On April 4, 2018, the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education held a ceremony for the signing of the grant agreement for the Centre for Advanced Laser Techniques (CALT) project at the Institute of Physics in Zagreb. The Ministry had passed a financing decision on February 20, 2018, allocating a total of HRK 121,297,812 (approximately €16.1 million) to the project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under Croatia’s Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme.
CALT was declared a project of strategic importance for the Republic of Croatia in March 2017 and included in the Croatian Research and Innovation Infrastructures Roadmap. Among its four research units is a dedicated quantum technology laboratory focused on quantum clocks, quantum simulators, and quantum sensors. The quantum technology unit planned the development of the first quantum clock in southeastern Europe, based on cold strontium atoms, along with a National Laboratory for Time and Frequency coordinated by the Croatian Metrology Institute.
An opening conference for the CALT project was held at the Ministry of Science and Education on July 6, 2018, gathering more than 80 participants from academia, national institutions, and industry.