Šprem Nikica
Academic titles:
- professor Doctor of Science
Membership in Academy:
- associate member – Department of Natural Sciences (5/16/2024 – …)
Curriculum Vitae
Nikica Šprem was born on May 3, 1978 in Zagreb, where he graduated from primary and secondary school and the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture. During his studies, he was awarded the Rector’s Prize in 2001. Since 2005, he has been working as a joung researcher at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture and enrolled for doctoral studies at the University of Josipa Jurja Strossmayera in Osijek, where he received his doctorate on October 2, 2009 with the topic “Morphological and genetic characteristics of wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) in the Republic of Croatia”. He has worked at his home university as a senior assistant since 2009, as an assistant professor since 2012, as an associate professor since 2017 and as a full professor since 2022.
In the course of his career, he has been a fellow of several renowned scientific and teaching scientific institutions: 2006 University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria; 2007. HAKI Institute, Sarvasz, Hungary; 2007. University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; 2010. Montana State University, Bozeman, USA; 2011. University of Kaposvar, Kaposvar, Hungary; 2012 Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, Vigo, Spain; 2012 University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy; 2015 Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand; 2016 again University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy and 2022 University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
At his home university, he leads five teaching modules at undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate level as well as one module in English. He is also involved in teaching the PhD programme “Evolutionary Biology” at the University of Sassari in Italy. He also taught at the Marko Marulić University of Applied Sciences in Knin.
He contributed to the development and promotion of biotechnical sciences with more than 120 published scientific papers (A1, A2 and A3), 87 of which are indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection database (total number of citations without self-citations: 1155, H-index: 15, Google Scholar Citations 2696, H-index 24 and 10-index 56. He has also published four scientific books in which he participated as an author. In addition to his scientific work, he has published over 40 articles in professional journals as part of his scientific research activities, thus significantly promoting the development of the scientific field he works in. He has mentored five PhD students and one post-doc as well as more than thirty theses, and is currently supervising four PhD students.
He is the author and co-author of more than 115 abstracts, which are the result of his active participation in international scientific conferences and national scientific-professional meetings. He has given five invited lectures at international scientific meetings and several invited lectures at foreign universities: Italy (University of Siena, University of Sassari), Czech Republic (Czech University of Life Sciences Prague), Slovenia (University of Primorska, Faculty of Environmental Protection Velenje). As a member of the scientific and organisational committee, he participated in more than ten international and national scientific conferences. He was chairman of the organising committee and member of the scientific committee of the “III International Rupicapra symposium” held in Croatia. It should also be emphasised that he is the chairman of the organising committee of the prestigious scientific congress that will be held in Croatia for the first time in 2027, namely the Congress of the International Union of Game Biologists (IUGB).
His activity in the popularisation of science was also recognised by the award of the Ministry of Science and Education for a scientific popularisation project entitled “Little and big researchers – where have the deer disappeared?”, which through interactive lectures and workshops raises the awareness of the younger generations (primary school generation), students and the general public about the importance of biodiversity conservation and wildlife protection and arouses their interest in biotechnical sciences. In addition to the project, which is now in its third year, he is active as a lecturer and organiser of numerous workshops, round tables and discussion groups throughout the country.
He made valuable scientific contributions as leader or collaborator on a number of scientific research and professional projects. During his career, he participated as a collaborator in five international scientific projects: European Network of Wildlife Professionals – EFSA (ENETWILD I and ENETWILD II consortium), Mammalnet (EFSA); Grazing for Forest Fire Prevention, Ecosystem, Service Provision, Nature Conservation and Landscape Management (LIFE); Responsible Research and Innovation as a Basis for Life Sciences Practises (HORIZON 2020). In cooperation with the Teaching Institute of Public Health “Dr. Andrija Štampar”, the project “Centre for Food Safety and Quality”, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, was implemented as the coordinator of his institution. He was the leader of the scientific research project “DNA as evidence of the distribution and vitality of the endangered Balkan chamois” (HRZZ) and is currently the leader of the trilateral scientific research project “Wild boar fear of hunting: effects on space use, stress and meat quality” (HRZZ), which is part of the Weave programme (Switzerland and Slovenia). He was involved in three other scientific research projects of the Croatian Science Foundation.
He is also a member of the editorial board of the scientific journal Zlatorogov Zbornik (ISSN 2232-6499) and Frontiers in Mammal Science (ISSN 2813-4699). He was a guest editor for the special issues “Application in Evolutionary Novelties and Diversities: Medicine, Agriculture, and Conservation” of the scientific journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (ISSN 2296-701X). He was also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Central European Agriculture (JCEA) (ISSN 1332-9049) for eight years. He is reviewer for 39 papers in Q1/Q2 journals and 3 papers in Q3/Q4 journals.
He actively involved in the expert commissions of the Ministry of Agriculture for the drafting of the Hunting Act, the National Commission for Brown Bear Management, the National Commission for Wild Cat Management and the Croatian Hunting Association.
For the period from 2018 to 2021, he was elected Vice Dean for Scientific Infrastructure and Experimental Sites at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture. Since 2010, he has been the head of the scientific-teaching site of the Faculty of Agriculture “Ban Josip Jelačić”. He was also involved in the implementation of the project “Renovation of infrastructure and equipment in the field of education damaged by the earthquake“ as the coordinator of his institution. He was a member of the Senate of the University of Zagreb. Since 2021, he has been a member of the Council of the Biotechnical Department of the University of Zagreb and a member of the Expert Committee for the Awarding of State Scientific Prizes in the Field of Biotechnical Science of the Ministry of Science and Education. He is currently a member of the Board of the University of Applied Sciences Križevci.
In 2021, he was awarded the “Faculty Medal” of the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture and the “Gold Medal of St. Hubert” of the Croatian Hunting Association for his work.
He is married and has two children.