The mission of the National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development of the Republic of Croatia (NZZ) is to promote science, higher education and technological development in Republic of Croatia in order to assist economy progress and human resources development. The vision of NZZ is to “transform Croatian society in society of knowledge through strategic investment in people and ideas”.  Its main task is to fund research, developmental and educational projects accordnig to the Strategic plan of NZZ 2004-2008.

NZZ specially supports higher education programmes which results in innovations and patents, gives grants to talented students and especially to young and prominent scientists and experts from industry as well from scientific and higher education institutions in Republic of Croatia.

 
The main activities of the NZZ are formulated in the Strategic plan of NZZ 2004-2008. They are imed at funding research projects, reform programmes of higher education within Bologna process and development of human resources and other supporting activities that help to accelerate transition of Croatia towards knowledge society. Since its inception to the end of 2007, NZZ launched 20 programmes¹ in order to finance four main type of activities: research projects, scholarships, conferences/seminars and publications. Presently, the main funding activities of NZZ are targeted at the seven programmes, developed by the Board of the NZZ, as follows:

1. HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM

Learn ing Outcomes-Based Higher Education
Integr ated University and Integrated Tertiary Education System  (Not active)
Develo pment of Institutional Quality Assurance Units  Not active)
Develo pment of Joint Studies (Not active)
Develo pment of PhD Programmes  (Not active)


2. BRAIN GAIN
- Homing Programme;
- Postdoc;
- Visitor;
- Senior;
- NZZ Installation Grant.

3. TRAINING OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS
National Training Courses and Summer Schools for Doctoral Students;
Fellowships for Doctoral Students.

4. PARTNERSHIP IN BASIC RESEARCH

5. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES
- Support for Joining European Science Foundation Programmes;
- EMBO Installation Grant (EMBO IGs);
- Europ ean Social Survey.

6. AWARDS
- SCIENCE Award;
- SCIENC E Award Sculpture Solutions.

7. SOC IOCULTURAL TRANSITION FROM INDUSTRIAL INTO THE KNOWLEDGE BASED SOCIETY. 

¹ Annaul Report of NZZ for 2007
 

 
The main activities of the NZZ are formulated in the Strategic plan of NZZ 2004-2008. They are imed at funding research projects, reform programmes of higher education within Bologna process and development of human resources and other supporting activities that help to accelerate transition of Croatia towards knowledge society. Since its inception to the end of 2007, NZZ launched 20 programmes¹ in order to finance four main type of activities: research projects, scholarships, conferences/seminars and publications. Presently, the main funding activities of NZZ are targeted at the seven programmes, developed by the Board of the NZZ, as follows:

1. HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM

Learn ing Outcomes-Based Higher Education
Integr ated University and Integrated Tertiary Education System  (Not active)
Develo pment of Institutional Quality Assurance Units  Not active)
Develo pment of Joint Studies (Not active)
Develo pment of PhD Programmes  (Not active)


2. BRAIN GAIN
- Homing Programme;
- Postdoc;
- Visitor;
- Senior;
- NZZ Installation Grant.

3. TRAINING OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS
National Training Courses and Summer Schools for Doctoral Students;
Fellowships for Doctoral Students.

4. PARTNERSHIP IN BASIC RESEARCH

5. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES
- Support for Joining European Science Foundation Programmes;
- EMBO Installation Grant (EMBO IGs);
- Europ ean Social Survey.

6. AWARDS
- SCIENCE Award;
- SCIENC E Award Sculpture Solutions.

7. SOC IOCULTURAL TRANSITION FROM INDUSTRIAL INTO THE KNOWLEDGE BASED SOCIETY. 

¹ Annaul Report of NZZ for 2007
 

The National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development of the Republic of Croatia (NZZ) is a new organisation, established in 2001 for funding scientific, developmental and educational activities in Croatia. It is founded by the Croatian Parliament pursuant the Act on the National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technology Development of the Republic of Croatia (Official Gazette 117/01).  During 2002 and 2003, the NZZ was in the process of establishment and collecting initial capital of 100 million Kuna. In 2004, it became operational, developed a strategic plan and regulations, including evaluation procedures, and launched its first programmes. From its inception to the end of 2007 NZZ initiated 20 programmes according to the priorities defend in the Strategic plan of NZZ 2004-2008. It financed in this period 124 projects of the total amount of HRK 28m.  The total capital of NZZ presently is HRK 103m. In November 2007 NZZ became a member of European Science Foundation (ESF) .[1].

.
 

.

The organisation and management of the NZZ is stipulated by the Statute and the Act on the National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technology Development of the Republic of Croatia (Official Gazette 117/01). The highest governance body is the Management Board composed of seven members appointed by the Croatian parliament and selected among the most distinguished Croatian scientists. Management Board appoints the members of the Executive Board that is engaged in  the three  main areas of activities: presentation of the NZZ activities to public, internal quality assurance and investment and marketing of resources.
NZZ has also established Council of NZZ that consists of  five experts for each of the five strategic areas of NZZ. The two members are coming from Croatia, one from the Croatian diaspora and the two are foreign scientists.
The International Advisory Board consist of experts who participate in the management structures of the similar European foundations with the main task to improve the management of the NZZ.
Evaluation board consist of 3 to 5 members who are in charge for evaluation of the project applications. NZZ establishes evaluation boards for each of the particular programme. In addition, there are administrative activities that consist of secretarial, coordinative, legal, accounting and other supporting activities.
 

The main operating principles and procedures are determined by the following official documents:  Statute of NZZ, Act on the National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technology Development of the Republic of Croatia (Official Gazette 117/01), and the Management Board’s rules of procedure. All the activities of the NZZ are managed and controlled by the Management Board that meets, in principle, ones a month. The electronic Board's meeting are also allowed. According to the Annual Report of NZZ for 2004, there were eight Board's meeting. The work of the Board is transparent and open to public since the content and conclusions of the Board’s meeting are presented to public on the Internet page of the NZZ. The Board is obliged to send the reports about its activities to the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports on the monthly basis, until 15 of the month.  In addition, it is mandatory for the Board to deliver each three months the financial report to the Ministry of Finance. In order to facilitate the work of the Management Board and evaluation of the projects, the internal SharePoint services was established in December 2004.

The operational work of the Foundation is based on the participation of the distinguished experts and scientists (from Croatia and abroad) who are engaged and employed in other, mainly scientific organisation. For example, the Council of NZZ , evaluation boards as well as the Management Board are formed in such a way.  Similarly, the needed services and supporting activities are outsourced and performed  by  the specialsied companies in order to reduce operational costs. Therefore, there is a minimum of permanent employees mainly engaged in administering NZZ programmes.

The Management board plan to outline the new strategic plan 2008-2012 in 2008. New strategic plan should define the new programmes which NZZ will support in the next period.

Currently, the programme “Brain gain” is selected as priority due to shrinking of the science base in Croatia and an urgent need for attracting Croatian scientific diaspora and possibly foreign experts. The priority that concerns reform in higher education is driven by the Bologna process that is nowadays in a full swing in Croatia. The environmental protection and sustainable development, including energy resources is one of the leading national goals of Croatia as a tourist country with an obligation of preservation of natural resources and the Adriatic see.

The partnership between science and industry stems from the recognition of NZZ that scientific results and scientifically competent experts will not only serve for the scientific research but also should participate in economic development of  Croatia. 
The most recent programmes are oriented to installation grants like “Homing programme” or “NZZ Installation grant” to help leading scientists under 35 years of age to set up their research teams in Croatia.

The Foundation started with public calls and financing the programmes at the end of 2004. There was a shift in funding priorities from projects devoted to reform of higher education sector within Bologna process to the project connected with the activities that attract scientist from abroad to Croatia and prevent Croatian scientists to emigrate (Brain gain programmes). In addition, the new priority has emerged related to  the encouragement of the private sector to invest in the basic research (programme: Partnership in basic research) and international programmes. The most recent programmes are installation grants for reserach teams in Croatia and learning "outcomes" of higher eduction (job opportunities).  In 2007 NZZ invested about €1.7m. Majority of grants were spent for "Brain gain" programmes and "Partnership in basic reserach", while the least is spent for training of doctoral students and awars.  

Funds are rised from the State budget, privatisation of state-owned companies, donations and similar resources.

NZZ  is working according to the annual budget plans. The comprehensive information about working plans, activities and financial resources can be found in the two following publications:
1. Annual report of NZZ for 2007;
2. The review of the NZZ activities for the period 2001-2004.
 

The evaluation procedure conducted by NZZ consists of two phases: the first phase is conducted by an Evaluation committee that consists of three members named by the Board of NZZ. They evaluate project proposals based on defined criteria and grade each criteria from 1-10. After a discussion about grades, they offer recommendations on which projects should be accepted. The Board gives the final decision on acception/rejection.  In the second phase, evaluation is conducted by independent reviewers in a standard peer review procedure. This phase is conducted for projects that should receive substantial financial support. The Executive Board is currently working on procedures of internal quality assessment that will include the assessment of NZZ programmes, especially in context of NZZ strategic goals and values. All evaluation results are public, except for the names of evaluators. The previously described evaluation procedure aims to select the best 25% of projects that will be financed by NZZ.
In order to accelerate and standardize the evaluation procedure, NZZ is working to develop an on-line evaluation procedure through a protected web portal. This kind of evaluation process will enable foreign experts to take part in evaluation.

The methods, regulations and procedures for evaluation process are defined in the three comprehensive documents that explain the evaluation procedure in depth. The documents are, as follows:
1. Recommendations and conditions for gaining and usage of the NZZ resources;
2. Manual for the evaluation process;
3. Regulations of the conditions and procedures for granting the financial mean in order to meet the purpose of the Foundation.
All the three documents are available in Croatian language on the Internet page of the NZZ.

The  general information  about evaluat ion procedures are available  at the web page of NZZ.