The Group of Eight offers eight annual fellowships to early career researchers in Europe to work in Go8 universities for up to six months. Each Fellowship is worth AUD 20,000. The Fellowships are open to eligible researchers in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.

Ruđer Bošković Institute is proud to welcome an outstanding world scientists and one of the world's leading chemists Prof. Dr. Drs. h. c. Helmut Schwarz, the President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and professor of organic chemistry at Berlin University of Technology (TU). Professor Schwarz will be visiting the Institute on Monday, 31 August 2009.

Foreign researchers have been showing an increasing interest to work in Croatia reported Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (MZOS). This Ministry has recently started an initiative which allows foreign researchers to work at Universities, as well as public and private institutes and companies in Croatia, without the obligation to hold a work permit, pursuant to the Code of Procedures for the Approval of Temporary Stay. ''Since October last year 11 foreign researchers have been employed by the University of Zagreb, the Ruđer Bošković Institute and the University of Rijeka," said Mr. Hrvoje Meštrić, PhD, Director of the Directorate for Science at the MZOS.

A delegation of experts from the National Conservation Centre of Macedonian National Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage from Skopje, led by the Director of National Centre Mr. Behixhudin Shehabi, visited the Ruđer Bošković Institute yesterday. Macedonian representatives were accompanied by the Deputy Director of the Croatian Conservation Institute Mr. Mario Braun. The distinguished guests met with the Chairman of the RBI Scientific Council Nevenko Bilić, PhD, who welcomed them on behalf of the RBI Director Danica Ramljak, DVM, PhD.

At the invitation of Director General Ms. Danica Ramljak, DVM, PhD, and RBI team, the Chief Executive Officer of Končar- Electrical Industries Inc. Mr. Darinko Bago and his associates Mr. Vladimir Plečko, Management Board member responsible for Corporative Development, Mr. Stjepan Car, President of the Managing Board of Končar - Electrical Engineering Institute Inc. and Mr. Miroslav Poljak, Board member, visited the Institute yesterday.

The RBI Director General Danica Ramljak, DVM, PhD, and her team today visited the Jozef Štefan Institute (JSI), where they met with the Director General professor Jadran Lenčarić, PhD, and his associates. The purpose of this meeting was to examine the ways and means of strengthening the ongoing fruitful cooperation between the two institutes pursuant to the existing bilateral agreement on scientific and technological cooperation between the governments of the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia. With this aim in view, the two teams have agreed to meet with their expert teams again in September.

Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić has met with the RBI Director General Danica Ramljak and her associates today. The purpose of this working meeting was to provide the Mayor with the brief summary of the joint research and development projects as well as to review the obligations defined by the contracts, signed between the City of Zagreb and the Institute. This meeting provided the RBI representatives with the opportunity to invite the Mayor and the City of Zagreb to actively engage in the organization of the Institute`s 60th anniversary in June 2010.

Springer Publishing Company has recently published a book Centromere-structure and evolution edited by the RBI scientist Đurđica Ugarkovic, PhD. The book was published within Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology series and comprises contributions by seven distinguished international research groups including the RBI group from the Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics.

Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) in cooperation with the Croatian Centre for Indigenous Species of Fish and Crawfish in Karstic Waters, Town of Otočac and Croatian Chamber of Economy, recently organized the 6th Scientific and Professional Conference on Autochthonous Karstic Species in Otočac. The Conference was held under the auspice of the President of the Republic of Croatia Mr. Stjepan Mesić.

RBI scientists Zvonimir Maksic, PhD, Ante Graovac, PhD, Nela Pivac, PhD, and Ivica Kopriva, PhD, were honoured with the 2008 National Science Award by the National Science Awards Committee at the Croatian Parliament meeting, held on 1 July 2009.