaining side of the 17-year-old manifestation won't go amiss.  

With the pandemic still causing havoc, events happen either with a limited number of visitors or in the virtual world. And with Ruđer Bošković Science Institute (IRB) being both socially responsible and brilliant in using modern technologies in the best possible matter - chose the latter. The doors of the Ruđer Bošković Science Insitute, from May 18th until May 22nd, unlike previous years, will not be as open as they were before for the public, but the scientific platforms which will be launched on the ODI2021 website aim to ensure an educational and fun experience.

The doors will be open to ''children of all ages, their parents, teachers, students, professors and everyone with a curious and open mind and an adventurous spirit“, IRB stated, welcoming people to join the platform in the description of their Facebook event announcement.

All the content will be available on social media under the following hashtags: #odi2021hibrid, #odi2021, and #istraziplatforme.

Additionally, you can follow the event on Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter.

Ruđer Bošković, painted by R. Edge Pine in London, 1760 © public domain

The Ruđer Bošković Institute is named after Ruđer Bošković, a famous Croatian scientist and philosopher (May 18, 1711, in Dubrovnik - February 13, 1787, in Milan).  

The online edition of the Croatian Encyclopedia describes Ruđer Bošković as a universal mind that enrolled in various branches of science, was an excellent mathematician, and even a writer, and a poet who also dealt with practical problems such as swamp drainages and more.

''Bošković was the first person in the history of science to introduce the method of the equation of measurement by setting up two conditions that P.S Laplace later explained in a mathematical form, which is why it's called Laplace's method (in recent times it has been referred to as the Bošković.Laplace method)“, according to the Croatian Encyclopedia.

As Biografija.hr states, the IRB Institute was established back in 1950 and was originally focused on atomic physics. Today, however, IRB is the largest scientific research institution in all of Croatia.

''With its size, scientific productivity, international recognition in research, and the quality of scientific personnel and research equipment, it's the leading scientific institution for nature and biomedical sciences, as well as in the research of the sea and the environment“, says the IRB website.  

© Ratko Mavar / Institut Ruđer Bošković

The aforementioned success and recognition saw the Ruđer Bošković Institute's open door day, which has been being held since back in 2004, and attracts huge public attention. Three thousand people attended the event back in 2019, making it an excellent opportunity to popularise and introduce science to people of all ages, in the hope society will appreciate scientists' hard work more on the one hand, and attract new generations to pursue scientific or research careers on the other.  

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March 24, 2021 - Poreč strengthens agriculture with exciting new projects implemented by the City. 

Last Friday the city of Poreč signed contracts for assigning funds to the agricultural civil societies to help their projects and programs. The continuation of the tradition established in the last two years, Poreč city gave 150.000 kuna to associations Bio Istra and Agro Poreč through a public contest, both for their day-to-day work in agriculture and for the project "Eko! impjantamo ružmarin" (Eco! let's plant rosemary) which includes going to schools and giving pupils unprocessed rosemary to plant in the school. The project is at full speed and even the coronavirus pandemic didn't stop them, as the first phase of the project was done via Zoom.  In the early stages of the project, the goal is to establish cooperation between the only two high schools in Poreč: Mate Balot High School and Anton Štifanić Tourist School.

"We started with the first workshop in preparing rosemary seedlings with the agrotechnical pupils at Mate Balot and we will use it to decorate the garden of Anton Štifanić Tourist School," said Vlasta Radoičić, president of Bio Istra. Her association exists for the past 23 years and is working on the county level, determined to activate as many people as possible to boost family agricultural businesses. 

"Poreč was the cornerstone of eco-agriculture and it needs to remain that today and become a modern teacher of the area", concluded Radojčić.

Poreč is one of the strongholds of Croatian tourism in Istria, but it's also a truly agricultural city. Loris Peršurić, mayor of Poreč not only knows it but strongly supports it. 

"We have a 145-year-old institute for agriculture and tourism as well as a 138-year-old agriculture school, the only one in Istria, which means a lot for our city", said Peršurić. He adds that is precisely why he tries to support and help projects related to agriculture which includes co-financing the Centre for invasive species in common projects and as mayor, hopes to valorize a wine cellar that dates from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy rule and is known today as enoteca (wine library) in the community. "Poreč is the headquarters of famous winemakers and olive oil makers and our agricultural story continues to grow and develop", concludes Peršić.  

The city also finances the project "Apply for Agriculture School - Produce Food and Take Care of the Environment" which resulted in a 50% increase in pupils educating in the school and there are opportunities for pupils to continue education in the field in Poreč too. 

seedling planting © Udruga Bio Istra

 Local olive treasure

Poreč is also proud of its local olive species Porečka Rosulja, which was first described by a famous local scientist Carlo Hugues 120 years ago. The olive wasn't researched much after that, but today, scientists from the Agriculture and Tourism Institute are out on the field to pursue the described treasure of the Poreč olive scene. Agro Poreč association secretary Zdenko Barac whose organization is dedicated to promoting local agriculture and seedlings distribution is included in this research. He is thankful that the city recognized the importance of Porečka Rosulja and its investment in the "mother field" in Poreč where new seedlings will be prepared for further distribution and for another olive plantation in St. Martin Bay, which will have both educational purposes and will be a nice architectural touch to the landscape of the area. No to mention, a nice dedication to Hugues which first described the species.  

"The number of seedlings is growing. This is the third year of the project where we have 530 seedlings and we started with 170 in 2019", says Barac. The plan is to prepare the best seeding material and apply them to the  Croatian Center for Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs.

"There are very few cases in the world where a species is named after city so we can boast about that", concluded Barac.

For more about agriculture in Croatia follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, December 6, 2020 - Concerned by the second wave of the pandemic spreading in Croatia and the high death toll, 26 prominent Croatian doctors and scientists from the country and abroad launched a public appeal on Sunday and made recommendations for overcoming the severe public health and social crisis in Croatia.

They said that only with great solidarity and commitment of the entire society can we resist this great challenge.

"We would like to distance ourselves from all the statements that based on incorrect data assured the public in November that the epidemic in Croatia would stagnate or wane and that we did not need stricter measures or that they were not effective. We also distance ourselves from estimates that the virus had weakened in any way, because they are not in line with scientific knowledge," they said in the appeal.

Strictest anti-epidemic measures should be adopted

When it is established that the spread of the infection has gone out of control, it is necessary, it was underscored, to activate preventively and without delay the strictest measures for curbing the epidemic that are politically and economically possible in Croatia. This respects the principle of prevention and prevents the occurence of a high number of infections, instead of having to treat them, with hospitals being overloaded with infected persons.

It is necessary to ensure quality and transparent information on the spread of the infection.

The communication on the pandemic needs to be improved to restore the trust in people managing the crisis, they said.

The signatories of the appeal call for a register, that is a publicly accessible tally, which will count the number of the persons infected with coronavirus, the number of persons in self-isolation, and provide information about hospitalisation numbers and the hospitals giving treatment to those persons. Such tally should give information about available capacities in COVID hospitals, with the exact number of beds for patients who need intensive care treatment.

The signatories say that the daily statistics about the COVID-fatalities in hospitals should also include the data on persons who die from COVID complications outside hospitals.

They call for resolute action in testing and for conducting a higher number of tests in the conditions of the intensive spread of the infection and "the lost control over the epidemic", so that the percentage of positive tests could drop from 30%, as it is currently the case, to below 5%.

The appeal urges the authorities to specify key epidemiological parameters for imposing or lifting of certain anti-epidemic measures so as "to lessen the uncertainties in the society."

The signatories say that in their capacities as experts they do not recommend any decisions which would not be applied to everybody and in this context they criticise any politicisation of measures and their adjustment to some of the social groups.

This (epidemic) is a problem concerning the whole Croatian society and we all are affected, and therefore only solidarity and concerted action of the whole society can help us to manage this huge challenge.

The appeal was sent by researcher Ivica Djikic on behalf of another 25 signatories.

The other signatories are Andreja Ambriovic Ristov, Nenad Ban, Ilija Brizic, Luka Cicicn-Sain, Stipan Jonjic,  doc.dr.sc. Vanda Juranic Lisnic, Petra Klepac, Vanja Klepac-Ceraj, Branko Kolaric, Vladimir Krajinovic, Marko Kutlesa, Pero Lucin, Kresimir Luetic, Igor Mezic, Bojan Polic, Kristijan Ramadan,  Igor Rudan, Marija Santini, Mihaela Skobe, Sasa Srica, Igor Stagljar, Goran Tesovic, Andrej Trampuz, Boris Ujevic and Domagoj Vucic.

ZAGREB, Sept 30, 2020 - The University of Zagreb's Faculty of Science (PMF) plans to establish the First Climatological Research Center in Croatia that will be the central institution for inter-disciplinary climate and climate change research, the faculty reported on its website.

The faculty notes that as leading research and educational institution with a long tradition of teaching and research in various fields of climatology, it is going to establish the first Climatological Research Centre in Croatia.

Contemporary research and networking top scientists

Nowadays, climate change is the subject of numerous scientific studies, and due to their impact on the environment and living conditions on Earth, they are gaining more and more public attention, the center's head, Associate Professor Ivana Herceg Bulic underlined.

"Due to the extreme complexity of the Earth's climate system and the many complex processes and interactions, a multidisciplinary approach to study is necessary. That is why the Faculty of Science, which brings together scientists from various fields of science and mathematics, has exceptional strength and competencies for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scientific research," said Herceg Bulic.

She believes that with that approach the center will achieve quality scientific results and gain new knowledge about the vulnerability of natural and urban environments to climate change.

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September 3, 2020 – Scientists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb were integral to an international effort to realise the world's first fully functioning quantum communication network. 100% spy-free, it's the communication system of the future

Despite what some apps tell you, no online communication is completely secure. However, we have moved one step closer to that becoming a reality thanks, in part, to quantum physicists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) in Zagreb.

Working in collaboration with scientists from the University of Bristol (UK) and the Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the international team have built the world's first fully functioning quantum communication network.

Quantum communication is a well-known field of applied quantum physics. For years, one of its most interesting applications has been regarded as its ability to protect information channels against eavesdropping. It does this by using quantum cryptography.

The security of quantum transmissions are ensured by the no-cloning theorem. This makes reproduction, or cloning, of a quantum system impossible without instant detection. If someone attempts to read the encoded data, the quantum state will be changed via the no-cloning theorem. Quantum communication is also much faster than traditional methods of communication because entangled photons can transmit information instantaneously.

The computer and communications systems of the future have been on the radar for a long time. Industry giants like Google and IBM are already investing millions in quantum computer hardware research in anticipation of our sure-fire futures.


The team of scientists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute involved in the breakthrough © Ruđer Bošković Institute

The difficulty of introducing quantum communications has been the construction of a large and easily expandable quantum-protected network. It's proven incredibly complicated to build a template for a potentially limitless number of users while also maintaining connection stability. But, that's exactly what the international team containing scientists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute have done.

The scientists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute designed and made the optical receivers for the network. This is the part of the system that will be employed by the end-user. The team of Croatian scientists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute involved in the breakthrough includes Dr Martin Lončarić, Dr Mario Stipčević and Željko Samec. The team published their world first in the prestigious scientific journal Science Advances.

Founded in 1950, the Ruđer Bošković Institute is the largest Croatian research institute working in the fields of natural sciences and technology. It operates in many different areas of scientific research, has been responsible for countless scientific discoveries and employs over 500 academics and students. It has an annual budget of over 20 million Euros and receives the majority of its funding from the Croatian state.

As Slobodna Dalmacija/Sandra Barcot writes on the 5th of May, 2019, the world-renowned scientist Miroslav Radman is set to bring around a hundred scientists from across the world to Split. The international group of scientists will be part of the second International Progress in Biomedical Research conference.

From June the 17th to June the 21st, at Split's "Mediterranean Institute for Life Research" (MedILS), numerous respected experts from various areas of importance to human health will discuss, share experiences, and get better acquainted with the latest research on the extension of human life, the finding of remedies for the treatment of diseases that pose a serious threat to human life, and further educate themselves in general.

Split will play host to the leading scientists who will hold lectures on the molecular and cellular biology of diseases, with special emphasis placed on the fields of neuroscience, immunology, the metabolism, and diseases that is responsible for the misery, suffering and deaths of many in the modern day - cancer.

The participants of this year's conference in Split will focus on the concepts and challenges within each of these scientific areas through lectures on the latest technologies in genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, cancer signaling, therapy development, DNA recovery and immunotherapy.

The conference is organised by the Mediterranean Institute for Life Research and the University of Toronto, more specifically by Professor Miroslav Radman (MedILS), Professor Mladen Merćep (MedILS) and Professor Igor Štagljar (University of Toronto).

The first conference of its sort, which was held in July last year in Split, also gathered together some one hundred scientists from the field of biomedical research dealing with the topic of understanding the function of the gene, the therapeutic importance of the gene, ie the gene for extending human life and the aging of human skin.

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Click here for the original article by Sandra Barcot for Slobodna Dalmacija