biology

Iva Tolić

Iva Tolić is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Iva Tolić rather than just read about it. In short: Iva Marija Tolić (born 24 June 1974) is a Croatian biophysicist, known for her work on the microtubule cytoskeleton and associated motor proteins. She is currently senior research group leader and professor of biology at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, Croatia.

Key takeaways

Iva Tolić belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Iva Tolić to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Iva Tolić from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Iva Marija Tolić (born 24 June 1974) is a Croatian biophysicist, known for her work on the microtubule cytoskeleton and associated motor proteins. She is currently senior research group leader and professor of biology at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, Croatia.

Education Tolić completed her diploma in molecular biology from the University of Zagreb, Croatia in 1996 and her graduate studies in molecular biology in the group of Nenad Trinajstić, Ruđer Bošković Institute and University of Zagreb, Croatia in 1999. Between 1999 and 2001, she completed part of her PhD work with Ning Wang, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, United States and was awarded her doctorate in biology in 2002 by the University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Career Upon obtaining her doctorate, Tolić did her first postdoctoral training between 2001 and 2002 at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark, working with Lene Oddershede and Kirstine Berg-Sorensen on the microrheology of cells. She then joined the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Florence, Italy for postdoctoral research with Prof. Francesco Pavone, working on lymphocyte movement and laser microsurgery on the mitotic spindle. Following her postdoctoral training, Tolić was appointed as research group leader (W1, equivalent to assistant professor) at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany in 2005 and was promoted to senior research group leader (W2, equivalent to associate professor) in 2010. In 2014, she moved to the Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia, being appointed as senior research group leader and professor of biology.

Research As independent investigator, Tolić has carried out pioneering research in the field of cell biology pertaining to the microtubule cytoskeleton and associated motor proteins, discovering: (i) a novel mechanism of kinetochore capture during mitosis by pivoting of astral microtubules around the spindle pole, (ii) a mechanism of regulation of the motor protein cytoplasmic dynein by attachment to its anchor protein in fission yeast and most recently, (iii) 'Bridging fibers' that are non-kinetochore microtubules connecting sister k-fibers and thereby balancing forces in the spindle. In addition, her research has demonstrated that fission yeast does not undergo replicative aging, contrary to existing theories on aging.

Personal life Tolić's parents are the journalist and diplomat Benjamin Tolić and academic Dubravka Oraić Tolić. She married Nenad Brgić in 2014 and she is the mother of two children. She has stated publicly that she sees no conflict between religion and science, and describes herself as a believer.

Awards and achievements Member of the Academia Europaea, 2022. ERC Synergy Grant, 2019. EMBO Membership, 2018. Lieben Prize, 2017. National Science Award of the Republic of Croatia, 2016. Croatian Women of Influence Award, 2016. Special award of the Ruđer Bošković Institute for outstanding contribution to the scientific excellence and international recognition of the institute, 2015. European Biophysics Societies Association Young Investigators' Medal and Prize, 2015. 5000th Grantee of the European Research Council, 2015. MRAK award for creativity in science awarded for the collaboration with the Ruđer Bošković Institute. Order of Danica Hrvatska for science, outstanding contributions to science and its promotion in the Republic of Croatia and the world, 2014 Investigator of the Year, European Life Science Award, 2014. Featured on Cell "40 under 40", 2014.

Membership in professional associations and societies Tolić is a member of European Molecular Biology Organization, the Croatian Biophysical Society, the Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Croatian Microscopy Society. In addition, she is Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the journal Science.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Iva Tolić

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Iva Tolić claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Iva Tolić before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Iva Tolić ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Iva Tolić

In research: Iva Tolić appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Iva Tolić in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Iva Tolić is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1974 births, Cell biologists, Croatian biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Iva Tolić outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Iva Tolić in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Iva Tolić means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Iva Tolić out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Iva Tolić in simple terms?

Why does Iva Tolić matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Iva Tolić?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Iva Tolić.