More than thirty eminent researchers from eleven research organisations participated in the event held on June 27, 2011. The meeting was opened by HE Italian Ambassador in Belgrade Armando Varricchio and guests were welcomed by Assistant Minister for International Cooperation and European Integration at the Ministry of Education and Science, Viktor Nedovic and President of Synchrotron Trieste Carlo Rizzuto. In the discussion that followed the presentation of good practice in CEI countries and the Serbian capacity in this field, participants agreed that the achievements and potential of the Serbian scientific community in these areas certainly will be strengthened through future co-operation.

First Session of the Serbia-China Scientific and Technological Cooperation Committee

In accordance with the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the 1st Session of the China-Serbia Scientific and Technological Cooperation Committee was held in Belgrade on May 19, 2011. The Chinese Party of the Committee was headed by Cao Jianlin, Vice Minister of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China. The Serbian Party of the Committee was headed by Radivoje Mitrovic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia. According to the regulations of both Parties, the Committee selected 12 bilateral projects.

Serbia joined DARIAH (Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities)

The mission of DARIAH is to enhance and support digitally-enabled research across the humanities and arts. DARIAH aims to develop and maintain an infrastructure in support of ICT-based research practices. At the beginning of September 2011 Belgrade Center for Digital Humanities (BCDH) signed the Memorandum of Understanding with DARIAH. “My colleagues and I are thrilled that the Belgrade Center for Digital Humanities will be coordinating DARIAH activities in Serbia,” said BCDH director Toma Tasovac. “This is an important milestone in our efforts to strengthen digital humanities as a scholarly discipline in our country and DARIAH will provide a framework for Serbian researchers in the humanities to tackle important issues such as open access, data management, digital curation, standardization and interoperability.”

From Excellent Research to Innovative Products

The second forum of national technology platforms in Serbia was held on June 1, 2011, at the University of Belgrade. The organiser of the conference was the Academy of Engineering Sciences in partnership with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Education and Science. The topic of this forum was the University and its role in the revitalisation and transformation of the technological base of industry. As part of the National Technology Platforms Forum, a special session “From excellent research to innovative products” was organised in order to present the results of technological development projects in electronics, telecommunications and information technology, financed in the period 2008 to 2010. The forum was designed as a new framework for the system recovery and re-engineering industry of Serbia and the Ministry showed a concrete way of demonstrating the real potential of domestic science for industry, offering innovative solutions in the field of ICT. More than 60 projects were directly represented and project managers provided explanations on the types and scope of their results.

CEI Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology Trieste, Italy – 19 October 2011

For the first time in the history of the Central European Initiative (CEI) the Serbian Presidency has organised a Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology, held in Trieste on October 19, 2011. The opening session at the Sincrotrone Trieste “Elettra” Laboratory and the afternoon session at the CEI headquarters were chaired by Žarko ObradoviÊ, Serbian Minister of Education and Science.