Prof. dr. Blaženka Divjak holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science and Mathematics.
She is a Full professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics.
She has served as Vice-Rector for students and study programs at the University of Zagreb (2010-2014) and she was twice elected Vice-Dean for scientific work and international cooperation in the period 1999 – 2003 and 2007- 2010 at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics.
She was the Croatian Minister for Science and Education from June 2017. until July 2020. She was leading four major reform processes since then: curricular reform of general education, reform of vocational education and training, enhancement of relevance of higher education and excellence of research.
She was chairing the EU Council of ministers for education and the Council of ministers for research and space during the Croatian presidency from January 1, 2020. Until June 30, 2020. In that period, she led the process of adopting several Council conclusions (future teachers, future jobs, brain circulation etc.) as well as coordinating the EU response to the COVID-19 crises in education and research.
In her previous duties, she was also a coordinator and a researcher in different national and international projects and networks (including Erasmus, FP7, Tempus, Erasmus, IPA, Eureka, EUROLEARN networks, European Science Foundation).
Her area of professional interest and expertise besides mathematics includes curriculum development, e-learning, assessment of learning outcomes, learning analytics, quality culture in higher education, strategic decision making in higher education, popularization of science, Bologna process, the social dimension of higher education etc. Prior to her current assignment, B. Divjak served as a president and a member of the various university, national and international committees and councils in the area of education and science.
She is the author of 8 books and over 200 research papers in the field of mathematics, strategic planning in higher education and research, mathematical education, project management, higher education reform, curriculum development, learning analytics, e-learning and science communication.
First name: Family name Born: | Blaženka Divjak 1967, Varaždin, Croatia |
Education: | 1998 – PhD in mathematics, Dept. of Mathematics, University of Zagreb (UniZG) 1993 – mr.sc. in mathematics, UniZG 1989 – MS of mathematics and physics, UniZG (EQF level 7) 1985 – Gymnasium Varaždin |
Academic position: | 2020 – full professor of mathematics - permanent position & scientific advisor for information sciences the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI) |
Previous positions: |
2017-2020 minister of science and education Republic of Croatia 2014 – 2017 full professor of mathematics - permanent position & scientific advisor for information sciences University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI) 2010 – 2014 vice-rector for students & studies University of Zagreb, 2010-2015 full professor of mathematics & scientific advisor for information sciences 1999 – 2003 & 2007 – 2010 –vice-dean for science and international cooperation FOI, University of Zagreb 2004 – 2010 – associate professor in mathematics 1998 – 2004 – assistant professor (docent) in mathematics 1994 – 1998 – assistant in mathematics - FOI UniZG 1990 – 1994 – teacher of mathematics & physics – Gymnasium Varaždin |
Languages:
| Croatian – native speaker English C2 German B2 |
Selected publications to illustrate the scope of research |
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Citations (2022) | Google Scholar citation: 2355, H-index: 29, i10-index: 55 |
Fellowships:
| The University of Edinburgh, Visiting scholar, summer semester 2015 The University of Kentucky, PhD student, winter semester 1997 |
Memberships: (selection) |
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Publications (books) | authored 7 books (2 university textbooks for mathematics, authored chapters in 5 books); editor in 4 books |
Projects (Major scientific collaborations): | coordinated/managed 20 national/international scientific and developmental projects at project or workpackage level (zProjekti, HRZZ, Tempus, FP7, ESF, IPA, LLP, Eureka, Erasmus) participated in 20 additional projects as researcher/collaborator |
Project leader/collaborator (selection) Full list of projects: http://projects.foi.hr/portfolio/bdivjak |
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Invited lectures 2017-2022 | E-Assessment in Mathematical Sciences (2022) 13-24 June. How can Learning Design and Learning Analytics support the validity of e-assessment in Mathematics? https://eams.ncl.ac.uk/sessions/2022/learning-design/ Learning Analytics - Multi-user and Multi-level Perspective Twelfth International Conference on eLearning 2021. Belgrade Metropolitan University, 2021. Talents are distributed evenly but opportunities are not! Brain drain vs brain gain. (2020). 12th ESEE Dialogue Conference Brain Drain and its effects on the ESEE Region. (November 3, 2020) https://esee-dc.eu/ Chances of European Cooperation for Stability and Prosperity. Federal Ministry of Research and Education, Berlin. May 14th 2019. Strateško planiranje u visokom obrazovanju i znanosti. MIPRO 23. svibnja 2019 Strategic Decision Making in Higher Education: How to Integrate Learning Analytics? Learning. Conference: Analytics Policy and Strategy in Higher Eucation (SHEILA project) Bruxelles, 5th June 2018. Digital transformation of education and science and its consequences. University of Freiburg. May 2018. Computing Curriculum, Coding or Computational Thinking. Education World Forum, London. 2018. Curricular reform: Lessons from Croatia. Education World Forum, London. January 20, 2020. Panel: The hidden charm of STEM: how to make them more attractive? The First European Education Summit, January 25th, 2018 |