Croatia’s new science ministry seeks to reform funding system

Nature : Croatia’s system for funding science is in desperate need of renovation, writes Mićo Tatalović for Nature. Chief complaints are that it is overly centralized and it funds too many grant applicants instead of focusing on only the best. In addition, the last round of grants was issued in 2007 and that funding has now run out. To address those issues, newly elected science minister Željko Jovanović has set up an international advisory board to help develop the science and higher-education systems and is collaborating on a new science strategy with the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb. The next funding call will take place this summer, and by the end of the year, the ministry hopes to return to parliament three laws on science and higher education. After a period of stagnation, there is now “wide consensus that quick and efficient changes are necessary,” said SaÅ¡a Zelenika, assistant minister of science.