At the beginning of 2020, the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka established its Research Support Fund, modelled on eminent universities worldwide that offer this form of internal funding for scientific research. The mission of the Fund is to encourage the competitiveness of the Faculty’s scientific research staff and strengthen it with the necessary knowledge and competencies to participate in the competitive European and international scientific community.
Funds for the Research Support Fund are allocated from the Faculty’s own funds and donations. The Research Support Fund uses financial resources for support of scientific research, repairs, maintenance and upgrades of scientific equipment, as well as for the protection and maintenance of intellectual property rights and registered patents.
During the academic year 2020/2021, a call for applications has been announced for awarding research grants to experienced researchers and postdoctoral researchers, allocating a total of HRK 200,000.00 to five projects of experienced researchers and five projects of postdoctoral researchers employed or appointed into a (scientific) teaching rank at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka or its teaching hospitals. The implementation of approved projects began in October 2021. The largest amount of funding per project is HRK 20,000.00, and the duration of these projects is 18 months. The aim of this call for applications is to encourage those scientists who have not yet had competitive projects to raise funds for their scientific research work, which will indirectly result in increasing the overall scientific research capacity of the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka.
The following projects have been approved for funding in the academic year 2020/2021:
Experienced researchers:
| Project title | Principal investigator | |
| 1. | Prognostic and Predictive Significance Of PD-L1 Expression and Tumor Stromal Cells in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer | Prof. Ksenija Jurinović, MD, PhD |
| 2. | The Role of Innate Immune Cells and Heat Shock Protein 70 in Breast Cancer | Asst. Prof. Tamara Gulić, PhD |
| 3. | The Role of Granulysin- and Perforin-2-Mediated Cytotoxicity in Development of Vitiligo | Prof. Larisa Prpić Massari, MD, PhD |
| 4. | Translational Research of Colon Cancer on Processed Surgical Instruments | Assoc. Prof. Marko Zelić, MD, PhD |
| 5. | The Effect of Genetic Errors in Protein Synthesis on Mammalian Aging | Asst. Prof. Slađana Bursać, PhD |
Postdoctoral researchers:
| Project title | Principal investigator | |
| 1. | Immune Surveillance Mechanisms in Development of Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease | Maja Lenartić, PhD |
| 2. | Testing the Effect of IL-1β and Atg5 Autophagy-Related Protein on LVS Francisella Tularensis Infection in a Mouse Model | Mirna Mihelčić, PhD |
| 3. | Characterisation of Memory CD8 T-cell Response Against COVID-19 and Development of Strategies to Improve Vaccine Efficacy | Inga Kavazović, PhD |
| 4. | Determining the Role of Autophagy and Apoptosis in Intracellular Life of Francisella Tularensis | Valentina Marečić, PhD |
| 5. | The Impact of CD26 Deficiency on PYY and SP Neuropeptide Signaling Pathways in an Experimental Model of Crohn’s Disease | Sunčica Buljević, PhD |
The following companies supported the Researcher Support Fund with their financial donations:
- Allianz d.d.
- Biovit d.o.o.
- Storm Security d.o.o.
- Kefo d.o.o.
- Citoplus d.o.o.
- MMK d.o.o.
- Općina Viškovo
- DEM d.o.o.
- Biosistemi d.o.o.
- Harta d.o.o.
- Medicinsko-estetske inovacije d.o.o.
- Gorea plus d.o.o.
- Fidelta d.o.o.
- Animalab d.o.o.
- Koncept Media d.o.o.