The support and analysis provided through this project was conducted by the OECD at the request of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia and in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission (DG REFORM).
The OECD is grateful for the partnership and continued commitment of the Croatian National Project Team throughout this project, with special thanks to Ms Marina Cvitanušić Brečić, Ms Dijana Mandić and Ms Loredana Maravić from the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education, Ms Dragana Kupres from the Croatian Academic and Research Network (CARNET), and Professor Predrag Pale from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing of the University of Zagreb. Further thanks go to colleagues in DG REFORM: Ms Oana Dumitrescu, project officer, whose support and guidance was fundamental to the success of the project, and to Mr Akshay Bakhai, who provided helpful feedback on draft outputs.
Warm thanks also go to the many representatives of Croatian higher education institutions and stakeholder organisations who dedicated their time to interviews and workshops conducted in Croatia in 2022 and 2023 and provided valuable insight to the project team. Special thanks go to the staff of CARNET, who were heavily engaged in all of the project activities, and representatives from the Agency for Science and Higher Education (ASHE), the National Council for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development (NVZVOTR), the Rectors’ Conference of the Republic of Croatia, the Council of Polytechnics and Colleges of the Republic of Croatia (VVIVŠ), the University Computing Centre of the University of Zagreb (SRCE) and the senior managers, academic staff, students and technical support staff from higher education institutions across Croatia who contributed their time and perspectives to the OECD review.
The project and this report also benefited from several external contributors, who provided intellectual support and shared their experience and expertise. In particular, the OECD team is grateful to Professor Paul Bacsich, Professor Valéria Csépe, Mr. Kerr Gardiner, Ms Sarah Grillo, Dr Terry Maguire and Dr Kevin O’Rourke for their contributions to the project.
The project was managed by Gillian Golden of the OECD Higher Education Policy Team, who is lead author of this report. OECD staff members Matej Bilik, Iris Figliolia and Roza Gyorfi contributed to the project at different stages, while Thomas Weko and Simon Roy, former and current team leaders respectively of the OECD Higher Education Policy Team, provided advice throughout the project. Paulo Santiago, Head of the Policy Advice and Implementation Division in the Directorate of Education and Skills and Andreas Schleicher, Director of the Directorate for Education and Skills, advised the project and reviewed the publication. Administrative support was provided by Marika Prince and Anita Buzás. Justin Steed edited the report and Stephen Flynn and Cassandra Morley assisted with the communication and production processes.
While the report draws on data and analysis from the OECD, Croatian sources, and a range of other published sources, any errors or misinterpretations remain the responsibility of the OECD team