News

ISTAC’s evaluation of CERIC’s Croatian Partner Facility

On May 31st, 2023, the members of the CERIC International Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC) performed the periodical evaluation of the Consortium Croatian partner facility (PF), hosted by the Ruđer Bošković Institute.

The purpose was to evaluate the performance of the PF in terms of the quality of its scientific activities and its contribution to the common strategic objectives and access capabilities of CERIC, as well as the added value for the PF and CERIC of the inclusion in the Consortium. The evaluation was conducted by an international Committee of Evaluators (CoE) composed by Andrew Harrison (ISTAC Chair), Paolo Olivero (ISTAC member) and Maria Dolores Ynsa Alcala (External evaluator).

During the visit at the Croatian PF, the committee was impressed by the high quality of scientific and technical work carried out there, which allows to put the PF at the top of the European level in key areas of applied ion beam science. Moreover, CoE highlighted the versatility and management skills of the PF staff, as well as the declared intention to move towards open data access (a move that aligns with global research trends and promotes scientific transparency and collaboration) and the great support offered by the Croatian PF staff to its users.

Finally, the experts were positively impressed by the increased quality of scientific publications emerging from collaborations with CERIC, and the PF’s involvement in CERIC activities, with some activity in the field of battery research, which is one of Consortium strategic priority areas. This is a strong testament to the value of participation in CERIC, underscoring the benefits of collaborative, cross-institutional research efforts.

As with previous evaluations (and those carried out at other facilities), the ISTAC committee also provided a set of recommendations and suggestions to further enhance the efficiency of the Croatian PF, with a view to continuous improvement of CERIC’s scientific open offer.