Our History
Origin of the Croatian Biometric Society
Back in 1989, a group of 16 friends, who spent a large portion of their time looking for ways to analyze and interpret data about people, animals and plants, met and agreed to formalize their meetings in the form of Croatian Biometric Society. Silvije Vuletić, a distinguished professor at the University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, School of Public Health "Andrija Štampar" assumed the role of its inaugural President. The Society started holding regular short meetings with invited lecturers from Croatia and abroad.
BIOSTAT'94: A Milestone Event
Fast-forward to 1994, the Croatian Biometric Society organized BIOSTAT'94, the First Meeting of Researchers in Biometrics in Croatia. BIOSTAT'94 was co-organized alongside the University Computing Centre, University of Zagreb, as a dedicated section within their broader International Technology Interfaces (ITI) Conference. Information about the past events can be found at https://www.hbmd.hr/biostat-past.
School of Biometrics – Lifelong Learning
Two years later, in 1996, the Croatian Biometric Society achieved another milestone: the first School of Biometrics was held within the BIOSTAT section. With this educational initiative, experts from around the world came to BIOSTAT to spread knowledge about new methods and tools. Information about the topics and lecturers can be found at https://www.hbmd.hr/biostat-eng.
BIOSTAT becomes an independent event
By 2014, the Croatian Biometric Society had hosted 18 Schools of Biometrics and 20 BIOSTATs. However, the ITI Conference, which had been a key partner in organizing these events, ceased to be. The Croatian Biometric Society made a strategic decision to continue organizing the BIOSTAT symposia independently. These symposia, held biannually, are intrinsically interdisciplinary meetings, accepting presentations covering a wide range of topics, bridging life science and data science. Bachelor and Master students are actively encouraged to participate. Whether presenting their work, or simply attending, they can engage without a registration fee.
Joining the IBS Family
In 2024, the Croatian Biometric Society joined the IBS family as the Croatian region with a new name, Croatian Biometric Society – Croatian region of the International Biometric Society (abbreviation HBMD-IBS – from its name in Croatian Hrvatsko BioMetrijsko Društvo).
Past presidents of the HBMD:
Silvije Vuletić (1989-1998)
University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, School of Public Health "Andrija Štampar"
Diana Šimić (1998-2004)
Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health
Marija Pecina (2004-2010)
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture
Anamarija Jazbec (2010-2016)
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology
Zdenko Sonicki (2016-2022)
University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, School of Public Health "Andrija Štampar"