During cell division, errors in chromosome separation can lead to cells receiving too much or too little genetic material. Over time, this increases genetic instability, which is common in cancer and can contribute to further disease progression. A team led by Prof. Iva Tolić at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) has uncovered an important mechanism that helps the cell prevent errors in chromosome distribution.

A team of scientists, doctors and clinicians from Zagreb University Hospital Centre and the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, the Ruđer Bošković Institute, RBI, and the Dr Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases has shown that Parkinson’s disease is associated with measurable changes in specific immune cells in the blood.

Scientists at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, RBI, are the first to show that an important photochemical reaction can be carried out efficiently in a ball mill, a closed vessel in which powdered substances are continuously mixed and ground by the impact of a milling ball. 

When a patient arrives with a high fever and symptoms pointing to a viral infection, the doctor will usually order a test for the most likely cause.

That very question is at the heart of the European project Joint Action on Personalised Cancer Medicine (JA PCM), funded through the EU4Health programme. The project includes a team from the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI), participating as an associated partner of the Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Centre (UHC Sestre milosrdnice).

A scientific team from the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) has developed a new strategy for precisely “programming” the shape of peptides, molecules that play a key role in biology, medicine, and the development of new materials.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers led by female scientists from the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI), within the SAFEGUARD project, is developing a new generation of protective textiles with innovative coatings that simultaneously provide flame resistance, antimicrobial protection against bacteria and fungi, and enhanced UV protection.

At a session held on 16 February 2026, the Board of Governors of the Ruđer Bošković Institute (IRB), following consideration of the positive opinion of the Selection Committee and the unanimous decision of the IRB Scientific Council, confirmed a new four-year term for Dr. David M. Smith as Director General of IRB. This confirms continuity in the Institute’s leadership during a period of intensive infrastructure modernisation, strengthened international partnerships, and further connection of science with the needs of the economy and society.

As part of the Terry Fox Run charity race held last autumn at Jarun in Zagreb, €15,000 was raised and presented to the Ruđer Bošković Institute to support research into new prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for lobular breast cancer.

Mechanochemistry, which drives chemical reactions by mechanical force, is increasingly used in materials synthesis and in sustainable “green” chemistry. It is carried out in an apparently simple way, by ball milling. Yet the most important part, what happens at the very moment when the balls collide with the particles, has remained beyond the reach of direct observation. A new study by an international team from the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) and Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nürnberg now provides an answer to that question, at the molecular level.