Head of the Department for Science and Innovation, University of Split, HR

As a curious generalist by nature, Nikola wears many hats. He has more than ten years of experience working at the interface between research and industry. He has deep experience in research enablement, business support and innovation management. Working in and with companies, he has achieved significant growth and impact on their businesses (e.g. from successful new products, pricing strategies, and creative inbound campaigns). He has been a startup mentor, member of a jury on numerous startup events, key account manager for SME Instrument in Horizon 2020, EU project evaluator, PoC programme manager, and project manager on projects with a combined value of more than 30 million EUR. Through his role at the University of Split as Head of Science and Innovation Department, he leads the activities of the Technology Transfer Office, Projects Office, Science Office and R&D Office. Nikola is working to establish innovation ecosystems and directly support entrepreneurial and innovative researchers and companies. He has led the building and the establishment of the high-tech business incubator, wholly owned by the University.

Nikola has more than ten years of experience in knowledge and technology transfer. He has been a project manager of Technology Transfer in the Croatian Adriatic region project, through which he has established a TT team of 7 professionals and 20 innovation scouts. Nikola has designed the first IPR policy at the University of Split and has participated in the recent optimisation of the IP management framework to fast forward the disclosures and create a pipeline of opportunities. As European IP Helpdesk ambassador and Horizon IP Scan Expert, he advises Croatian and EU companies in protecting and managing their collaborative creations.