Nedjeljko Francula was born in Zagreb, on June 20, 1937. He finished high school in Zagreb in 1956. He graduated in 1962 at the Geodetic Section of the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Zagreb. He obtained his doctoral degree in 1971 in Bonn (Landwirtschaftliche Fakultät) with a thesis Die vorteilhaftesten Abbildungen in der Atlaskartographie. He spent two years (1969-71) at the Institute for Cartography and Topography of the University in Bonn thanks to a scholarship from Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD). In 1976, he spent three more months at the Institute for scientific improvement in the field of cartography automatization as DAAD's scholarship holder.
In 1963, he became an assistant at the Faculty of Geodesy of the University in Zagreb; in 1975 he became an assistant professor, in 1980 an associate professor and in 1985 a full professor. He was chosen for scientific-educational profession of a full professor as a permanent profession in the field of technical sciences - geodesy in 1996.
He was a head of the Institute for Cartography of the Faculty of Geodesy during the periods 1981-83, 1987-91 and 1997-99, a leader of postgraduate studies from 1985-89, a vice dean for scientific and professional work from 1976-81, a vice dean for education from 1999-2003.
He lectured following courses at the Faculty of Geodesy: Geoinformatics I, Cartography II, Cartography III and Computer Processing of Geodetic Data. Apart from lecturing in Zagreb, he lectured at the undergraduate and postgraduate studies and at the Faculty for Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Ljubljana from 1974 to 1976. According to the Faculty of Geodesy curriculum from 1994, he lectured Geoinformatics I, Map Projections, Digital Cartography and Map Generalization, and since 2002/03 Map Projecionts and Digital Cartography. At the postgraduate studies, he lectures Introduction to Scientific Work and Official Topographic and Cartographic Information System of the Republic of Croatia. He was a mentor for 67 graduate theses, 8 master theses and 4 doctoral dissertations. While working on the application of computers for solving geodetic and cartographic problems for more than 30 years, he introduced digital cartography into the undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Geodesy in Zagreb.
From 1962 to 1986, he collaborated on four scientific projects. According to contracts with the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Croatia, he was the leader of scientific project Cartographic Research of Space Representations (1987-91), scientific projects Cartography and Geoinformation Systems (1991-96) and Croatian Cartography - Scientific Bases (1997-2002). He was also the leader of scientific-professional projects Croatian Geodetic Dictionary and Croatian Cartographers. He is collaborating on the scientific project Cartography and New Technologies.
He published 600 scientific and professional papers, books, journals and articles reviews, terminological contributions and news. Mostly as a member of a team, he carried out 38 professional-practical works (geodetic survey, topographic and thematic maps), produced 10 expertises and designed 25 computer programs.
He publishes his scientific and professional papers in the following journals: Geodetski list (1968-1970, 1972-1975, 1977-2019), Allgemeine Vermessungs-Nachrichten (1971), Kartographische Nachrichten (1980, 1981), Geodetski vestnik (1983, 1993, 1994, 1996), Survey Review (1990), Mehanizacija sumarstva (1995), Automatika (1996), Geowissenschaftliche Mitteilungen (2000), Annual of The Croatian Academy of Engineering (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005), Hrvatska revija (2001), Cartography and Geoinformation (2002-2006, 2008-2013, 2016-2019), Studia cartologica (2006), Geography Environment Sustainability (2015), International Journal of Cartography (2016), in publications of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (1998, 2002), in Zbornik radova Geodetskog fakulteta (1972, 1977, 1980, 1981) and in proceedings from conferences in Croatia and abroad. The main fields of his research are map projections and digital cartography. Results of his research of map projections with minimal distortion were cited in SCI and foreign handbooks, lexicons and encyclopaedias.
From 1976 to 1986, he was a deputy editor of the Geodetski list, and from 1987 to 1995 the journal's editor in chief. He was also collaborating on the Maritime Lexicon of the Lexicographic Institute "Miroslav Krleza" in Zagreb. Since 1976, he has been a continuous collaborator of international cartographic reference publication Bibliographia cartographica (München-New Providence-London-Paris). From 1997 to 2002 he was the head of the Section for Cartography of the Croatian Geodetic Society. He has been a full member of the Croatian Academy of Engineering in Department of Civil Engineering and Geodesy since 1998. In March 2008 he has been named Member Emeritus.
The Croatian Academy of Engineering awarded him Lifetime Achievement Award "The Power of Knowledge" in 2004. He became Honorary member of the Croatian Cartographic Society in 2007, and the University Senate appointed him Professor Emeritus 2007. Croatian Geodetic Society awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award "Golden Globe" in 2013.
On September 30, 2006 he is retired.