He has been employed at the Ruđer Bošković Institute since 1972, where he was elected to the permanent title of Scientific Advisor in 2004. He was awarded the prestigious Republic Prize "Ruđer Bošković" in 1986 for an outstanding scientific achievement in the field of modulation of electron paramagnetic resonance spectra. After his retirement in 2014, he was elected to the honorary title of Distinguished Scientist of the Ruđer Bošković Institute.
Dr. Boris Rakvin gained international recognition for his scientific work at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, where throughout his career he introduced and developed several important directions and new topics in the study of materials using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), thereby contributing to the development of EPR spectroscopy itself. This particularly refers to the discovery of the modulation spectrum in EPR spectroscopy and its application, the detection and investigation of superconducting phase transitions, the study of ferroelectrics with hydrogen bonding, the improvement of the sensitivity of EPR/alanine dosimetry, and the study of single-molecule magnets.
To date, Dr. Boris Rakvin has published 156 scientific papers, 134 of which were published in journals indexed by the Current Contents database. At the time of writing this biography, his papers had been cited 1,272 times. Of the total number of papers, more than 75 percent were published in journals with above-average impact factors in the field. His research has also been significantly cited in professional books on EPR spectroscopy and high-temperature superconductivity.
He carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Alabama (1981–1982) and the University of West Virginia (1985–1986) in the USA. As a visiting scientist, Dr. Boris Rakvin worked at prominent scientific institutions including West Virginia University, Morgantown, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Universität Regensburg, Universität des Saarlandes, Homburg/Saar, the Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, the Institute of Materials Science NCSR "Demokritos", Athens, and the Max Planck Institute, Mülheim an der Ruhr. At these institutions, he collaborated with leading scientists in the field of EPR spectroscopy, resulting in co-authored scientific publications.
Dr. Boris Rakvin dedicated much of his scientific career to introducing new instrumental methods and techniques for the characterization of magnetism in materials. He introduced pulsed EPR spectroscopy to Croatia, making the Ruđer Bošković Institute the only institution in Southeast Europe to possess a pulsed EPR spectrometer.
His teaching activity began in 1994 and continues to this day. In 1997, he was elected Full Professor at the University of Zagreb. From 1994 to 2006, he participated in teaching as Full Professor and Acting Head of the Department of Physics at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb. During this period, he introduced new courses, "Fundamentals of Physics for Diagnostic Methods" in 2000 and "Selected Chapters in Biomedical Physics for Veterinarians" in 2005. The importance of the course "Fundamentals of Physics for Diagnostic Methods" is reflected in the fact that a similar course was later introduced at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagreb, where it is still taught today. At postgraduate level, he taught the course "Biophysics and Instrumental Techniques."
Currently, at the postgraduate study of Biophysics at the University of Split, he teaches the course "Experimental Methods of Physics in Biophysics II." At the postgraduate program of the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, he teaches "EPR Spectroscopy," and "Fundamentals of Magnetic Resonance Methods" at the interdisciplinary doctoral program "Molecular Biosciences" (MOBI), jointly delivered by the University of Osijek, the University of Dubrovnik, and the Ruđer Bošković Institute.
During his successful scientific career, Dr. Boris Rakvin has also acted as a reviewer of projects and programs for the Ministry of Science and Technology, MZOŠ, the Slovenian Ministry of Science, the Slovenian Science Foundation, the Austrian Science Fund, the Czech Science Foundation, the Science Fund of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and as reviewer for several international journals including Phys. Rev. B., J. Phys., Cond. Matter, Chem. Phys. Lett., J. Magn. Reson., Appl. Magn. Reson., Spectrochim. Acta, Croat. Chem. Acta, Fizika and others.
At the Ruđer Bošković Institute, he performed numerous important functions, including Head of the Laboratory for Magnetic Resonances, President of the Scientific Council of OOUR FEP, member and President of the NMR Committee, Deputy Chair of the Scientific Council of the Institute, and long-time member of the Scientific Council as representative of the Division of Physical Chemistry. Since 2013, he has also been a member and Deputy Chair of the National Committee for the Natural Sciences – Physics.
