A Med&X Accelerator participant outside Massachusetts General Hospital

The Med&X Accelerator

Croatian talent, embedded inside the world's leading labs and clinics

An intensive research program, most often over the summer though not only, that places Croatian medical students, young scientists, and young physicians directly inside specific labs and clinics at world-leading institutions. They return with frontier skills and mentors. Host teams gain motivated researchers and a lasting tie to Croatia.

Applications open in November Meet the 2026 cohort

Host institutions include

Harvard Medical School Massachusetts General Hospital Cleveland Clinic Mayo Clinic

Applications open in November Applications for the next cohort open November 2026 Learn more

Sara, a Med&X Accelerator participant, during her research internship

Med&X participants Pjero and Valentina at the Cleveland Clinic

What makes it different

Amazing institutions. A different way to experience medicine, and life.

Participants join amazing institutions and labs, and come away experiencing medicine and life differently, both professionally and personally.

Med&X collaborates with labs and clinics at nine leading institutions around the world, building internship programs for Croatian medical students, young scientists, and young physicians. Each participant works inside a specific department, lab, or clinic, alongside the people doing the research. The benefit runs both ways: participants gain real lab time, durable mentors, and a wider view of the field and of themselves, while host teams gain dedicated researchers and a lasting connection to Croatian biomedicine.

Real lab and clinic time
Participants join ongoing projects inside a working lab or clinic and contribute directly, mentored one-to-one. They leave with skills, mentors, and a broader sense of the field.
A two-way bridge
Every internship is a connection. Host teams gain dedicated researchers. Croatia gains people fluent in how the world's best institutions work.
Lasting collaboration
The summer is a beginning. Several internships have grown into co-authored work, return invitations, and new openings.

Participants placed across the 2024–2026 cohorts

Leading institutions whose labs and clinics we collaborate with

Institutions enrolled for the 2026 cohort

€800–1,000

Co-financing per participant

Ready when you are

Apply to the Med&X Accelerator

Applications open in November. The 2026 cohort is selected; the next call opens here and in the Med&X portal.

Every application goes through the Med&X member portal. You create an account, complete your profile, and submit your documents in one place. Join a program that has sent Croatian students, young scientists, and young physicians into the world's leading labs and clinics, and brought their experience home.

Documents

Submit your documents through the Med&X portal. We review each application against the published criteria.
Interview

Shortlisted candidates have a short conversation with the selection committee about goals and fit.
Decision

Decisions are expected around January. When you leave depends on each host lab or clinic.

What documents do I need?

A short CV, a motivation letter explaining why you want to join and what you hope to work on, and references (for example a professor or mentor who can speak to your work). Some positions ask for a transcript or a brief research summary; each call lists exactly what its roles require, and everything is uploaded in the portal.

What does the interview look like?

A short, friendly conversation with the selection committee, usually online. We talk about your goals, your interests, and which host lab or clinic would be the right fit. It is a discussion, not an exam.

What is the timeline?

Applications open in November. Interviews follow, and decisions are expected around January. Departure timing depends on each host lab or clinic, so the exact dates are confirmed per lab and clinic once you are matched.

Go to the Med&X portal Ask a question first

Applications are submitted through the Med&X portal at medx-user-portal.onrender.com

01How the bridge gets built

You go, you learn, you bring it home

The point is not a single internship abroad. It is what you carry home, and keep building, for years afterward.

You go

You travel to a specific lab or clinic at a world-leading institution and join the team, most often over the summer.
You learn

You absorb methods, mindset, and standards, working shoulder to shoulder with leading scientists and clinicians.
You bring it home

You come home to Croatian hospitals, universities, and labs, and put what you learned into practice where it is needed.
You keep building

Your tie to the host team stays open, turning one internship into ongoing collaboration between Croatia and the world.

02Who it's for

Who the Accelerator is built for

Each cohort opens specific positions. Depending on the role, we look for one of three profiles, all holding Croatian citizenship.

A Med&X medical student at a research meeting abroad

Medical students

Senior students in medicine, biochemistry-related fields, and biomedical engineering, ready for real research and clinical work.

A Med&X participant with her clinical mentors

Young physicians

Early-career doctors and residents who want frontier methods, new mentors, and a clinical internship that travels home with them.

Med&X participants at the bench in a host laboratory

Young scientists

Graduate researchers and early postdocs who want bench time inside a working lab and a collaboration that keeps running afterward.

Which profile fits depends on the open position, so check the current cohort's roles when applications go live.

How selection works

Applications open in November, submitted through the Med&X portal against the published criteria.
Interview. Shortlisted candidates have a short conversation with the selection committee about goals and fit.
Decisions are expected around January. Departure timing depends on each host lab or clinic.
Full criteria are published in the program documentation with each call.

Funding that removes the barrier

€800–1,000

Med&X co-finances each selected participant toward the costs of the program. The remaining expenses are the participant's responsibility, and Med&X draws on its experience to connect participants with further sources of support.

Co-financing amount for the 2026 cohort.

Applications open in November Questions? Contact the team

03Med&X Accelerator 2026

University of Zagreb, School of Medicine

Cleveland Clinic

Host institution logo to come

Where our participants are hosted

Harvard Medical School Massachusetts General Hospital Cleveland Clinic Mayo Clinic Yale University Columbia University King's College London University of Zurich Osaka University

Applications open in November See where alumni are now

With gratitude

Thank you to our hosts

Every internship happens because a mentor opens a door. These are the people and institutions who welcome Med&X participants into their labs and clinics, and keep the bridge between Croatia and the world open.

Placeholder Harvard Medical School

Host name to be confirmed Harvard Medical School Mentor and host lab

Placeholder Massachusetts General Hospital

Host name to be confirmed Massachusetts General Hospital Mentor and host clinic

Placeholder Cleveland Clinic

Host name to be confirmed Cleveland Clinic Mentor and host clinic

Placeholder Mayo Clinic

Host name to be confirmed Mayo Clinic Mentor and host lab

These cards are placeholders. Real host names and portraits are added as each mentor confirms they are happy to be featured.

Who runs the program

Marija Pranjić, PhD

Leads the Med&X Accelerator

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Boston Children's Hospital & Harvard Medical School

Marija leads the Accelerator across the whole journey, from the first question through selection, host matching, travel, and the collaborations that follow. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and is a board-certified music therapist whose research explores music and the brain. Candidates, host labs, and sponsors can all reach her directly.

“What I love about the Accelerator is watching a student walk into a world-leading lab and, a few months later, bring that confidence and those methods home. That is how we build Croatian biomedicine, one person and one collaboration at a time.” Attributed to Marija Pranjić · draft wording, to be confirmed

Alongside her, the program is supported by Alen Juginović, MD and Miro Vuković, MD.

Email Marija

04Partner with us

Two ways to shape the next generation

The Accelerator grows through labs and clinics that open their doors and partners who keep it within reach of every talented young person.

Host participants in your lab or clinic

Are you a research lab or clinic at a leading institution that wants to help shape future biomedical leaders? There are no payments to Med&X or to the candidate. What matters is being a great mentor. In return you gain a motivated researcher and a lasting tie to Croatian biomedicine.

Host with us

Sponsor a fellowship

Sponsoring a fellowship is usually €3,000–5,000 per person, covering one month of accommodation and flights. A fellowship can be named after a person or a company. Every contribution keeps the program open to more participants and free of financial barriers.

Sponsor a fellowship

See sponsorship packages Talk to our team

See the full tier ladder, or reach us directly at marija.pranjic@medx.hr.

05Accelerator Alumni Network

A growing community, across two continents

Every cohort joins a growing network of Croatian students and young researchers who have taken the Accelerator into leading labs and clinics abroad and brought the experience home.

Portraits are added as participants share them. Full profiles live in the member portal.

Every internship happens because someone gave. Fund the next one.

Cohort 2024

University of Zagreb, School of Medicine → Cleveland Clinic

Access the alumni network Back to the current cohort

06News from the program

Latest from the Accelerator

New application cycles, selection decisions, and stories from our participants abroad.

Applications

Applications open for Med&X Accelerator 2026

December 8, 2025 — the 2026 call opened for senior medical, biochemistry-related, and biomedical engineering students.

Read the update

Announcement

Meet the 2026 selection committee

February 25, 2026 — the committee guiding this year's two-phase review of candidates.

Read the update

Results

Final selection decisions announced

March 6, 2026 — the selected participants and the institutions hosting them.

Read the update

Croatian talent, embedded inside the world's leading labs and clinics

Amazing institutions. A different way to experience medicine, and life.

Real lab and clinic time

A two-way bridge

Lasting collaboration

Apply to the Med&X Accelerator

Documents

Interview

Decision

You go, you learn, you bring it home

You go

You learn

You bring it home

You keep building

Who the Accelerator is built for

Medical students

Young physicians

Young scientists

1 How selection works

2 Funding that removes the barrier

Meet the 2026 cohort

Eva Knežević

Luka Horvat

Lucija Falamić

Dominik Lukičić

Petra Bolt

Lara Maria Stričak

Thank you to our hosts

Marija Pranjić, PhD

Two ways to shape the next generation

Host participants in your lab or clinic

Sponsor a fellowship

A growing community, across two continents

Stela Lara Tenšek

Katarina Kordić

Sara Bonet

Dora Softić

Filip Jakov Klisović

Dejana Vujnović

Gracia Grabarić

Karlo Dužević

Lucija Skejić

Vinka Potočki

Marko Gavrančić

Matea Bagarić

Latest from the Accelerator

Applications open for Med&X Accelerator 2026

Meet the 2026 selection committee

Final selection decisions announced

How selection works

Funding that removes the barrier