H.E. Mr. Simon Derek Thomas, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Republic of Croatia, visited the UNIRI Rectorate on Monday, February 7, 2022, accompanied by Mrs. Snježana Vukić, Political and Communications Adviser at the British Embassy.
On behalf of the University of Rijeka Madam Rector, Prof. Snježana Prijić-Samaržija, Ph.D., the esteemed guests were welcomed by Prof. Senka Maćešić, Ph.D., Vice-Rector for Digitalization and Development, along with Ms. Daria Glavan Šćulac and Ms. Nina Kolaković from the Rector’s Office.
Vice-Rector Maćešić briefly presented the work of the University of Rijeka, emphasizing the importance of European values, which is why the University opted for dynamic development, internationalization, and openness to foreign students, teaching staff, researchers, and modern trends in higher education. All this is possible because the University is a member of both YUFE and YERUN networks, and thanks to the cooperation with important European partners, the University of Rijeka is slowly maturing into a modern European university and a center of excellence whose impact extends beyond the region.
Ambassador Thomas highlighted four main areas of cooperation. In addition to the education sector, which is the basic mode of cooperation, he mentioned innovation and technology, the problem of conflict/disagreement in South East Europe, and work on values of common interest (e.g. social responsibility, social engagement). As the Ambassador also expressed interest in the Center for Advanced Studies of South East Europe, the work of the Center was presented by its Executive Director, Prof. Sanja Bojanić, Ph.D. Current research fellows at CAS-SEE, i.e. Marko Luka Zubčić and Tena Prelec, shared their thoughts on what’s it like to be a research fellow at CAS and what exactly they are researching.
Ambassador also expressed his interest in the project UNIGEM (University and Gender Mainstreaming), since the four-year project is being conducted under the auspices of the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the University of Rijeka is one of the project partners, Daria Glavan Šćulac, project coordinator for UNIRI, explained the importance of the project and UNIRI’s general involvement and commitment to gender equality in academia.
After a relaxed discussion, the Ambassador signed in the Book of Honorary Guests.
During his stay in Rijeka, the Ambassador also visited the University Campus, where he met with representatives of the Step Ri Science and Technology Park and visited the supercomputer “Bura”.
Having previously served as Deputy Head of Mission in Harare, Zimbabwe, Ambassador Thomas took up his new appointment in July 2021 and even started his full-time language training to become fluent in Croatian.
