University of Rijeka

While the modern university was founded on May 17, 1973, the first school of higher education had been established in 1627 by the Jesuits, and enjoyed equal status with the academies in the largest cities of the Austrian Empire. The Faculty of Philosophy, established in 1726, operated for two years. The Theological Faculty was founded in 1728. From 1773 to 1780, Rijeka was the seat of the Royal Academy. The modern day university was established during 1970's, a decade of exponential rise in number of higher education institutions in the former Yugoslavia when, alongside Rijeka, universities in Osijek, Kragujevac, Split, Mostar, Podgorica, Bitola, Maribor, Banja Luka and Tuzla all opened their doors.

The departments of biotechnology, informatics, mathematics and physics were founded in 2008. In 2022, the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Informatics became faculties in their own right.

In the early afternoon of 18 April 2009, a fire broke out at the construction site of the new building of the Faculty of Engineering in Trsat, the site of former barracks. The fire engulfed three floors, and was most likely started by a welding spark. The Rijeka fire department responded and was quickly joined by first responders from Opatija. All construction workers were successfully evacuated and no injuries were reported. Construction at the site had begun in 2005 and ended costing over 300 million euros.

The Department of Biotechnology was founded in 2008 and currently has over 60 members of staff. It is located in the Departments building of the university campus at Trsat. The department offers one undergraduate degree program "Biotechnology and Drug Research", 3 masters programs "Drug Research and Development", "Biotechnology in Medicine" and "Medical Chemistry", 1 masters program in English "Biotechnology for the life sciences" and one doctoral program "Medical Chemistry". Further information can be found on their website.