Croatia sets its sights on its promising young researchers with EPFL

Croatia and EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland) officially announced their intention to create a centre of scientific-technological excellence. Located in Croatia, its goal will be to launch the careers of young, high-potential researchers in order to stimulate strategic research and economically relevant technological innovation and limit the loss of intellectual capital from the country. The project proposal will be submitted to the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 framework programme. If approved, it will receive up to €20 million in funding from the EU, bring together more than 70 collaborators and give creative young talents who are just setting out in their careers the stimulating opportunity to lead their first teams and to conduct visionary research in selected fields that are considered of key importance to the future of Croatian economy. EPFL, recognized in Europe for its success in applying a strategy based on recruiting and developing the careers of young researchers, hopes to help transfer its demonstrated successful expertise in this important strategic area to Croatia. The partners have been in discussions since summer 2013, and their ambition is to make this centre into an international leader in its specific domains by 2020.

Such a platform should help strengthen other Croatian-EU cooperation projects.
The official project announcement took place in Zagreb on March 7, 2014, in the presence of the Croatian Vice-Minister of Science, Education and Sport Saša Zelenika, the Croatian Vice-Minister of Regional Development Jakša Puljiz, the Swiss State Secretary of Education, Research and Innovation Mauro Dell Ambrogio, the President of the Swiss National Science Foundation Martin Vetterli, and EPFL President Patrick Aebischer.

The centre will host a dozen scientific teams in Croatia, each one led by a promising young professor, selected after an open excellence competition. In all, more than 70 individuals could be working in the centre. The research areas concerned – notably engineering, health-related and electronics – correspond to activity sectors identified as crucial for Croatia’s improved economic development.

Investing in young researchers – a strategy for a scientific Europe
EPFL has established a highly effective means of recruiting promising young scientific talents and giving them the means to realize their potential: the “Tenure Track” system, in which they are placed at the head of a research team with a significant budget at their disposal for a seven-year probationary period. Currently, EPFL has 60 of these young tenure track assistant professors in its faculty. In a sign of its success, out of 100 Tenure Track professors who have started their careers at EPFL, more than a third obtained an ERC starting grant – the most prestigious grant awarded by the European Research Council to young researchers, carrying up to €2 million in funding.

According to EPFL President Patrick Aebischer, measures such as these are necessary not only to stimulate research, but also to enable Europe to retain its most talented researchers. “Young European scientists must often wait for many years before a professorship becomes available. Many of them leave for the U.S., never to return,” he explains. “Whether it’s in Switzerland or in Croatia, we must put a system in place that allows them to reach their full potential and establish their careers in Europe, and in doing so make a local contribution to value and job creation.”

The project proposal will soon be submitted to the European Commission
"We must promote the career of our young researchers. This is the main expectation of our joint project with EPFL,” explains Saša Zelenika, Croatia’s Vice-Minister of Science, Education and Sports.

Based on its experience, EPFL will take responsibility for launching and initial management of the institute, with help from international and Croatian scientific committees. The project will be part of the European Horizon 2020 programme, which includes a section entitled “Teaming” that is dedicated to the transfer of expertise and strategies between countries.

The project proposal will be submitted in September 2014. If approved by the European Commission, EPFL and the Croatian partners will have an additional year to submit a detailed action plan. After a second round of approvals, the winning “Teaming” projects will be funded by the European Commission for up to €15-20 million over a maximum period of seven years.