The University of Zagreb Medical School is the oldest educational institution for medical training and research in the South-East Europe.

At present, the majority of research grants at the Zagreb School of Medicine are supported by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia. State support has been given to 25 research programs encompassing 88 individual research grants and 47 individual research projects. Several projects are offered conjointly with the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, researchers at the Zagreb School of Medicine successfully participated in a number of international research projects over the past six years: five projects were conducted within the European Framework Program FP5, seven projects in the FP6, and one project has recently been approved for the FP7 financing. Five other projects received support within the framework of COST actions, two within the TEMPUS program, and one in the recently established Croatian-Indian research collaboration. Finally, there is a number of research initiatives and bilateral collaborations between Croatian and international research groups supported by Fogarty International Research Collaboration, Fulbright, DAAD and  the Wilhelm von Humboldt Foundation.

The number of scientific papers published in high-profile international journals is one of the best indicators of the scientific output of any academic or research institution. In this respect, the University of Zagreb School of Medicine best serves national interests in the field of biomedicine and health. During the 2000-2006 period, authors affiliated to the School of Medicine published 1,323 papers in journals covered by Current Contents, including 222 papers co-authored with foreign researchers (mainly from the USA, United Kingdom and Germany). In addition, our researchers are currently participating in various multicenter clinical studies, which resulted in 75 papers in the above-mentioned period. The School encourages its faculty to participate in international research in the following research areas: basic and clinical neuroscience, including neuroimaging and neurogenomics; molecular biology, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics; diagnostic ultrasound (esp. in cardiology and perinatal medicine); pharmacogenomics; bone morphogenetic proteins and biological regeneration of tissues; transplantation medicine; hematological malignancies; congenital metabolic diseases; clinical endocrinology and diabetes; and, finally, public health and environmental medicine.