Project title: Transformations of Local Communities in the Republic of Croatia: Global Challenges and Development Potential
Project type: NextGeneration EU project (2024–2027)
Project duration: 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2027
Project leader: Mateo Žanić, PhD (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar)
Project associate from the Department of Sociology: Full Professor Željko Pavić
Brief project description: One of the key research questions at the beginning of the 21st century is how global social changes affect life in local communities. Local social relations are influenced in various ways by a range of social risks and crises such as pandemics, climate change, demographic ageing, migration crises and wars. As part of the project, the aim is to determine how local social relations and broader social processes intersect in the Republic of Croatia.
Project title: Playing the Academic Game: Research and Publishing Strategies of Scientists in the Context of Research Evaluation – EVALDEMIC
Project type: NextGeneration EU project (2024–2027)
Project duration: 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2027
Project leader: Adrijana Šuljok, PhD (Institute for Social Research in Zagreb)
Project associate from the Department of Sociology: Full Professor Željko Pavić
Brief project description: The project aims to investigate the effects of increasingly intensive changes in the ways scientific research is evaluated, visible through the introduction of metric performance indicators, on the research and publishing strategies of scientists in the social and natural sciences, both positive and negative. The effects of these changes (pressures to increase productivity – “publish or perish” and the “objectification and metrification” of scientific research evaluation systems) are increasingly being studied, but are still largely unknown.
Project title: The Impact of the Internet and Online Social Networks on Vaccination Attitudes and Decisions
Project type: Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ) Research Project
Project duration: January 2020 – December 2023
Project leader: Associate Professor Željko Pavić
Project associates: Assistant Professor Anita Dremel (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek), Ljiljana Pintarić (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek), Juraj Jurlina (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek), Assistant Professor Gordana Lesinger (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek), Full Professor Maja Miškulin (Faculty of Medicine Osijek), Assistant Professor Ivan Miškulin (Faculty of Medicine Osijek), Full Professor Aida Mujkić (School of Medicine Zagreb), Adrijana Šuljok, PhD (Institute for Social Research in Zagreb), Vesna Višekruna Vučina (Croatian Institute of Public Health), Zvjezdana Lovrić Makarić (Croatian Institute of Public Health)
Brief project description: The general theoretical aim of this project is to comprehensively investigate the possible positive and negative effects of the Internet and online social networks on vaccination attitudes and decisions and, in this way, to integrate several previously separate research areas into a single explanatory model of vaccination attitudes and decisions that will be tested in the research. The specific research objectives of the project include qualitative studies that will provide in-depth insight into possible differences in vaccination attitudes and decisions among physicians and citizens and the causes of these differences. Furthermore, differences in vaccination reporting between old and new media will be examined, as well as the characteristics of media production that influence these differences, and the typical discourses on vaccination present on online social networks in Croatia will be identified. The quantitative part of the research will examine the vaccination attitudes and decisions of the population of the Republic of Croatia, sociodemographic differences in attitudes and their mediators, while the final objective will be to investigate differences in the impact of old and new media on vaccination attitudes and decisions and to analyse their mediation mechanisms.
Project title: Mimladi.hr – A New Face for the Homepage
Project type: Professional projects / cooperation with the non-governmental sector
Project duration: October 2020 – June 2021
Project coordinator at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek: Associate Professor Željko Pavić
Project associates from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek: Associate Professor Daniela Šincek (Department of Psychology), Associate Professor Goran Livazović (Department of Pedagogy), Assistant Professor Gordana Lesinger (Department of Information Sciences)
Brief project description: The aim of this project is to strengthen the competencies of media professionals through education and training. Through professional training sessions and workshops, media professionals will acquire new knowledge and improve their investigative journalism skills, thereby improving the quality of media reporting and raising awareness of youth unemployment. Creating space for dialogue and encouraging constructive public debate will help their (re)integration into society. The project is led by World Youth Alliance Croatia (WYAC), with the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek and Generacija.hr – Association for the Promotion of Media Culture, Intergenerational Solidarity and the Protection of the Rights of Young People, Families and Pensioners as partners. The project was approved and co-financed by the European Social Fund within the Operational Programme Efficient Human Resources 2014–2020.
Project theme: Research on Photosynthesis and Abiotic Stress in Plants
Project task: Research on the Decline of Coniferous Trees with a Proposal for Possible Solutions in the City of Belišće
Project leader: Full Professor Hrvoje Lepeduš
Associates: Željko Pavić, Juraj Jurlina, Ljiljana Pintarić, Tomo Trstenjak, Nikolina Meštrović, Jasenka Antunović, Vera Cesar
Summary: As part of the Strategic Scientific Research Programme and within the project theme “Research on Photosynthesis and Abiotic Stress in Plants”, a scientific study of coniferous trees in the City of Belišće was conducted at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek. The research had two main objectives. The first objective was to examine the physiological condition (vitality) of coniferous trees (the two most common species were selected – pine and spruce) frequently found in Belišće, with particular emphasis on damaged species near the “complex”. The sampling locations were selected in accordance with a preliminary survey and the interests of local residents. The second objective included surveying residents of the City of Belišće regarding their perception of the condition of vegetation at the selected locations. The results showed the extent to which perceptions of the condition of the selected vegetation in Belišće corresponded with its physiological condition, and an opinion and recommendation were provided accordingly.
Project title: Phytohormones in Abiotic Stress of Brassicaceae: Mechanisms of Tolerance and Application
Acronym: PhytoBraCro
Associate(s): Ondřej Novák, Hrvoje Lepeduš, Nataša Bauer, Dunja Šamec, Iva Pavlović, Selma Mlinarić, Jutta Ludwig-Müller, Ana Smolko, Jasenka Antunović, Snježana Mihaljević, Sandra Radić Brkanac, Valerija Vujčić, Ida Linić,
Duration: 1 September 2015 – 31 December 2019
Status: Completed
Value: HRK 912,928.00
Scientific area and field: Natural Sciences / Biology
Institution: Ruđer Bošković Institute
Keywords: brassicas, drought, salt stress, auxin, stress hormones
Summary: Plant species from the Brassicaceae family are widely cultivated vegetable crops. Abiotic stresses such as drought and increased soil salinity are primary causes of losses in agricultural production. Phytohormones are crucial for plant adaptation to adverse conditions by regulating processes such as photosynthesis, antioxidant enzyme activity, accumulation of secondary metabolites, changes in gene expression, etc. The plant hormones auxins act as regulators in most plant stress responses through complex interactions with stress hormones: salicylic acid (SA), abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA) and brassinosteroids (BRA). The aim of this project is to investigate the response mechanisms of selected plants from the crucifer family to stress caused by drought and increased salinity: Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa), white cabbage (B. oleracea var. capitata) and collard greens (B. oleracea var. acephala), using an integrative approach involving photosynthesis measurement methods, biochemical stress diagnostics, metabolomics (analyses of plant hormones and secondary metabolites), molecular functional research and applied research. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of auxin phytohormones and their interactions with stress hormones (SA, ABA, JA, BRA) in the response to drought and increased salinity, as well as on potential tolerance mechanisms. Plant hormones will be analysed using the UHPLC-MS/MS method. Secondary metabolites, polyphenols and glucosinolates will be measured spectrophotometrically and using UHPLC-MS/MS methods. Functional studies will be carried out on Arabidopsis thaliana lines with mutations in genes responsible for auxin homeostasis (gh3, ilr). The results of bioactive compound analyses (hormones and secondary metabolites) will be correlated with physiological and biochemical data (photosynthetic parameters, ROS, antioxidant enzymes, proline, glutathione, carbonyls). Plant stress hormones will be tested as potential biostimulators of tolerance to drought and increased salinity through foliar application and root treatment.
Project title: Molecular Mechanisms of Alternative Electron Distribution in Photosynthesis
Acronym: PHOTOSYNTH
Project leader: Hrvoje Fulgosi
Associate(s): Lea Vojta, Ana Tomašić Paić, Hrvoje Lepeduš, Sonja Veljović Jovanović, Snježana Jurić, Wolfgang Bilger, Marija Vidović,
Duration: 1 September 2015 – 30 November 2019
Status: Completed
Value: HRK 1,000,000.00
Scientific area and field: Natural Sciences / Biology
Institution: Ruđer Bošković Institute
Keywords: oxygenic photosynthesis, chloroplasts, electron flow, FNR, ROS, rhodanese, protein sorting, transgenic plants, Arabidopsis thaliana
Summary: The final transfer of photosynthetic electrons from ferredoxin to NADP+ occurs via the enzyme ferredoxin:NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR). FNR is recruited to the thylakoids by the integral thylakoid membrane rhodanese-like protein TROL and the soluble protein Tic62. TROL was recently characterised by our group. FNR also represents a link between light reactions and general metabolism (such as carbon fixation, nitrogen metabolism, fatty acid and chlorophyll biosynthesis). In this project, we monitor the fate of electrons downstream of photosystem I in the absence of TROL. To investigate the in vivo functions of TROL and its domains, we will use gene “knock-out” and “knock-in” approaches in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Our hypothesis is that the FNR-TROL interaction is dynamic, similar to the FNR-Tic62 interaction, and coordinated with changing environmental light conditions. Furthermore, we propose that the lumen-exposed rhodanese domain of TROL is involved in recognising redox signals, while the proline-rich flexible linker located in front of the FNR membrane-binding motif is responsible for dynamic FNR binding and/or recruitment of FNR to different membrane domains. We will use established biochemical and biophysical approaches to quantify free radical formation and electron flow and distribution in different TROL mutants. Our aim is to demonstrate that the TROL-FNR branching point is integrated into the plant response to stress. We also aim to show that the dynamic binding and release of FNR from TROL can control electron flow before activation of the pseudocyclic electron transport pathway. This mechanism has probably not been recognised in previous models of electron flow in oxygenic photosynthesis.
Project title: Cultural Capital and Educational Achievement
Project type: Internal scientific project of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek
Project duration: January 2014 – January 2015
Project leader: Assistant Professor Željko Pavić
Project associates: Marina Đukić, PhD
Brief project description: The main objective of the project is to examine the relationship between different types of cultural capital and educational outcomes. Since the dominant interpretation of cultural capital in the educational context has only partial empirical support and serious theoretical weaknesses, the main focus of the project is the so-called contextual approach to cultural capital as an alternative to the dominant interpretation. Empirical research on a sample of Croatian secondary schools examines whether the cultural capital of Croatian students can still be simply divided along the high/low culture axis, i.e. whether the dominant interpretation of cultural capital still has theoretical and empirical validity in the Croatian educational context.
Project title: Post-Transition Identity of the Rural Areas of Slavonia and Baranja
Project type: Project funded by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia
Project duration: 2007 – 2014
Project leader: Full Professor Antun Šundalić
Project associates: Full Professor Maja Štambuk, Full Professor Goran Marijanović
Brief project description: The main objective of the project is to investigate whether a new post-transition identity of the rural areas of Slavonia and Baranja is emerging, that is, to what extent the new identity represents a revitalisation of rural values and to what extent their market transformation. The project also explores questions of the functional aesthetics of traditional rural life, as well as what constitutes the rural environment today if agriculture has ceased to be the basis of the rural economy. One of the research questions is also the extent to which the changed professional and social structure of the rural population can sustain relationships of trust and solidarity (social capital), which were once characteristic of village life.