About us
Znanost u prolazu (Science Along the Way) is a non-profit organization that connects science to everyday life. Our main activity is an annual event during which public spaces (town squares) are transformed into arenas for public learning and scientific discussions.
At these events, through a series of workshops and lectures we provide citizens with an opportunity to meet scientists, female scientists in particular: Who are they? What does their job look like? Why are they into science? What scientific breakthrough did they make?
The goal of the event is to break the myths surrounding science and scientists and make the general public more familiar with science, hoping that our event will inspire young girls and boys to pursue a scientific career.
Share the knowledge
What is ZUP?
Why?
The aim of our events is to make science more approachable to citizens. Even though many Croatian research institutions organise open days, science nights etc., during which citizens can visit their premises, this is one of the rare occasions where scientists go to public spaces and change the perception about what it means to do science, what scientific research looks like, one day in the life of a scientist etc.
What makes us special?
The unique feature of this event is that only female scientists come on as presenters, who share their stories about what gets them excited and why they think they have the best job in the world. This adds value to our event by promoting women in science and inspiring girls and boys to become scientists themselves. Through media coverage of this event, the objective is also to get science into the media more as we feel that representation of science and scientists in the media is insufficient.
When?
This series of events started in 2022 with the first event held on 5 March at one of the most frequent public squares in Zagreb – Cvjetni trg. There is certain symbolism in this date as it is the weekend ahead of International Women’s Day and the event featured female scientists only. The event in Zagreb soon became a tradition and has been held every year on the weekend before International Women’s Day. 2026 will feature its fifth edition. Apart from Zagreb, we also organised events in several other Croatian cities – Osijek (2023 and 2025), Sisak (2022), Rijeka (2022), and in 2026 we will hold our first-ever ZUP event in Split. New events and new cities will follow soon.
Having gathered a large community of previous participants and other interested public, in March 2025 we decided to formalise our collaboration and created a non-profit organization, which is now the sole organizer of the event. In the near future, we plan to expand our portfolio with additional activities, such as mentoring schemes, conferences and panel discussions, etc. Stay tuned!
Upcoming events
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