On Friday, December 6th, the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI), representing Croatia in the Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium (CERIC-ERIC), marked the 10th anniversary of CERIC with a special event, celebrating the Consortium’s achievements and its transformative impact on European research.

The event reflected on the RBI journey leading to the creation of CERIC, emphasising its role in advancing the European Research Area (ERA). It also highlighted the substantial contributions of CERIC’s Member countries to European science and innovation.

The accelerator system at the RBI is Croatia’s largest scientific infrastructure and has seen a threefold increase in measurements over the past 20 years. With new investments, the system will soon include three accelerators equipped with advanced techniques. As highlighted by the Director General of RBI, Dr. David M. Smith, during the opening ceremony at the institute’s premises in Zagreb, these upgrades are partially funded by CERIC, as well as by the Institute’s O-ZIP infrastructure project, and other European initiatives.

Jelena Ilić Dreven, Head of the Department for Preparation, Monitoring, and Implementation of Science and Technology Policies at the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia, after recalling Croatian contribution to CERIC since the Consortium’s inception,  stated: “Croatia’s vision, outlined in our Research Infrastructure Development Roadmap, is to excel in internationally competitive research, strengthen international cooperation, and enhance the visibility of Croatian science, economy, and society. CERIC is a prime example of this vision in action, fostering collaboration across borders and advancing our shared scientific goals”.

Prof. Andrew Harrison, CERIC’s newly appointed Executive Director, remarked this point: ”A Key thing about CERIC is that it supports bringing together scientists from different countries, using different techniques to solve yet more complex global problems”.

In fact, as the former director of the CERIC partner facility at RBI, Dr. Milko Jakšić, explained in his talk, in modern scientific research, interdisciplinarity and the use of diverse techniques are essential. Ion beam analysis, in particular, plays a crucial role in several key applications. For example, it provides valuable insights into how elements like lithium behave during the charging and discharging of batteries, including next-generation designs. These studies are conducted also in combination with other techniques, such as the Austrian synchrotron beamline facility in Trieste led by Dr. Heinz Amenitsch from the Technical University in Graz, and director of the CERIC Board of Directors.

Ion-beam based techniques are also vital in the development of new materials for solar panels and advanced materials for fusion reactors. Moreover, beyond materials science, ion beam analysis significantly contributes to biology and medicine by investigating the elemental composition of cancerous tissues. In environmental science, it enables the monitoring and distribution analysis of pollutants, such as microplastics, across various materials and plants. It also plays a pivotal role in cultural heritage research, revealing the origins of ancient artifacts through the study of trace elements.

Dr. Jakšić also emphasized Croatia’s key contributions to CERIC, stating that “CERIC has been instrumental in expanding research opportunities across Europe. In the last 10 years, and through CERIC, RBI accelerator facility and its ion-based instruments and techniques have been used through 50 successfully evaluated project proposals of international researchers. Research domains span materials science, biology and medicine, to environment and cultural heritage. Croatian scientists have also benefited from using all the facilities available in the Consortium. Since the CERIC’s setup, 109 Croatian users have been granted access to CERIC facilities, making the Croatian research community one of the key beneficiaries of CERIC. The majority of users (35%) requested access to the Austrian facility at the Technical University in Graz, followed by the Italian facility at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste (23%), the Croatian RBI (17%), and the Slovenian NMR facility in Ljubljana (14%). With ongoing upgrades of the RBI accelerator facility, we are excited to continue playing our active role in driving CERIC’s growth and increasing its scientific impact”.

The event continued with a forward-looking presentation by Dr. Zdravko Siketić, director of the CERIC partner facility at RBI, who focused on enhancing access to accelerator-based techniques, by further investments in accelerator infrastructure through several EU, national and CERIC projects.

Other contributions from leading scientists showcased cutting-edge research enabled by other CERIC partner facilities: Dr. Janez Plavec, Director of the CERIC Slovenian Partner Facility (NMR Centre at the National Institute of Chemistry), presented NMR studies of non-canonical DNA structures, while Dr. Marko Karlušić from RBI, detailed his investigations into heavy ion irradiation effects using advanced imaging methods in collaboration with the CERIC Partner Facility in Magurele, Romania.
Overall, the event’s programme fostered discussions on Croatia’s pivotal role in the consortium, celebrating not only its achievements but also the future possibilities for scientific discovery and collaboration within CERIC.

The official celebration of CERIC’s 10th anniversary was held on November 21st in Brussels, bringing together representatives of the European Commission, EU member states, leading European institutions, and research infrastructures, to honour CERIC’s contributions to European scientific excellence.