Stochastic models and applications (STOMP)

Basic Information

Project Summary
Project Stohastic models and applications (STOMP) (581-UNIOS-56) is focused on the development and application of modern stochastic models through theoretical analysis, parameter estimation methods, and applications in education and the social sciences. The project brings together a team of ten researchers from the School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics at Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, with the aim of increasing scientific productivity, strengthening international cooperation, and creating competitive research topics. The research is carried out through three work packages: analysis of the properties of stochastic models, parameter estimation in selected stochastic models, and applications of stochastic models. The project’s innovativeness is reflected in the integration of theory and practice, particularly through applications in education and electoral systems, as well as through the use of advanced theoretical, numerical, and statistical methods. By involving young researchers and students and by using digital tools and international collaborations, the project further contributes to the development of research capacities. The expected outcomes include new scientific insights in the field of stochastic models and their applications, the strengthening of existing and the establishment of new networks of international contacts, and the enhancement of institutional capacity for future project funding.

Project duration: 1.10.2025. – 30.9.2029.

Work Packages:

• WP1: Analysis of Selected Stochastic Model Properties
  • Work Package Leader: Associate Prof. Nenad Šuvak
  • Other members: Associate Prof. Danijel Grahovac, Dominik Mihalčić, Assist. Prof. Ivan Papić
• WP2: Parameter Estimation in Selected Stochastic Models
  • Work Package Leader: Prof. Dragana Jankov Maširević
  • Other members: dr. sc. Darija Brajković Zorić, Prof. Mirta Benšić, Assist. Prof. Ivan Papić, Associate Prof. Nenad Šuvak
• WP3: Applications of Stochastic Models
  • Work Package Leader: Prof. Mirta Benšić
  • Other members: Associate Prof. Ljerka Jukić Matić, Associate Prof. Tomislav Marošević, Assist. Prof. Ljiljana Primorac Gajčić, Assist. Prof. Ivan Papić

The main research objective of the project is to achieve new scientific contributions in the field of stochastic models and their applications.

Publications

• Lj. Jukić Matić, M. Zarožinski, Potential of Digital Game-Based Learning in Vocational Mathematics Education, International Journal of Serious Games, 13(4), (2026), 57-75, https://doi.org/10.17083/r7tmhz47
• Lj. Jukić Matić, M. Lesandrić, Mathematics Textbook Use in Primary Schools: Patterns, Preferences, and Perceptions, Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, (2026), https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.2234

Conferences

• Ivan Papić, Unconference on non-Markov processes, November 13 – 14, 2025, Rome, Italy (invited talk)
• Ivan Papić, Anomalous Phenomena on Regular and Irregular Domains: Approximating Complexity for the Applied Sciences, November 12, 2025, Rome, Italy (participation)
• Nenad Šuvak, 77th British Mathematical Colloquium, March 30 – April 2, 2026, Cardiff, United Kingdom (talk)
• Ivan Papić, The 5th Italian Meeting on Probability and Mathematical Statistics, June 8 – 12, 2026, Palermo, Italy (invited talk)
• Dominik Mihalčić, 25th European Young Statisticians Meeting, July 7 – 10, 2026, Vilnius, Lithuania (talk)
• Ljiljana Primorac Gajčić, 22nd International Conference on Geometry and Graphics, August 3 – 7, 2026, Zagreb, Croatia (poster)
• Ljiljana Primorac Gajčić, 6th Croatian Conference on Geometry and Graphics, September 6 –10, 2026, Baška, Croatia (talk)
• Tomislav Marošević, 21st International Conference on Operational Research – KOI 2026, September 23 – 25, 2026, Brela, Croatia (talk)
• Ljerka Jukić Matić, European Conference on Games Based Learning, September 30, 2026, Darmstadt, Germany (talk)

Schools

• Dominik Mihalčić, 4th Korean Croatian Summer Probability Camp, June 29 – July 1, 2026, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Mobility

• Ivan Papić, The Department of Statistical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, November 10–16, 2025 (host researcher: Prof. Luisa Beghin)

News

• The project Stochastic Models and Applications (STOMP) has completed its first year of implementation (1 October 2025 – 30 September 2026). Research is under way in all three work packages, and the first results were published earlier than planned. Two scientific papers on the application of stochastic models in education appeared in international open-access journals: the first examines the potential of digital game-based learning in vocational mathematics education, the second analyses how primary school teachers use mathematics textbooks. International collaboration has also been strengthened. The principal investigator, Ivan Papić, was a visiting researcher at Sapienza University of Rome, hosted by Prof. Luisa Beghin, and that collaboration has already led to an invitation to speak at an international meeting in Palermo. Nenad Šuvak participated at the British Mathematical Colloquium in Cardiff, where he established contact with Prof. N. N. Leonenko. Team members took part in scientific meetings in Italy, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Germany and Croatia, while early-career researcher Dominik Mihalčić attended a summer school in probability theory in Dubrovnik. The second year will bring the completion of the research equipment procurement, the first incoming visits by foreign researchers, and continued work on the topics of all three work packages.