SVEUCILISTE U ZAGREBU FAKULTET ELEKTROTEHNIKE I RACUNARSTVA

Their core work

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) at the University of Zagreb is Croatia's leading technical university in robotics, high-performance computing, and energy systems. They build autonomous marine and aerial robots, design processor architectures for European HPC systems, and develop smart grid solutions for cross-border renewable energy management. Their applied research spans from underwater exploration vehicles to building energy renovation tools, consistently bridging computing hardware and real-world engineering applications.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2014-2018, FER focused heavily on marine robotics (subCULTron, EXCELLABUST, aPad) and foundational HPC architecture (MANGO), establishing themselves in autonomous underwater systems and manycore computing. From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted decisively toward smart energy grids (FLEXGRID, FLEXIGRID, FARCROSS), European processor development (EPI, MEEP), and aerial robotics (AERIAL-CORE, AeRoTwin), while adding new threads in building renovation, water systems, and electric propulsion. The transition shows a move from exploration-stage robotics and computing research toward applied energy infrastructure and large-scale European computing initiatives.

FER is converging on the intersection of high-performance computing and energy systems, positioning them well for digital twin and AI-driven grid management collaborations.

How they like to work

FER primarily operates as a capable research partner (28 of 35 projects as participant), but has proven coordinator experience with 5 projects, mostly in robotics where they hold deep domain authority. With 617 unique consortium partners across 44 countries, they are a well-connected hub rather than a repeat-partner organization — comfortable joining large multinational consortia (RIA and CSA dominate their portfolio) and contributing specialized technical work packages. Their coordination projects tend to be smaller, targeted initiatives (Twinning, Teaming), suggesting they lead where they have clear technical ownership rather than pursuing large-scale coordination for its own sake.

FER has collaborated with 617 unique partners across 44 countries, making them one of the most broadly connected Croatian research institutions in H2020. Their project portfolio shows strong ties across Western and Eastern Europe, with particular engagement in cross-border energy projects targeting Southeast European grids.

What sets them apart

FER is the strongest Croatian entry point for EU consortia needing combined robotics, HPC, and energy systems expertise — a rare technical breadth for a single faculty. Their Widening Participation projects (ACROSS, AeRoTwin, TODO) show they have actively used EU twinning instruments to build capacity, meaning partners get an organization that understands both Western European research standards and the Southeast European application context. For energy grid projects targeting cross-border challenges in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, FER offers both the technical depth and the regional knowledge that Western partners typically lack.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EPI SGA1
  Their largest single grant (EUR 1.5M) contributing to Europe's strategic goal of building a sovereign processor — signals trust in their hardware/accelerator design capabilities.
• AeRoTwin
  Coordinator role in a Twinning action for aerial robotics excellence, demonstrating their ambition to become a European reference center in this field.
• FLEXIGRID
  EUR 450K contribution to smart grid interoperability — their most substantial energy project, covering grid automation, islanding, and fault detection.