The President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, visited the University of Rijeka where he had a meeting with the Rector of the University, Prof. Snježana Prijić-Samaržija and her colleagues. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the University’s most significant business partners, which includes Ivo Usmiani, the President of the Board of Directors of JGL.
“By creating a GMP lab at the Department of Biotechnology at the University of Rijeka, JGL is bolstering its scientific support with the aim of improving existing drugs and developing new ones and this platform gives the highest standards for student education in a real-world industry environment. Furthermore, the development of an innovative nasal spray as part of the “IRI2” project, which we are working on together with the Centre for Proteomics of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rijeka, headed by Prof. Stipan Jonjić and the Department of Biotechnology of the University of Rijeka, actively contributes to networking the business sector and the scientific-education and research sectors and through it, we are encouraging the development of innovations, as well as technology and knowledge transferring”, said Usmiani. He acknowledged the founding of pharmaceutical studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rijeka as especially significant as it offers a quality platform for the further development of the Republic of Croatia in the field of pharmaceutical and biotechnological development and strengthens the pharmaceutical profession in our country, which is experiencing talent shortages.
“We must make the distinction between modernity, in other words, being in fashion, on the one hand, and modernity in the sense of being contemporary and in the know when it comes to beneficial trends”, said President Milanović, adding that the University of Rijeka was modern in the positive sense of the word and that he delighted with the projects that he was shown.
The Rector, Prof. Prijić-Samaržija stated that the goal was to make the University of Rijeka a third or fourth generation university that not only educates and carries out research but also has a community function, connecting talent, preparing students for working in businesses which most certainly need additional talent. “We would also like to see the return of our scientists who left the country”, said the Rector in closing.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Infobip, Ericsson Nikola Tesla, Lürssen and Gitone Kvarner.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan