FACULTY

Nikola Baketa, Ph.D. is a scientist at the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, where he’s involved in studying educational policy and youth, with a special focus on civic education, policy changes, and higher education.
Holding a Ph.D. and MA in Public Policy from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Political Science and an MA in Political Science from the Central European University in Budapest, Nikola Baketa is active in numerous associations, initiatives, advisory and expert bodies dealing with education and youth on a national level, and he’s also a member of HRT Program Council. He’s an external associate lecturer on the Faculty of Political Science.

Ivan Cerovac, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at the Rijeka University holding a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the Trieste University. He is the author of many scientific articles and popularising science texts, organiser of numerous conferences and summer schools, leader of several scientific and educational projects, and a member of several administrative and advisory committees in both local and academic communities, as well as different nongovernmental organizations. For over ten years he has been actively involved in numerous projects promoting science and critical thinking, as well as advancing redistributive public policies and citizen participation (especially youth participation) in political decision-making processes.

Nadja Čekolj, mag. soc. et. paed. is employed at the Pedagogy Department at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka. She graduated in sociology and pedagogy from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, and since 2017 she is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Rijeka. In her doctorate she deals with the role of school volunteer programmes in developing the characteristics of citizens of sustainability. She is a member of the Executive Board of the Universitas Association for the Development of Higher Education and is a member of the International Society for Third-Sector Research.

Assoc. Prof. Bojana Ćulum, Ph.D. is the head of the Youth in contemporary society programme, and she will be teaching the course Types and approaches to youth work and will be in charge of the research practicum, and will also collaborate on providing mentor support and teaching the course Developing youth civic competence.
Professor Ćulum is employed by the Pedagogue department of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, which is also where she received her Ph.D., after which she received a Fulbright grant for a postdoctoral study at the University of Portland. Her main area of scientific and research interest encompasses the field of higher education and civil society, especially university civil missions, university engagement in the local community and the field of youth work, volunteering and civic education pedagogy. She actively participates in the work of numerous associations and is a member of advisory and expert bodies dealing with the topics of youth and education on both the local and national levels.

Prof. Tomaž Deželan, Ph.D. is a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana and a researcher at the Center for Political Science Research, His research interest cover citizenship, youth studies, new forms of governance and civil society. He is a research partner for the Slovenian Erasmus + agency as well as a policy advisor for youth participation for the OSCE, European Youth Forum and International IDEA.
In 2018 prof. dr. Tomaž Deželan will act as a visiting research fellow in youth studies at the University of Rijeka and at the Institute for Social Research.

Marita Grubišić-Čabo, mag. anthrop. et soc. is employed as an expert asociate in science at the Centre for Youth and Gender Studies at the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb. She completed her mastery of anthropology and sociology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. Since 2018. she is a PhD candidate the international joint postgraduate doctoral study “sociology of Regional and local Development” at the University of Zadar.

Anja Gvozdanović Ph.D. is a research associate employed by the Institute for Social Research whose field of interest is youth sociology, especially youth civic participation, youth values, civility, volunteering and social capital.
Anja Gvozdanović is a sociology graduate from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb and has been involved in and headed several scientific research projects on the topic of youth. As a scientist, she is involved in the process of structured dialogue with the youth, participates in working groups of the ministry responsible for youth issues and evaluates proposed projects of youth associations for different state and public bodies. She has published five books and around twenty scientific papers in both Croatia and abroad.

Prof. Vlasta Ilišin, Ph.D. is the leading Croatian youth researcher. She is an emeritus scientist at the Institute for Social Research where she’s been employed since 1986. She was also employed by the Zagreb University Faculty of Kinesiology and Faculty of Political Science as a permanent external associate (where she was also chosen to be a full professor). She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Centre for Democracy and Law Miko Tripalo, as well as the Youth Council of the Croatian Government.
In this programme, she will be lecturing the following courses: Youth sociology – Theoretical approaches and scientific knowledge, and Youth, politics, and youth politics: Croatia in the context of Europe.

Marko Kovačić, Ph.D. is an assistant in the Centre for Youth and Gender Studies at the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb. He holds a BA and MA from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Political Science, an MA in Political Science from the Central European University in Budapest, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy – youth policy from the University of Ljubljana, as well as further scientific education at universities in Spain and the US. His research interests cover youth political sociology and youth policy, more specifically, youth political participation civic competence, and youth work. He participated in the implementation of three scientific research projects and some ten expert projects, most of which he headed. He is the Youth Policy National Correspondent for the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

Sunčana Kusturin, Ph.D. After graduating from the faculty of Social work, finishing a postgraduate specialist study in the supervision of psychosocial work and finishing her Ph.D. in Social work and Social policy, Sunčana Kusturin further specialised in the field of psychosocial development of youth (especially those in unfortunate conditions) and development of group dynamics. She is a truly experienced international trainer in topics relating to youth and an external associate of the Social Work Study Centre.

Ana Maskalan Ph.D. is a philosopher working as a senior research associate in the Centre for Youth and Gender Studies at the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb. She holds a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb and her research is focused on studying gender, utopia and culture. Ana Maskalan is a member of governing board of the Croatian Philosophical Society and a member of the editorial board of the Philosophical research magazine.

Assoc. Prof. Vjeran Pavlaković, Ph.D. teaches at the Department of Cultural Studies of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka. He holds a BA in History from the University of Arizona, an MA in International relations, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Washington. He was employed as a research associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C, and before his position at the Department of Cultural Studies of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, he was a postdoctoral fellow of the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research (NCEEER) in Croatia.

Dunja Potočnik, Ph.D. is a senior research associate in the field of sociology at the Institute for Social Research where she’s involved in youth and social structure research, especially focusing on youth (un)employment, youth and social networking, and youth professional aspirations. She is an evaluator of project proposals for the European Commission Horizon2020 programme, as well as youth policies expert for the Council of Europe and the European Commission. She is involved in the work of expert and advisory bodies dealing with youth issues on both the national and European levels.

Assoc. prof. dr. sc. Marko Radovan, Ph.D. is an associate professor at the Department of Pedagogy and Andragogy of the Faculty of Philosophy in Ljubljana. His research interest focuses on adult learning and motivation for education, participation in adult education and educational technology.

Assoc. Prof. Sanja Smojver-Ažić, Ph.D. is an associate professor at the Division of developmental, cognitive and educational psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka where she held many positions in faculty and university bodies.
She graduated in Psychology from the Rijeka University, completed an MA in Ljubljana, and a Ph.D. in Zagreb.

Renato Stanković, mag. cult. Works as an assistant at the Department of Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka where he also finished his BA and MA. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in the Philosophy and Contemporaneity study programme at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, and he’s also involved in the expert work group for the preparation and implementation of the Slatko&Slano (Sweet&Salty) program for the Rijeka – Europe Culture Capital 2020 project. He’s a member of numerous associations, volunteers in several organisations dealing with youth and culture, and is a frequent commentator on cultural policy topics in various media.

Asst. Prof. Nebojša Zelič, Ph.D. is a professor at the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka who teaches a series of courses dealing with the field of philosophy of politics and is focused on problems of social justice and political justification of the law. He actively chronicles current social events and participates in the production of art events.