RUDJER BOSKOVIC SCIENTIFIC INSTITUITE TO MARK 50TH ANNIVERSARY

ZAGREB, May 9 (Hina) - The Rudjer Boskovic Institute (IRB) is the biggest multidisciplinary scientific institution in Croatia and the 50th anniversary of its establishment is a good opportunity to stress the need to make it one of Europe's leading scientific institutes again, Ivo Slaus, chairman of the IRB Governing Council, said on Wednesday. Today the IRB hosted a conference which briefed the press about an upcoming 50th anniversary celebration which should feature talks on the science-economy and politics-education relationships. Krunoslav Pisk, chairman of the IRB Scientific Council, believes the institute plays a big role in European science and that it must compete with scientifically more developed regions, like the United States and the Far East. The IRB was founded on 8 June 1950. Its first director was the scholar Ivan Supek. Milivoj Boranic, incumbent IRB acting manager, said the IRB today covers an area the size of 12 soccer fields and employs 750 people, including about 500 scientists, five percent of all scientists in Croatia. The institute's scientists produce 35 percent of all scientific works produced in Croatia, Boranic added. (hina) ha sb