On 18 January 2021, representatives of the Croatian Science Foundation, headed by the Executive Director Dr Irena Martinović Klarić, PhD, attended a meeting with the Ambasador of Japan in the Republic of Croatia, Her Excellency Ms Misako Kaji. The topic of the meeting was potential collaboration between the Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Ambassador Kaji complimented this initiative and expressed the Embassy’s willingness to act as mediator in the process of establishing this collaboration.

Motivated by the catastrophic earthquakes that hit Sisak-Moslavina County in late 2020, the Foundation is planning to launch a thematic call on the topic of disaster prevention and recovery, following the example of previous thematic calls on the topic of the coronavirus pandemic. This call will promote collaboration with Japanese experts in the fields of geology, seismology, civil engineering, urban planning and similar scientific disciplines.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Croatia-Japan Cultural and Economic Society Mr Ivan Slade Šilović (President of the Society) and Dr Tonči Tadić, PhD (Vice-president).

More information about the new programme and the thematic call will be published in due course.