Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Parliament Speaker Reiner said Croatian scientists were recognised internationally because they worked side by side with their colleagues at leading international scientific and educational institutions.
Minister Fuchs recalled that a new model of financing of public institutions of higher education and research institutes, which depends on the results achieved, was adopted in 2023, while programme agreements and additional investments under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan had increased the budgets of research institutions.
The total value of the 27 programme agreements signed with public research institutes and two agreements signed with universities of applied sciences is €454 million, Fuchs said, noting that the government had a task to create preconditions for structural changes that would result in stronger ties between the science and research sector and society, education and economy.
Education, science and innovations are key for economic development and global competitiveness, he said.
"The great successes of our researchers are the best proof that Croatia has the potential to compete on an equal footing with highly developed countries," he said.
Lifetime achievement awards were presented to Josip Baloban, emeritus professor at the Zagreb University Catholic Faculty of Theology, Vladimir Paar, academician and emeritus professor at the Zagreb Faculty of Science, Mladen Obad Šćitaroci, emeritus professor at the Zagreb Faculty of Architecture, Zdravko Lacković, a retired professor of the Zagreb Faculty of Medicine, and Rozelindra Čož-Rakovac, senior scientist at the Ruđer Bošković Institute.
Also presented today were 14 annual scientific awards, two annual awards for the popularisation and promotion of science, and five annual awards for research assistants.