Research in Croatia

R&D in Croatia

The integration of the Croatian research community in the European Research Area (ERA), fulfilment of the Lisbon goals, as well as the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy onto the Croatian science&technology policy agenda are highly prioritized within the Croatian research community and science policy. The Croatian research and innovation system has evolved over the last decade into a complex system of various institutions and measures directed to build innovation-driven growth.

General Overview

Research in Croatia is performed in public and private research organizations but the public R&D sector, with universities playing a leading role, dominates in both research manpower and research activities. There are 7 public universities (67 faculties and art academies and 1 university centre at public universities), 25 public research institutes, 11 public polytechnics, 3 public colleagues, 3 private universities, 3 private polytechnics, 20 private colleagues, 4 technology transfer offices at universities, 3 science - technology parks and 11 research centres in industry and each of them plays an important role in development of R&D sector in Croatia.

The Ministry of Science and Education made a list of R&D organisations in Croatia.

R&D Funding

The main funding bodies, in addition to the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, are the Croatian Science Foundation (CSF) funding different programmes, research projects and reforms of universities and the Croatian Agency for SMEs, Innovations and Investments (HAMAG-BICRO) supporting various innovation policy programmes and creating, implementing and financing innovation policy programmes for the commercial application of science.

Through the Regional Competitiveness Operational Programme and Operational Programme Human Resources Development, Croatia is combining European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) for funding development of science and research. The Unity for Knowledge Fund (UKF) was established by the Croatian government in 2007 to support programmes for fostering cooperation between scientists at home and expatriate. International Fellowship Mobility Programme for Experienced Researchers in Croatia - NEWFELPRO is a fellowship project of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports for the period from 2013 until 2017. The project is co-financed through the Marie Curie FP7-PEOPLE-2011-COFUND program. The incoming fellowship scheme and the reintegration fellowship scheme are directed to researchers who are presently working abroad and wish to work with scientists at public scientific institutes and universities in Croatia.

Postgraduate (doctoral) university study programmes

According to the database of the Agency for Science and Higher Education, there are currently 123 doctoral study programmes registered in Croatia in the fields of Arts, Biomedicine and Health, Biotechnical sciences, Humanities, Natural sciences, Social sciences, Technical sciences and in interdisciplinary fields. Postgraduate university study normally lasts three years. Upon completion, students are awarded an academic title of Doctor of Science or Doctor of Arts. It is important to highlight that at the moment only several postgraduate doctoral university study programme is being fully delivered in English:

PhD programme in Biomedicine and Health Sciences
(Joint Doctoral Programme) Geo-Engineering and Water Management

The detailed list of doctoral studies is available on the Study in Croatia website.

Election to a scientific title

Researchers in possession of a PhD degree can initiate election to a scientific title. This procedure is required if you plan to settle down in Croatia and seek permanent employment in publicly funded research jobs. In other cases, this is not a requirement.

Scientific titles in research institutes are:

Research associate (in Croatian, znanstveni suradnik),
Senior research associate (in Croatian, viši znanstveni suradnik),
Research advisor (in Croatian, znanstveni savjetnik)
Research advisor with tenure (in Croatian, znanstveni savjetnik u trajnom zvanju).

The request for election to a scientific title is submitted to the scientific organization authorized for conducting part of the election procedure. If the person who is to be elected is employed in the scientific institution authorized to conduct part of the election procedure, this institution is only competent for carrying out part of the procedure. If no scientific organization is authorized to conduct part of the election procedure to a certain scientific title in a particular scientific or artistic field or an interdisciplinary scientific or artistic area, and the field committee or the interdisciplinary area committee has not been appointed, the election procedure is conducted by the corresponding scientific or artistic area council. If no scientific or artistic area council is authorized to conduct the procedure, the election procedure is conducted by the National Council for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development. In that case the election procedure will be finished within 120 days.

The procedure lasts approximately 5 months and it is free of charge. However, take into account the costs of necessary translations and the recognition of qualifications.

Register of researchers

The Register of Researchers has been established for the purpose of having a database with relevant data of all persons engaged in scientific work. This procedure is required if you plan to settle down in Croatia and seek permanent employment in publicly funded research jobs or apply for national funding. In other cases, this is not a requirement.

The general requirement for election to a scientific or academic employment position is the entry into the Register of Researchers with the appropriate or higher scientific title (research associates, senior research associates, research advisors, research advisors with tenure, etc.). Organizations and scientists not entered into the Register or removed from it may not be funded from the state budget. Exceptionally, foreign organizations and foreign scientists may be, although not entered into the Register, at the proposal of the National Council for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development funded from the state budget if they participate in a project which is of significance to Croatia. Additionally, persons with a degree of Master of Science can also be entered into the Register of Researchers.

The request to register a researcher is submitted by:

A scientific organization or other legal entity registered in the Register of Scientific Organizations for its employees or the employee him/herself,
A person who is not employed in the scientific organization after the election procedure,
A person who is not elected in any scientific or academic title which is the basis for entry, but has gained a doctoral degree (or master) of science degree.

Documents required for the entry to the Register of Researchers are:

Application form for the first registration of a person in the Register
A decision on the election to a scientific title, or grant of honorary titles
A proof of doctoral (or master) of science degree
Recognition of a foreign higher education qualification

The application for the entry into Register of Researchers needs to be sent to the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Donje Svetice 38, 10 000 Zagreb. This procedure is free of charge, however take into account the necessary translations and the recognition of qualifications.

Charter&Code in Croatia

Croatia belongs to those EU Member States that have made a great effort in implementation of Charter&Code principles. For now 38 Croatian research organization have signed a Declaration of endorsement of Charter & Code and 16 research organization have received a “HR Excellence in Research” (HRS4R) logo, awarded to research institutions and funding organizations that have been acknowledged by the European Commission for having made significant progress in implementing the Charter & Code.

Useful links: