The Zagreb scientist received the European scientific Oscar, as much as 1.9 million euros for research

This brings to Croatia one of the most competitive European scientific funding and for the first time in the social sciences, the same from IDIZ. The project of dr. Doolan will focus on the role and importance of schools and education in the fight against increasingly frequent climatic extremes, such as floods, earthquakes, and storms. It is currently one of the most important topics on a global scale, and more and more money is being allocated specifically to scientific research and projects that concern the protection of communities.

The planned scientific research will be carried out in schools and local communities of six European countries that have been affected by natural disasters in the recent past: Spain and Germany by floods in 2024, Slovenia and Greece by floods in 2023, and Turkey and Croatia by earthquakes in 2023 and 2020.

The aim of the research is to improve public policies in order to build more resilient schools and communities, says Katrin Doolan.

– I am honored that the European Research Council has recognized the scientific relevance of this topic. I am also happy that the success of this project proposal will enable the employment of five young scientists who will have the opportunity to improve their skills in this area. The project will stimulate the possibility of new collaborations. I am very glad that the project will contribute to the further strengthening of the international visibility of the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, which is confirmed as a place of scientific quality and innovation in the European framework. During the application process, the key was the support of my colleagues from the Institute – she said.

This project is a continuation of her earlier research in the field of resistance to extreme climate change.

Ravnatelj IDIZ-a Boris Jokić he gave big compliments to colleague Doolan. She is a researcher at IDIZ’s Center for
research and development of education. She graduated in English language and literature at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb, and obtained her master’s degree and doctorate in sociology of education at the University of Cambridge. She acquired the status of full professor at the University of Zadar, where she worked for several years at the Department of Sociology. In recent research, she has studied the resilience of schools in the context of disasters caused by natural disasters and social resilience during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is especially dedicated to connecting the results of scientific research with the shaping of public policies.

– This is an exceptional and fully deserved success that is important for her personally and for our Institute. This continues the series of successful applications of the Institute to national and international scientific competitions, to which the program contract of the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth contributed. I believe that this is also proof of the relevance of the work of scientists in the social sciences in Croatia, and that with project ideas and knowledge we can
to compete at the world level – pointed out Jokić.