The quality of education in the field of molecular life sciences is extremely important for the successful development of future scientists and experts in the field. HDBMB, therefore, through the organization of workshops, courses, and lectures, seeks to provide appropriate programs, thus contributing to the process of acquiring skills necessary for a successful career of young scientists as well as the improvement of teacher competencies that are crucial for the quality of learning and teaching.
Educational Workshops
The workshop was organized with the support of the FEBS Education and Training Committee and co-organized with the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb. It was held on November 10, 2025, in the Biology Lecture Hall – Department of Medical Biology, Šalata 3, Zagreb. The workshop focused on the importance of a well-structured “lab book,” covering areas from basic and clinical research to industrial processes and big data analysis. The program included expert lectures as well as practical sessions in which participants created their own examples of laboratory notebooks for various laboratory techniques. The workshop coordinators were Dora Raos and Nikola Štoković. Around one hundred participants attended the theoretical part, while about thirty took part in small-group discussions. The final survey showed a high level of participant satisfaction, with the average rating for both the lecturers and the organization being 4.8.
Zagreb, 4.-5. listopad, 2022
The “Research on Education” workshop was successfully held in Zagreb, October 4 and 5, 2022, at the Department of Chemistry Faculty of Science. The workshop was organized and carried out in close cooperation between HDBMB and FEBS Education Committee as a joint event. Organizacijski odbor činili su Nino Sincic & Jerka Dumic & Morana Dulić & Igor Stuparević & Damjan Franjević (HDBMB), Ferhan Sagin & Luciane Vieira de Mello (FEBS Education Committee).
This workshop was focuswd on the process of effectively conducting educational research. The aim was to empower the participants to be able to specify a problem within their area of interest in education/teaching, select the methods needed to address a research question, and collect and analyse data, either quantitative and qualitative. Target participants were educators of all levels (from teaching assistants to full professors) who are willing to improve their teaching through asking questions and collecting data are invited. No previous educational research experience was required. The workshop consisted of several short lectures by eminent European experts in the field of educational research, in which the participants gained an initial insight into the challenging field of educational research. Ferhan Sagin (University of Ege, Turkey, Chair of FEBS Education Committee), Luciane Vieira de Mello (University of Liverpool, UK, FEBS Education Committee), Manuel J.T. Mendes Costa (University of Minho, Portugal, FEBS Education Committee), Marco A. Carvalho Filho (University of Groningen, Netherlands) then worked intensively with the participants in small groups to design their own research proposals.
At the end, the participants themselves presented their elaborated ideas and commented on others’. In addition to participants from Croatia, scientists from Turkey, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovenia took part in the workshop.
Virtual, November 11-12, 2021.
Considering the extremely positive experience of the participants from last year’s workshop, it was decided to continue with the virtual format and hold the HDBMB & FEBS Education workshop in 2021. The workshop was organized through the program of the Education Committee of FEBS (Education Ambassadors Programme). The focus of the program was to explore the importance of the quality of laboratory journals in various sectors, including academia, industry and publishing. The workshop program was specifically designed to introduce participants to relevant topics and improve their skills needed to maintain high-quality laboratory journals. Discussions were held in small groups to enable interaction between participants and improve the exchange of experiences. The coordinators of the Workshop were Morana Dulić and Igor Stuparević, and the members of the Organizing Committee were Jerka Dumić (HR), Nino Sinčić (HR), Damjan Franjević (HR), Antonija Jurak Begonja (HR), Ferhan Sagin (TR), Jason Perret (B) , Israel Pecht (IL) and Ivana Vrhovac-Madunić (HR). In an anonymous survey conducted after the workshop, the participants expressed high satisfaction with the content and organization of the workshop. The participants emphasized the importance of the interactive discussion, stressing that they gained a deeper understanding of the importance of maintaining quality laboratory logs in their specific areas of work. They also emphasized the usefulness of exchanging experiences with colleagues from different fields, which further enriched their professional experience.
In conclusion, the 2021 HDBMB & FEBS Education workshop was a successful initiative that contributed to strengthening the knowledge and skills of the participants, thus contributing to excellence in their careers.
Virtual, December 17 – 18, 2020
The Workshop was organized through the program of the Education Ambassadors Program (FEBS). After several delays, the Workshop had to be held virtually due to epidemiological measures. The Workshop Programme was focused on informing the participants about the importance of laboratory book quality in various fields, such as academia, industry, and publishing. The practical part of the WS focused on improving the participants’ skills needed for quality management of the lab book was conducted through small group discussions. The coordinators of the Workshop were Nino Sinčić and Morana Dulić, and the members of the Organising Committee were Jerka Dumić, Maja Katalinić, Damjan Franjević, Zrinka Kovarik, Igor Stuparević, Ferhan Sagin (Turkey), and Jason Perret (Belgium). The theoretical part was attended by about hundred participants, while the discussions in small groups were attended by about thirty participants, who through the survey expressed satisfaction with the content and proposed reorganization.
Lovran, September 25 and 28, 2019
The Workshop was organized within the framework of the program of the Education Committee, which financially supports the organization of education workshops by FEBS Education Ambassadors. The Workshop Programme was focused on improving the skills of young scientists and teachers, necessary for the successful development of their careers. The lectures given by Seamus Martin, Robert Harris, Oliver Vugrek and Jerka Dumić were accompanied by small group discussions. The main organizers of the Workshop, in which about sixty participants participated, were Jerka Dumić and Igor Stuparević.
Zagreb, April 4 – 5, 2018.
Recognizing the needs of HDBMB members for education on new methods of learning and teaching, the HDBMB Education Committee invited the FEBS Education Committee to organize an Education Workshop. The Workshop Programme was focused on innovative methods and use of technologies in the teaching process at both graduate and postgraduate levels. The main organizer of the Workshop was Gül Güner Akdogan, while the coordinator from the Croatian side was Jerka Dumić. The workshop gathered about sixty participants from almost all Croatian universities, but also from scientific research institutes.
Opatija, September 18 – 19, 2010
Following the closing of the HDBMB2010 Congress, the Education Workshop on teaching in biochemistry and molecular Biology began, organized by Gül Güner Akdogan in collaboration with Karmela Barišić. The Workshop Programme was focused on the challenges of post-graduate education, ethics education, and problem-based learning, and was led by Gül Güner-Akdogan, Jason Perret, Keith Elliott, and Chris Willmott. About fifty participants had the opportunity to participate in small-group discussions, which contributed significantly to the quality of the Workshop content.
