On Monday, January 30, 2026, the annual Awards for Excellence for doctoral candidates and their mentors were presented at the Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb.
We are proud that our colleague, Dr. Ives Vodanović Lukić, received an award for her scientific work, specifically for the article “I Feel at Home: Visitors’ Perspective of Arts Festivals in Croatia,” published in the international journal European Countryside. The award is given for papers published in Q1 and Q2 journals, either independently or in collaboration with a mentor, which are based on research conducted for a doctoral dissertation, thereby confirming the scientific quality and relevance of the work.
The award ceremony was further enriched by a presentation from our colleague, Dr. Izidora Marković Vukadin, who introduced the PACT-VIRA project, funded by the Croatian Science Foundation. Through her presentation, she familiarized doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers with the process of applying for scientific projects, forming research teams, and managing scientific research.
The paper is available at: https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/euco-2025-0008
More about the PACT-VIRA project: https://iztzg.hr//hr/projekti/znanstveni-projekti/pact-vira/