University of Rijeka

The University of Rijeka (Croatian: Sveučilište u Rijeci) is a place where students go to learn and study in the beautiful city of Rijeka, Croatia. It has many different schools called faculties, and these are not only in Rijeka but also in other nearby cities such as those in the regions of Primorje, Istria, and Lika.

The University of Rijeka is made up of eleven faculties, one art academy, two special departments, university libraries, and a special place called the Student Centre Rijeka (SCRI) where students can meet and take part in activities. It is a big and important place for education in the area.

History

The modern University of Rijeka was founded on May 17, 1973, but higher education began much earlier. In 1627, a school was started by the Jesuits, and it had the same status as schools in big cities of the Austrian Empire. Later, schools for studying ideas and beliefs were also started.

In the 1970s, many new universities opened in places like Osijek, Kragujevac, Split, Mostar, Podgorica, Bitola, Maribor, Banja Luka and Tuzla, including Rijeka.

In 2008, new areas of study like biotechnology, computer science, math, and physics were added. By 2022, the math and computer science areas became full schools of their own.

Administration

The University of Rijeka has eleven faculties, one academy, and two departments. These include the Academy of Applied Arts, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Engineering, and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Faculty of Philosophy).

The university also includes the Faculty of Law, Maritime Studies, Medicine, Teacher Education, and Tourism and Hospitality Management based in Opatija.

The Faculty of Informatics offers undergraduate and Master's programmes in Informatics. Students learn about programming, algorithms, data structures, digital electronics, computer architecture, networks, operating systems, databases, information systems, formal languages, automata theory, software engineering, logic programming, web engineering, multimedia, and information theory.

The Faculty of Mathematics provides an undergraduate program in Mathematics leading to a Bachelor of Science degree. Courses cover mathematical analysis, linear algebra, numerical mathematics, combinatorics, graph theory, affine and Euclidean spaces, metric spaces, topology, set theory, geometry, number theory, mathematical logic, probability, statistics, mathematical modelling, programming, algorithms, information systems, and computer architecture. Students can also pursue a Master’s degree in Mathematics education or Mathematics and Informatics education.

The Department of Biotechnology, founded in 2008, offers undergraduate and master's programs in Biotechnology and Drug Research, as well as a doctoral program in Medical Chemistry.

The Center for Iconographic Studies promotes the study of iconography and iconology, organizing conferences, lectures, workshops, and publishing a journal called IKON. The Center for Advanced Studies of Southeastern Europe focuses on social sciences and humanities research.

The university has had sixteen rectors since it was established in 1973.

Faculties and academies

• Academy of Applied Arts

• Faculty of Civil Engineering

• Faculty of Economics

• Faculty of Engineering

• Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Faculty of Philosophy)

• Department of Philosophy Archived

• Faculty of Law

• Faculty of Maritime Studies

• Faculty of Medicine

• Faculty of Teacher Education

• Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management (based in Opatija)

Faculty of Informatics

Since the implementation of the Bologna process in the academic year 2005/06, the Faculty of Informatics offers two undergraduate programmes (three years):

• Informatics
• Informatics in combination with another subject offered at Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Students finish with the title Bachelor of Science in Informatics. Both programmes introduce the foundations of programming, algorithms, data structures, digital electronics, computer architecture, computer networks, operating systems, databases, information systems, formal languages and automata theory, software engineering, logic programming, web engineering, multimedia and information theory.

After receiving the B.Sc. degree, the student can apply for the Master's degree in four programmes (two years):

• Information and communication systems,
• Business informatics,
• Informatics education,
• Informatics education in combination with another subject education offered at Faculty of Arts and Sciences

which ends with the title Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Informatics or Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Informatics.

In 2012, University of Rijeka Department of Informatics became Nvidia CUDA Teaching Center.

Faculty of Mathematics

Since the implementation of the Bologna process in the academic year 2005/06, the Faculty of Mathematics offers and undergraduate program (three years) in Mathematics, which finishes with the title Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. Courses include standard topics in mathematical analysis, linear algebra, numerical mathematics, combinatorics graph theory, affine spaces and particularly Euclidean spaces, metric spaces, topology, set theory, geometry, number theory, mathematical logic, probability and statistics, mathematical modelling, programming, algorithms, information systems and computer architecture.

After receiving the B.Sc. degree, the student can apply for the Master's degree in two programmes (two years):

• Mathematics education,
• Mathematics and Informatics education, together with Department of Informatics.

In 2010, Department of Mathematics organized a conference on Information Security and Related Combinatorics under NATO Science for Peace and Security programme.

Departments

On April 1, 2008, University of Rijeka decided to make the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, departments of Informatics, Mathematics and Physics into independent departments.

• Department of Biotechnology
• Department of Physics

Department of Biotechnology

The Department of Biotechnology was founded in 2008 and currently has over 60 members of staff. It is located in the Departments building of the university campus at Trsat. The department offers one undergraduate degree program "Biotechnology and Drug Research", 3 masters programs "Drug Research and Development", "Biotechnology in Medicine" and "Medical Chemistry", 1 masters program in English "Biotechnology for the life sciences" and one doctoral program "Medical Chemistry". Further information can be found on their website.

Centers

Center for Iconographic Studies

The Center for Iconographic Studies (CIS) is a research center in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. CIS was founded with the idea of promoting iconography and iconology, as academic disciplines, and to establish a platform for academics from different disciplines to research the interpretation of visual arts. The Center organizes the annual conference of iconographic studies, as well as lectures, workshops and symposia, international networking and research projects, and it is involved in doctoral programs. CIS also publishes IKON - the journal of the iconographic studies.

The Department of Art History at the University of Rijeka in collaboration with the Department of Theology at the University of Zagreb organized the first conference of iconographic studies in 2007, and thus conceived the idea of establishing the center that is intended to become the platform for academics from different disciplines in researching the interpretation of visual arts. In 2008 the proceedings of the 2007 conference were published, and both conference and the journal continue to be organized annually. In 2011 CIS organized Art History Day in Rijeka, which has become an annual event for the region, especially oriented towards students and younger people. PURITEKA, an e-journal for students' articles has also been published. Since 2010, CIS has been a partner to a European project in culture: "Francia media – Cradles of European Culture".

The Center for Advanced Studies of Southeastern Europe (CAS – SEE) "is an organizational unit of the University of Rijeka specialized in the social sciences and humanities. Designed as a regional hub for high-level academic research, the Center aims to stimulate public discourses on topics with high societal relevance for the region and Europe. The vision of the Center is to promote freedom of research and to ensure the necessary prerequisites for innovative, intellectual and scientific development. The Center strives to strengthen the transnational and regional scientific cooperation on a range of socially pressing issues with relevance for the Humanistic and Social Sciences."

Rectors

Heads of the university hold the title of Rector (Rektor) and are currently elected to four-year terms. There have been 16 rectors (14 men and 2 women) since the university's establishment in 1973.

• 1973–1976 - Zorislav Sapunar
• 1976–1978 - Zoran Kompanjet
• 1978–1980 - Josip Deželjin
• 1980–1984 - Slobodan Marin
• 1984–1986 - Predrag Stanković
• 1986–1989 - Mirko Krpan
• 1989–1991 - Petar Šarčević
• 1991–1993 - Elso Kuljanić
• 1993–1998 - Katica Ivanišević
• 1998–1999 - Danilo Pavešić
• 1999–2000 - Josip Brnić
• 2000–2009 - Daniel Rukavina
• 2009–2017 - Pero Lučin
• 2017–2025 - Snježana Prijić-Samaržija
• 2025–2026 - Davor Vašiček
• 2026–present - Goran Hauser

Source: List of rectors at the University of Rijeka website.

Student projects

Students at the University of Rijeka take part in many different activities. Most of these projects are supported by the Student Council of Uniri. Some of the largest projects include Onetius, the Student Day Festival, the Riteh Racing Team, NeuRi, and the Debate League of Rijeka.

International rankings

The University of Rijeka is not ranked by QS. It ranks 1066 by USN and 1329 by CWUR. It is not listed for THE.