Better human resources offered additional opportunities for new study programmes, hence in 1997 the undergraduate university study programme for future physics teachers was commenced. Employees at the Department for Physics, along with other colleagues at the Faculty, participated in holding the undergraduate international joint study programme Science and Technology for the Environment and Territory, which along with our faculty, was also held in Molise, Italy and in Targoviste, Romania. In many aspects, this study programme at that time (early 2000s) was unique – the first of its kind in Croatia, a Bologna pilot programme and the first international joint study programme. It was the predecessor of coming modern trends in European higher education, such as the internationalisation of study programmes, the founding of joint study programmes and implementation of the Bologna declaration. Since the introduction of the Bologna process in 2005, physics study programmes have been organised on the principle of a three-year undergraduate and a two-year graduate study programme. The Bologna university undergraduate study programmes, for which the Department was assigned responsibility since 2005were Physics, Mathematics and Physics, Physics and Computer Science as well as Engineering Physics, Thermodynamics and Mechanics. Organised at the graduate level is the university study programme Physics with five specialisations: astrophysics, biophysics, environmental physics, computer physics and an education specialisation; Engineering Physics with the following specialisations: mechanical systems and thermodynamic devices, and two study programmes for future teachers: Mathematics and Physics as well as Physics and Computer Science. Since 2017, the organisation of study programmes has been optimised, hence only the study programmes Physics and also Mathematics and Physics are organised at an undergraduate level.
Since 2008, personnel at the Department of Physics have participated in holding the doctoral study programme Biophysics for which the Faculty of Science in Split is the provider. The main initiator of the study programme was Davor Juretić, and the programme was organised in cooperation with the School of Medicine in Split, the Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences also from Split and two Zagreb institutes – the Ruđer Bošković Institute and Institute for Physics as collaborative institutes. The strategic goal of the Department of Physics is the internationalisation of its study programme Physics. This implies the possibility of holding a larger number of courses in the English language at the undergraduate level, whereby we hope to encourage incoming student mobility in terms of various European student exchange programmes. Furthermore, at the graduate level, we plan to organise particular specialisations in the graduate study programme Physics (such as astrophysics and environmental physics) as study programmes in the English language, thereby attracting foreign students, while offering Croatian students additional competences to study in the English language.
Teaching activities
Scientific-research activities undertaken by personnel at the Department of Physics are diverse and include theoretical and experimental research. Activities are further supported through collaboration with institutions from Croatia, Austria, France, Italy, Germany, United States of America, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. The scientific visibility of personnel working at the Department of Physics is confirmed by having held more than twenty invited talks at international scientific conferences and the reviewing of scientific papers in internationally reviewed scientific journals. Here are just some of them: Physical Review B, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, Central European Journal of Physics, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry, Materials Research Express. The organisation of scientific and professional conferences is yet another important activity undertaken by personnel at the Department. As an example, we cite only those organised in Split over the last five years: the annual cycle of conferences and Physics and Philosophy summer schools, C-MAC Euroschool 2017: Physical properties I – electrons, phonons and interactions in complex systems, S2S4 – Students to Students Split Summer School, biannual series of conferences called LHC days in Split, Workshops on Non-formal and Informal Learning 2018, Greta Pifat Mrzljak International School of Biophysics 2018.
The Department of Physics participates in the work of various international cooperative and collaborative networks, such as in the European Integrated Centre for Development of New Metallic Alloys and Compounds (EUCMAC), in which institutions from 19 European countries participate, in the Central European Branch of network cooperation ICAM-I2CAM (includes institutions from Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia) as well as FOPI and CBM collaboration with headquarters in Darmstatd and CMS from CERN. Experience gained in holding the undergraduate international joint study programme Science and Technology for the Environment, in the mid-2000s initiated new projects at the Department, resulting in competences which previously had been poorly represented in Split. The initiators of these activities were Mile Dželalija and Leandra Vranješ Markić. The first such project was Piloting Solutions for Alleviating Brain-Drain in Croatia in 2004, which was organised through UNESCO, and financed by Hewlett-Packard, a multinational American company. One of the results from the project has been interest from expatriate physicists in gaining employment at the Faculty of Science and paving the way for the registering of future projects. Special emphasis is placed on the results of two TEMPUS projects: Stimulating Croatia’s Entrepreneurial Activities and Technology Transfer in Education (CREATE) and Training for EU-liaison officers in Croatian universities: pursuing Bologna and EU integration aims (TRIUMPH).
In the mid-2000s, these projects were avant-garde for the entire University of Split, eventually leading to the founding of today’s Office for the Transfer of Technology at the University of Split, which began operating in 2005 as part of the Department of Physics, holding the first courses on managing European projects. Persons who have passed the courses are still today a great benefit for the University of Split and its departments. With the accession of Croatia to the European Union, many opportunities have appeared for investing into scientific research and scientific infrastructure. Hence, the European Fund for Regional Development has financed establishment of experimental capacities for microstructures of thin films which are unique not only in Croatia but also in neighbouring countries. The popularisation of physics among the public, especially among pupils in primary and secondary school, is an important activity at the Department of Physics. Moreover, personnel at the Department also participate in various activities, from the Science Festival and Researcher’s Night to organising lectures, additional classes on Physics for gifted high school pupils and various workshops for pupils.
Scientific and professional activities
Scientific-research activities undertaken by personnel at the Department of Physics are diverse and include theoretical and experimental research. Activities are further supported through collaboration with institutions from Croatia, Austria, France, Italy, Germany, United States of America, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. The scientific visibility of personnel working at the Department of Physics is confirmed by having held more than twenty invited talks at international scientific conferences and the reviewing of scientific papers in internationally reviewed scientific journals. Here are just some of them: Physical Review B, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, Central European Journal of Physics, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry, Materials Research Express. The organisation of scientific and professional conferences is yet another important activity undertaken by personnel at the Department. As an example, we cite only those organised in Split over the last five years: the annual cycle of conferences and Physics and Philosophy summer schools, C-MAC Euroschool 2017: Physical properties I – electrons, phonons and interactions in complex systems, S2S4 – Students to Students Split Summer School, biannual series of conferences called LHC days in Split, Workshops on Non-formal and Informal Learning 2018, Greta Pifat Mrzljak International School of Biophysics 2018.
The Department of Physics participates in the work of various international cooperative and collaborative networks, such as in the European Integrated Centre for Development of New Metallic Alloys and Compounds (EUCMAC), in which institutions from 19 European countries participate, in the Central European Branch of network cooperation ICAM-I2CAM (includes institutions from Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia) as well as FOPI and CBM collaboration with headquarters in Darmstatd and CMS from CERN. Experience gained in holding the undergraduate international joint study programme Science and Technology for the Environment, in the mid-2000s initiated new projects at the Department, resulting in competences which previously had been poorly represented in Split. The initiators of these activities were Mile Dželalija and Leandra Vranješ Markić. The first such project was Piloting Solutions for Alleviating Brain-Drain in Croatia in 2004, which was organised through UNESCO, and financed by Hewlett-Packard, a multinational American company. One of the results from the project has been interest from expatriate physicists in gaining employment at the Faculty of Science and paving the way for the registering of future projects. Special emphasis is placed on the results of two TEMPUS projects: Stimulating Croatia’s Entrepreneurial Activities and Technology Transfer in Education (CREATE) and Training for EU-liaison officers in Croatian universities: pursuing Bologna and EU integration aims (TRIUMPH).
In the mid-2000s, these projects were avant-garde for the entire University of Split, eventually leading to the founding of today’s Office for the Transfer of Technology at the University of Split, which began operating in 2005 as part of the Department of Physics, holding the first courses on managing European projects. Persons who have passed the courses are still today a great benefit for the University of Split and its departments. With the accession of Croatia to the European Union, many opportunities have appeared for investing into scientific research and scientific infrastructure. Hence, the European Fund for Regional Development has financed establishment of experimental capacities for microstructures of thin films which are unique not only in Croatia but also in neighbouring countries. The popularisation of physics among the public, especially among pupils in primary and secondary school, is an important activity at the Department of Physics. Moreover, personnel at the Department also participate in various activities, from the Science Festival and Researcher’s Night to organising lectures, additional classes on Physics for gifted high school pupils and various workshops for pupils.
