Experiments in astrophysics and nuclear and particle physics are crucial to analyse how the universe works. These usually require complex detector systems whose design and testing necessitate a deep understanding of a variety of topics in physics, electronics and computing. Thanks to the EU-funded PaRaDeSEC project, a research institute in Croatia has taken a major step in strengthening its potential for the development, testing and construction of research equipment for nuclear, particle and astroparticle physics experiments.