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Marina Kotrla Topić, PhD is a Senior research associate. She obtained her PhD in 2012 at the University of Zagreb. Her research interests include early cognitive development, research on the use of digital media in children in early and middle childhood, and research on reading from the screens of digital devices. In addition to the methodology of survey research, she has extensive experience in conducting qualitative research. Marina was a member of the research team on the projects “Personality Traits and Natural Language” and “Personality Traits, Natural Language and Cognitive Development”. She was a member of the Steering Committee of the COST action “IS1410: The digital literacy and multimodal practices of young children (DigiLitEY)” and the COST action “IS1404: Evolution of reading in the age of digitalization (E-READ)”. She was the leader of the project “The connection between the use of digital media and the family literary environment with the language skills of preschool children” (DIGILIT), funded by the Ivo Pilar Institute. Also, she was the leader of the Croatian section of the research “Young children (0-8) and digital technology” (European Commission, Joint Research Center, Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen) as well as the leader of the Croatian section of the international research “KiDiCoTi: a new study on kids’ digital lives during COVID-19 lock-down”, coordinated by the Joint Research Center. She was also an associate on the Erasmus + project “ProWell – Protecting the mental well-being of our children during and after public health emergencies – digital training for teachers and educators”.

She is a member of the editorial board of “Education and Technologies Journal” in Sofia, Bulgaria. Currently, she is an associate on the projects “Digital technology in the family: patterns of behaviour and effects on child development” (D.E.C.I.D.E.) and “Child Welfare in the Context of the Family (CHILD-WELL)” funded by the Croatian Science Foundation. She is the leader of the research project DigiLitA – The effect of environment on child development: The association of digital technology use, home literacy environment and physical activity with the well-being of children in early school years, carried out by the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, and funded by European Union programme NextGeneration EU. She is a member of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (ISSBD), the European Association for Developmental Psychology (EADP), the Croatian Psychological Chamber, and the Croatian Psychological Society.

She is the editor of five conference proceedings, and independently or in co-authorship has published 36 scientific papers, three book chapters, and one scientific book. Marina Kotrla Topić has participated in many international conferences with 79 presentations, and domestic scientific and professional conferences with three presentations. She was a member of the program-organizing committees of four scientific-professional conferences, two of which were international.