Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia

ATTN: Minister Dr. Željko Jovanović

Donje Svetice 38
10000 Zagreb
Croatia

January 30, 2012

Dear Minister Jovanović:

As collaborators, friends, members of the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) Curatorium, and
Croatian and international experts involved in the ongoing restructuring process of the
Institute, we are writing to express our full support to the current executive and scientific
leadership of the Institute in their efforts to transform this institution into a modern
European Center of Scientific Excellence.

The RBI is the leading Croatian research institution, with a long history of excellence, which
plays essential role in the country's development into a knowledge-based society. The
Institute also has a long-standing and significant impact on other research and academic
institutions in Croatia. Its future development into a premier institution is a high priority and
in Croatia's national interest. The RBI's strategic planning for closer collaboration and
research integration with the University of Zagreb and Institute of Physics in the life sciences,
medicine, material sciences and nanotechnology, marine and environmental research will
create the strongest and most viable Croatian Center of Excellence in these fields. This will
have a major positive impact on other Croatian research institutions and regional
universities who will hopefully join through research networks in the country, as well as on
the regional and European levels.

We, the undersigned, ask your support for the RBI in its efforts to restructure, to improve
the research infrastructure, thereby fostering the availability of major instruments through
its core facilities, selecting research priorities based on the projects of its best scientists and
attracting high quality foreign scientists. This will allow Croatia to be a part in the major
breakthroughs in the world scientific production and technology transfer, with a positive
impact on the Croatian economy. For this process, we pledge to provide all the necessary
assistance and our personal expertise.

Bernd Kaina, Ph.D.

Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Professor of Toxicology
Head
Institute of Toxicology
University Medical Center
Obere Zahlbacher Strasse 67
D-55131 Mainz
Germany
1
Dmitri Krainc M.D., PhD.
Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
Harvard Medical School
Associate Professor
Massachusetts General Hospital
MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease
Associate Neurologist
Building 114, 16th Street- 2008
Boston, MA 02129-4404
USA

Prof. Dr. Diethard Tautz

Collaborator of the RBI
Director
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Evolutionsbiologie
Abteilung Evolutionsgenetik
August-Thienemannstrasse 2
24306 Ploen
Germany

Guy Paić Ph.D.

Member of the Croatian Initiative for CERN Membership
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleare
Universidad nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Investigador
Circuito exterior s/n
Ciudad Universitaria
Delegacion Coyocan C.P. 04510
Mexico DF

Prof. Branimir I. Šikić

Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
Professor of Medicine
Director, Clinical and Translational Research Unit, Stanford University Center for Clinical and
Translational Education and Research
Associate Director for Clinical Research, Stanford University Cancer Institute

Tomislav Prokopec, Ph.D.

Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
Associate professor (UHD)
Spinoza Institute
Institute for Theoretical Physics
Faculty of Physics and Astronomy of Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Leuvenlaan 4
3584 CE Utrecht
The Netherlands
2
Prof. em. Walter Giger
Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Zurich, Switzerland
Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
Duebendorf, Switzerland
Chair
Division of Chemistry and the Environment
European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences
8600 Dubendorf
Zurich
Switzerland

Prof. A. J. Stewart Smith

Collaborator of the RBI
Dean for Research of Princeton University
Class of 1909 Professor of Physics
91 Prospect Avenue
Princeton NJ 08540
USA

Dr. Steven Živko Pavletić, MD

Collaborator of the RBI
Head, Graft-versus-Host and Autoimmunity Unit
Senior Investigator, Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch
National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Dr. Tonica Valla

Collaborator of the RBI
Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science Department
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton, NY 11973-5000, USA

Prof. Dr. W.E.G. Müller

Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Institute for Physiological Chemistry,
University Medical Center of the
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Duesbergweg 6, D-55128 Mainz; GERMANY.

3
Dr. Helmut Schwarz
Collaborator of the RBI
President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Professor of Chemistry
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Jean-Paul-Str. 12
53173 Bonn
GERMANY

Prof. Dr. Davor Pavuna

Collaborator of the RBI
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
Institute of Condensed Matter Physics - station 3
CH-1015 Lausanne, EPFL – Switzerland

Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn

Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Nobel Prize Laureate
Université de Strasbourg
4 rue Blaise Pascal
CS 90032
F-67081 Strasbourg cedex
France

Prof. Milorad Milun

Collaborator of the RBI
Institute of Physics
Zagreb, Croatia

Prof. Boris Labar, D.M., Ph.D.

Member of RBI Curatorium
Professor of internal medicine
School of Medicine
University of Zagreb
Šalata 3 10000 Zagreb

Prof. Reshef Tenne

Collaborator of the RBI
The Drake Family Chair in Nanotechnology
Weizmann Institute of Science.
Director, Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Nanoscale Science
Member of the Israel Academy of Sciences

4
Domagoj Vučić, Ph.D.
Collaborator of the RBI
Senior Scientist
Early Discovery Biochemistry
Genentech, Inc.
South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA

Prof. Harry Kroto

Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Nobel Prize Laureate
Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry
Chemistry and Biochemistry Department
The Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4390 USA

Dr. Branko Gumhalter

Member of two Evaluation Committees of the RBI
Institute of Physics
P.O.B. 304
10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Prof. Dalibor Vukičević

Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
Professeur des Universités
Ecole Nationale Superieure de Physique de Strasbourg
Université de Strasbourg
Parc d'Innovation, Bd. S.BRANT
67412 ILLKIRCH-GRAFFENSTADEN

Prof. A.R. Peaker

Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Photon Science Institue
The University of Manchester
Manchester M13 9PL
UK

Mirko Šamija, MD, PhD

Collaborator of the RBI
Honorary President
of Croatian Oncological Society
President of Oncology Foundation

Prof. Siniša Volarević

Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
Department of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology
Medical Faculty
University of Rijeka
Croatia
5
Slobodan Vukičević, MD, PhD,
External evaluator of the RBI novel institues
Member of EMBO and WAAS (World Academy of Arts and Sciences)
Head, Laboratory of Mineralized Tissues
School of Medicine
University of Zagreb
Šalata 11
10 000 Zagreb

Miroslav Radman, PhD

Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-, and collaborator of RBI
Founding director of the Mediterannean Institute for Life Sciences
Exceptional class professor of cell biology
Medical School, Inserm U-1001
University R. Descartes - Paris 5
156, rue de Vaugirard
57015 Paris, France

Prof. László Forró

Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
Laboratory of Physics of Complex Matter
Station 3
Ecole Polytechnoque Fédérale de Lausanne
CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Prof. Daniel Denegri

Member of the Croatian Initiative for CERN Membership and Member of the RBI
International Evaluating team 2009
Physics Coordinator of CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) LHC accelerator
CERN
Geneva, Switzerland

Prof. Dinko Počanić

Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
Professor of Physics, Director, Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400714
382 McCormick Road
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4714
USA

Prof. Josip Paladino, M.D.,Ph.D.

Collaborator of the RBI
Head of Neurosurgical Department
University of Zagreb, Medical School
Clinical Hospital Center

6
Dr. Branko Ruščić
Collaborator of the RBI
Senior Scientist
Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Senior Fellow
Computation Institute
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL 60637, USA

Igor Štagljar, PhD

Collaborator of the RBI and Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
Professor
Donnelly Centre
Department of Molecular Genetics
Department of Biochemistry
University of Toronto
160 College Street, Room 1204
Toronto ON
Canada, M5S 3E1

Dr. Petar Pervan

Collaborator of the RBI
Director General
Institute of Physics
Zagreb
Croatia

Simon Scheuring, Ph.D.

Collaborator of the RBI
Research Director INSERM
U1006 INSERM / UNIVERSITE AIX-MARSEILLE
Parc Scientifique et Technologique de Luminy
Bâtiment Inserm TPR2 bloc 5
163 avenue de Luminy
13009 Marseille
France

Prof. dr. Ivica Puljak

Member of the Croatian Initiative for CERN Membership
Scientific associate at CERN
CH 1211 Geneve 23, Switzerland
Professor of physics at University of Split - FESB
R. Boskovica 32, HR 21 000 Split, Croatia

7
Prof. Nadia Pinardi
Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Laboratorio SINCEM
Corso di Scienze Ambientali
University of Bologna
Via S.Alberto 163
48100 Ravenna, Italy

Boro Dropulić, Ph.D., MBA

Collaborator of the RBI
President and CSO
Lentigen Corporation
p (301) 527 4234

Goran Senjanović, Ph.D.

Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
ICTP
Trieste, Italy

Roman Trobec Ph.D.

Member of the RBI International Evaluating team 2009
principal investigator,
Institut Jožef Stefan, Ljubljana

Prof. Egon Matijević

Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Clarkson University
8 Clarkson Avenue
CAMP, 5814
Potsdam, NY 13699

Prof. Aleksa Bjeliš,

Member of the RBI Curatorium
Rector
University of Zagreb,
Faculty of Science,
Department of Physics

Prof. Dr.Bogdan Povh

Member of the RBI International Advisory Bord 2011-
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kerphysik
D-69029 Heidelberg

8
Hedvig Hricak, M.D., Ph.D., Dr.h.c.
Collaborator of the RBI
Chairman, Department of Radiology
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue, C278
New York, NY 10065

Prof. Slaven Barišić

Member of the RBI Curatorium
Member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Nenad Šestan, MD, Ph.D.

Collaborator of the RBI
Associate Professor of Neurobiology
Department of Neurobiology
Kavli Institute for Neuroscience
Yale University School of Medicine
333 Cedar Street, SHM C323-C
New Haven, CT 06510
USA

Paško Rakić, M.D., Ph.D.

Collaborator of the RBI
Duberg Professor of Neuroscience and Neurology
Chairman, Department of Neurobiology
Director, Kavli Institute of Neuroscience
Yale University School of Medicine
P.O. Box 208001
New Haven, CT 06520-8001

Gordana Kovačević, MSc

Member of the RBI Curatorium
President
Ericsson Nikola Tesla d.d.
Krapinska 45, HR - 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia

Prof. Melita Kovačević, Ph.D.

Collaborator of the RBI
Vice Rector
University of Zagreb

cc: Scientific Council of the Ruđer Bošković Institute

Bord of Governors of the Ruđer Bošković Institute