The Croatian Science Foundation hired an external contractor (DLR Project Management Agency) to conduct a mid-term review of the Tenure Track Pilot Programme (TTPP). The mid-term review sought to provide answers to the following aspects:

• Assessment of the TTPP’s achievements in relation to the envisaged overall outcomes at the current stage of the project;
• Assessment of its potential and further steps for upscaling within the higher education system in Croatia;
• Recommendations for measures or options of adjustment for the performing project period based on its findings

The TTPP is jointly funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) with a share of 85% and the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education (MoSE) with a share of 15%. TTPP is part of the implementation of the cohesion policy programme Swiss-Croatian Cooperation Programme, for which the Swiss Confederation provided CHF 45 million. The Croatian Science Foundation acts as the Executive Agency of the TTPP. Three research projects, each with a budget close to EUR 1.5 million distributed over a five-year period, are currently in their third year of implementation.

The ultimate aim of the TTPP is to lay the necessary foundation for introducing the tenure model into the Croatian higher education system as the Science and Higher Education Act currently in force does not provide the legislative framework for implementing such a system. This model should provide outstanding scientists with the possibility to participate in a competitive call for proposals and if selected for project financing, get a permanent contract at a research organisation or university of their choice. The further development of the scientific career would thus depend more on the positive outcomes of the projects managed rather than the current criteria for long-term employment such as number of publications, teaching hours or institutional coefficients.

The full report is available here.