Students from FER won first place in the Smart Home category at the international hardware hackathon StarkHacks , the largest student hardware hackathon in the world, held at Purdue University in the USA. The FER team consisted of Lovro Šantek, Petar Jakuš, Neven Lukić, and Luka Bradarić Lisić , who developed a smart in-home dog monitoring system in just 36 hours. The solution allows owners to track their pet’s location and behavior in real time, analyze long-term activity and feeding patterns, and control connected smart devices via a mobile application. The project’s particular value lies in its technical complexity. The system includes an Edge AI model for motion classification, Bluetooth-based localization, custom-developed electronics and CAD models, and full integration of hardware and software into a functional prototype.

At the graduation ceremony held on Saturday, April 25, 2026, Rector Prof. Stjepan Lakušić, PhD, promoted a total of 371 new doctors of science and doctors of arts from the University of Zagreb, among whom 25 were doctoral graduates from FER. Our doctoral candidates contribute through their work to the development of technology, innovation, and solutions to contemporary societal challenges. Their expertise is recognized in fields such as biomedical engineering, sustainable energy, cybersecurity, and machine learning. A particular value is brought by doctoral research projects that transfer new knowledge and technologies into the business world. At FER, around 40 young researchers obtain their doctorates each year, and the vast majority of them, up to 85 percent, remain in Croatia, where they contribute to the development of domestic industry and society through their knowledge and expertise.  

Prof. emeritus Nedjeljko Perić and Prof. Stjepan Picek are recipients of the National Science Award for 2024 , presented by the Committee for the Awarding of National Science Prizes, appointed by a decision of the Croatian Parliament. Prof. emeritus Perić received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of technical sciences, while Prof. Picek was awarded the Annual Science Award in the same field. We congratulate our professors on this exceptional recognition and well-deserved success, which confirms their long-standing excellence and dedication to scientific work!  

It is not easy to capture half a century of concerts, workshops, volunteers, friendships, and music in a single sentence. Yet that is precisely what the City Assembly of Zagreb did on 23rd of April 2026 by awarding KSET the City of Zagreb Award. "Throughout its half-century of activity, KSET has made a significant contribution to the formation of independent culture in Zagreb and to establishing Zagreb as a European metropolis of independent culture", stands in the explanation of the reward. This award is granted to citizens, associations, and institutions for outstanding achievements in promoting culture, science, art, and all areas of social life in Zagreb. The fact that it was granted to KSET this year is no surprise, but it is certainly a recognition we have long known to be well deserved.

Researchers from FER and the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS, A*STAR), in collaboration with Oxford Nanopore Technologies, have developed HERRO, an artificial intelligence-based tool that enables complete reconstruction of the human genome using only a single long-read DNA sequencing technology . The results were published in Nature , one of the world’s most influential scientific journals, which features outstanding discoveries in biology, physics, medicine, chemistry, and other scientific fields. The co-authors of this exceptional achievement are Prof. Mile Šikić (GIS, A*STAR Singapore and FER), Dominik Stanojević , postdoctoral researcher (GIS, ASTAR Singapore and FER), Dehui Lin , PhD candidate (NTU Singapore), Sergey Nurk , Chief Bioinformatician (Oxford Nanopore Technologies), and Paola Florez de Sessions , Deputy Director (Oxford Nanopore Technologies).

The paper titled " Semantic Search Trajectory Networks for Understanding Genetic Programming ", authored by our researchers Josip Hrvatić , Magda Smolić-Ročak , and Assoc. Prof. Marko Đurasević in collaboration with Prof. Gabriela Ochoa from the University of Stirling, has been awarded Best Paper at the EuroGP 2026 conference , held from April 8 to 10 in Toulouse. This was the 29th edition of the world's leading event dedicated to genetic programming . The research team adapted Search Trajectory Networks for tree-based genetic programming, filling a gap that had previously existed in the field. Part of the work also extends the application of these networks to complex real-world problems. Instead of the traditional approach that focuses solely on performance when comparing algorithms, this approach makes it possible to compare the entire evolutionary process of each algorithm and explain why one generates better solutions than the other . The collaboration was made possible primarily through the "Mobility Programme – Outbound Mobility of Research Assistants" (MOBDOK-2023-1584) funded by the Croatian Science Foundation, under which Josip spent over three months on a research stay at the University of Stirling. It is worth noting that this is the second consecutive year that researchers from FER have won the Best Paper award at EuroGP . Last year, the award was won by Assoc. Prof. Marko Đurasević , Prof. Stjepan Picek , and Prof. Domagoj Jakobović in collaboration with Claude Carlet from the University of Bergen and Luca Mariot from the University of Twente.

As part of the online Nature Careers section on the Nature journal website, an interview was published with Prof. Ratko Magjarević, PhD, former president of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) and a prominent advocate of international scientific collaboration in the field of biomedical engineering. In the interview, he emphasizes that scientific societies , throughout history, from the Accademia dei Lincei to the Royal Society, have been crucial for the development and dissemination of knowledge . They continue to play this role today as important channels for networking and the exchange of ideas. However, they now face serious challenges.

The second decade of the Faculty’s development was marked by a strong transformation from a predominantly educational institution into a leading high-tech scientific and research center . In the period from 1965 to 1974, the Faculty not only followed global technological trends but actively shaped them within the domestic context, making key contributions to the development of industry, energy, and computing. By 1969 , the Faculty had already established itself as the largest and most significant higher education institution in the field of electrical engineering in the country. Its experts participated in the design of nearly all major energy facilities in Croatia, with intensive collaboration with industry and media, including TV Zagreb, RIZ, Končar, and others. Teaching was structured into eight specializations : power engineering, electrical machinery and automation, telecommunications, radiocommunications, computer engineering, control engineering, industrial electronics, and nuclear engineering. This organization of studies reflected the breadth and depth of the technological fields covered by the Faculty. Alongside teaching, scientific work intensified, and teaching materials gained exceptional importance . Textbooks and scripts written by Faculty professors became indispensable manuals in engineering practice, often printed in editions far exceeding the number of students .

Useful examples and Italian best practices in implementing artificial intelligence in scientific research, industry, services, critical infrastructure, and public policy were presented by experts at the panel discussion AI Beyond the Hype: Limits, Innovations, and Perspectives , held on April 16 th at FER, on the occasion of the Italian Research Day in the World . At the gathering organized by FER, the Embassy of Italy, the Ruđer Bošković Institute, and the Italian Cultural Institute in Zagreb, participants reflected on advanced directions in AI development, Italy’s contributions in these areas, and called for stronger cooperation between Croatia and Italy through knowledge exchange and the development of AI infrastructure.

Croatian high-tech companies DOK-ING and Ericsson Nikola Tesla (ENT) , together with two leading scientific and academic institutions — the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FSB) — have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at developing next-generation unmanned systems and advanced robotic systems. Within this partnership, DOK-ING will act as the leading industrial partner, while Ericsson Nikola Tesla will contribute its expertise in communication and digital technologies. The academic partners, FER and FSB , will participate in the research and development of key technological components, including autonomous systems, mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and advanced engineering systems.

The celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing – today known as FER, and originally as the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (ETF) – is an opportunity to recall the period that strongly shaped its identity. Particularly notable is the time from 1956 to 1965, when the Faculty began operating independently and laid the foundations of modern electrical engineering, electronics, and computer education in Croatia. This was an era of rapid technical and technological change worldwide: the boom of electronics, the birth of computing and information technology, and the expansion of power and communication systems. It was precisely in these fields that FER assumed an unrivaled role as a bearer of knowledge and innovation.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of quantum mechanics, the United Nations has declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology , emphasizing the critical importance of these increasingly relevant technologies for our society. With the rapid advancement of quantum technologies—especially quantum computers - the world has become aware that the realization of a quantum computer capable of compromising existing communication systems, such as RSA encryption, is now only a matter of time. CroQCI: Croatia's Contribution to the European Quantum Network To prepare for the so-called Q-Day , governments of the world's leading economies have adopted strategies to adapt their communication systems by developing quantum networks resistant to quantum computers , with security based on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) . In line with this, the European Union launched the EuroQCI initiative (European Quantum Communication Infrastructure) in 2023, aiming to establish a pan-European quantum communication network . Croatia is participating through the CroQCI project (Croatian Quantum Communication Infrastructure), involving FER (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing), along with CARNET, IRB, OIV, FPZ, IF, SRCE , and UVNS .