Rudez, who writes for the Jutarnji List daily, won the award for three articles -- on Ebola, climate change and brain drain. She was nominated by the Croatian Association of Science Journalists.
Rudez was quoted by EPH as saying that the award marked the pinnacle of her career as a science journalist.
Jop De Vrieze, a freelance journalist from the Netherlands, and Ewen Callaway, a senior reporter with Nature, placed second and third respectively.
This is the first time that the ABSW has given awards for best European science journalists. Established in 1947, the association until now presented awards only to journalists in Britain and Ireland.