As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, at a session held on February the 18th, 2022, the Governing Board of the Rudjer Bosković Institute (RBI) elected Dr. sc. David Matthew Smith as the director for a term spanning four years, beginning during this one.
The Governing Board elected Dr. sc. Smith after considering the positive opinion of the Tender Committee and the Scientific Council, and appointed him as the Rudjer Boskovic Institute director for the term of office from 2022 to 2026.
This is otherwise Dr. sc. This is David M. Smith’s second term as the Rudjer Boskovic Institute director. The previous four-year period during which he held this same position was marked by numerous global challenges, but also great results of this most famous Croatian institute and the conclusion of a historic contract for the capital infrastructure project Open Science-Infrastructure Platform for Innovative Applications in Economy and Society (O-ZIP).
In this continually challenging period, this institute has further strengthened its position as a leading Croatian institution in terms of contracting international and domestic projects, and has shown excellent progress in contracting development projects in cooperation with the business sector through structural funds.
“I would like to thank the Governing Board and the Scientific Council, and in particular all the employees of the Institute for their support in my work so far and, in particular, for their renewed trust for this, my second term. I’m hereby honoured and entrusted with a great responsibility in continuing to lead the Institute. Behind us is a very challenging period marked by earthquakes and a pandemic, but also great results of the RBI. Moreover, a quick review of the Nature Index, which measures production in leading international scientific journals, shows that the RBI is responsible for approximately half of Croatia’s overall contribution.
About 300 competitive Croatian and international scientific projects are currently being implemented at the Rudjer Boskovic Institute and the European project portfolio has reached a value of 110 million euros. A historic contract has been signed for the capital structural project O-ZIP, which brings us an investment in RBI infrastructure worth 72 million euros, the number of publications has grown, and we’ve achieved significant results in the ”brain drain” to the RBI by attracting foreign scientists and returnees, which makes me especially happy, as does the influx of doctoral and postdoctoral students at the RBI.
Flexibility and adaptation to these new working conditions will be our everyday life in the future. Stability, harmonisation and progress are the key points of my vision of the RBI, while the greatest strength of this institute is its employees,” said Dr. sc. David M. Smith upon being appointed as the Rudjer Boskovic Institute director once again, adding that he hopes that the institute will continue to achieve these results in somewhat more stable conditions in the future.
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