Ivica Aviani is a retired full professor at the Faculty of Science in Split. He studied physics at the University of Zagreb, where he also obtained his doctorate. Most of his professional life he spent as a researcher at the Institute of Physics in Zagreb. From 2012 until his retirement in 2022, he also worked as a professor at the Faculty of Science in Split. In addition to experimental solid-state physics, he has been involved in research in the fields of physics education and biophysics. He initially worked on research into the thermodynamic properties of superionic conductors and semiconductors, then on strongly correlated electron systems, while developing setups for DTA, DSC, transport properties, magnetic susceptibility and magnetostriction as well as on methods for the theoretical calculations measured properties. In Split he has set up a laboratory for atomic force microscopy, where he has researched the antimicrobial properties of metal nanoparticles. In the field of physics education, he has been researching misconceptions and teaching methods for more effective conceptual teaching of mechanics, thermodynamics and transport phenomena. Special attention he has paid to the education of future physics teachers and their professional development, as well as working with gifted students. In 2020 he founded studies on physics education research as part of the doctoral study in educational research at University of Split. He has led a number of scientific research, education and science popularization projects as well as doctoral and diploma theses and has been lecturing on graduate programs in physics at Zagreb, Rijeka and Split universities, as well as in doctoral studies in physics education at the University of Sarajevo, in biophysics at the University of Split and in physics education research at the University of Split. See more at https://mapmf.pmfst.unist.hr/~iaviani/.

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Mojca Čepič was trained as a physics teacher. After graduating, she worked as a physics teacher at a high school for a few years. She did her PhD in theoretical studies on soft matter, on liquid crystals, focusing on the theory of polar smectics. She proposed the phenomenological model of antiferroelectric liquid crystals, which led to the prediction of the structure of one of the liquid crystalline phases. The structure was confirmed a few years after her prediction when the method of resonant X-ray scattering was developed, which is sensitive not only to the position but also to the orientation of molecules. She is still active in theoretical research in soft matter. After completing her PhD, she worked as an Assistant and later as Professor of Physics at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Department of Physics and Technology. Since her audience consisted of prospective physics teachers, she also became active in physics education research. She mainly focused on introducing contemporary physics to different levels of education, from superconductivity to liquid crystals and polymers. In addition, she also drew inspiration from everyday phenomena and observations. There she developed models to enable controlled studies of circumstances in which phenomena such as a double or spreading shadow, an artificial solar eclipse, or underwater light beams occur. She is currently the editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Physics, a journal that publishes articles relevant to university physics education.

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Professor Dr Mile Dželalija is a Dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Split, Croatia. Doctoral thesis and most of his research in physics he has done in the field of higher energy physics at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum in Darmstadt (Germany) and CERN in Geneva (Switzerland). Besides research and teaching, his fields of expertise and practical experience in education sector range from curricula development, lifelong learning, quality assurance, qualifications frameworks, validation of non-formal and informal learning. Professor Dželalija was a member of different national and international bodies, such as European Qualifications Framework Advisory Group of the European Commission, ESCO Cross-sectoral Reference Group, National Correspondents for Qualifications Framework for the European Higher Education Area, and management and advisory boards in many countries. He has extensive experience in leading and participation in a number of international projects within various programmes, such as: EU Tempus programme, Unesco programme, EU IPA, United Nations Development Programme, EU ESF, EU FP programmes, EU Horizon, ETF, EU Erasmus+, Council of Europe programme, World Bank projects, Swiss Embassy projects, and a number of ministries in different countries, etc. He has published over 300 research articles in famous peer-reviewed international journals, several books, and his articles have been cited over 80.000 times. He has intensive collaborations with relevant institutions (ministries, agencies, universities, VET centres, etc.) in many countries at the EU level, and wider.

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Eugenia Etkina is an Emerita Distinguished Professor at Rutgers, the State University Of New Jersey. She is a Recipient of the 2014 Millikan Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), awarded to educators who have made significant contributions to teaching physics, and is a fellow of the AAPT. Professor Etkina designed and coordinated one of the largest programs in physics teacher preparation in the United States. In 1993 she developed the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach in which students learn physics using processes that mirror scientific practice which was later enriched by her collaboration with A. Van Heuvelen. It engages students in learning physics by practicing it, and improves their well-being. The ISLE approach is described in detail in the IOP book “Investigative Science Learning environment: When learning physics mirrors doing physics”. Since 2000, Professor Etkina has conducted over 190 workshops for physics instructors and published over 100 peer-refereed articles.

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Ljubiša Nešić is a professor of physics at the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Niš, Serbia. After having completed a PhD in theoretical physics, he has been teaching general physics, mechanics, physics education, environmental physics, statistical physics and theory of relativity. He is also a teacher in a grammar school class for students with special abilities in physics. He regularly organizes training courses and physics education conferences for in-service physics teachers from Serbia and nearby countries. He founded studies on physics education research as part of the doctoral study at University of Nis. See more at https://www.npao.ni.ac.rs/prirodno-matematicki-fakultet/982-ljubisa-nesic/982-ljubisa-nesic.

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Maja Planinić is Associate Professor at University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science (Department of Physics), Croatia. She leads since 2006. the University of Zagreb Physics Education Research Group, which cooperated successfully over the years with many other PER groups internationally, and is actively involved in research as well as the preparation of prospective physics teachers. She took part in the development of exams and documents at the national level, such as the State matriculation exam in physics and National physics curriculum. Her research focuses on the investigation of student understanding and reasoning in different areas of high school and university physics. An important area of her expertise is the construction and evaluation of diagnostic instruments (tests) in physics education research using Rasch modelling. She has led several research projects, most recently the one focused on high school physics teaching and the effects of the inclusion of students' investigative experiments on the development of students' conceptual understanding of wave optics and their scientific reasoning. She has participated in a broad spectrum of studies and co-authored papers on the construction of tests (diagnostic instruments) on graphs and wave optics, evaluation of several widely used diagnostic tests in physics education (FCI, CSEM, TUV), and student understanding of different topics, such as graphs in different contexts, wave optics, atomic line spectra, Newtonian mechanics, electromagnetism and physics measurements. She was also involved actively in investigations of student reasoning in physics (e.g. proportional, algebraic) and transfer of knowledge between mathematics and physics. In addition to many research papers, she has co-authored several chapters in international books on physics education and served from 2020 - 2022 as a member of the Editorial Board of Physical Review Physics Education Research.

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Gorazd Planinšič is a Professor of Physics at the Faculty for Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Since 2000 he has led the Physics Education program, which prepares almost all high school physics teachers in the country of Slovenia. He started his career in MRI physics and later switched to physics education research. During the last 10 years, he mostly focused on the development of new experiments and new types of problems consistent with the Investigative Science Learning Environment approach to learning and teaching physics. He is co-founder of the Slovenian hands-on science center House of Experiments. For several years, he has been serving as a president of PED Section of European Physical Society, as a secretary of GIREP and as editorial board member of European Journal of Physics and Physics Education journal. He is co-author of the textbook College Physics: Explore and Apply and the author of a Slovenian university textbook for future physics teachers. He is a recipient of a GIREP medal for his contributions in Physics Education and a fellow of the IOP.

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Vanja Radolić je izvanredni profesor na Odjelu za fiziku Sveučilišta u Osijeku. Diplomirao je 1994. na Pedagoškom fakultetu u Osijeku. Magistrirao 2000., a doktorirao 2004. godine na Fizičkom odsjeku PMF-a Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Trenutno obnaša funkciju Pročelnika Odjela za fiziku Sveučilišta u Osijeku. Znanstveno se bavi problematikom radona, od razvoja i unaprjeđenja mjernih tehnika do izvođenja samih mjerenja koncentracije aktivnosti radona u okolišu (zraku, tlu i vodi), u životnoj i radnoj sredini, kao i analize, modeliranja i primjene dobivenih rezultata u području zaštite od zračenja i primijenjene nuklearne fizike. Objavio je više od 150 publikacija u znanstvenim časopisima, zbornicima radova i knjigama sažetaka s međunarodnih i domaćih znanstvenih skupova. Bio je suradnik na četiri kompetitivna istraživačka projekta financirana od strane MZO te voditelj i glavni istraživač na 10-tak projekata financiranih od strane regulatornog tijela za radiološku sigurnost i javnih institucija. Bio je koordinator RH za nekoliko IAEA regionalnih projekat te predstavnik RH na EU JRC projektu “European Atlas of Natural Radiation, Radon mapping section”. Bio je član znanstvenih i organizacijskih odbora na desetak domaćih i međunarodnih znanstvenih i stručnih konferencija, a održao je i nekoliko pozvanih predavanja na međunarodnim skupovima. Član je Hrvatskog fizikalnog/fizičkog društva (HFD). Bio je tajnik osječke podružnice HFD-a od 2000.-2010., a predsjednik od 2010-2014. Bio je i član UO HFD-a od siječnja 2011. do prosinca 2015. godine. Kao tajnik osječke podružnice sudjelovao u osmišljavanju i organizaciji znanstveno-popularne radionice “Zimska škola fizike” za učenike osnovnih (dosad ih održano 20) i srednjih škola (15 održanih). Član je i Hrvatskog društva za zaštitu od zračenja (HDZZ) te član UO HDZZ-a od 2013. do 2017. Član je i European Radon Association (ERA) i International Radiation Physics Society (IRPS).

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