The Prof. Dr Marko V. Jarić Foundation presented the prestigious Marko Jarić Prize for 2025 to Professor Branislav Nikolić, a full professor at the University of Delaware in the United States of America. The traditional award ceremony will be held on Tuesday, 17 March 2026, at the Grand Hall of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (35 Knez Mihailova Street) at noon.
The Marko Jarić Prize, sometimes referred to in the media as the ‘Serbian Nobel Prize for Physics’, has been awarded for more than 25 years for outstanding achievements in physics. The prize is funded by the Institute of Physics Belgrade, which organises the ceremony. The prize has been awarded to many distinguished researchers, many of whom, like Marko Jarić, are originally from Serbia and work at leading universities in the world.
This year, according to the Panel’s decision, the prize was awarded to Professor Branislav Nikolić, full professor at the University of Delaware in the USA, ‘for outstanding achievements in the study of spin transport and non-equilibrium spin dynamics in nanostructures’.
The Awarding Panel, consisting of Professor Srđan Bukvić (retired), Faculty of Physics, University of Belgrade; Dr Goran Isić, Senior Research Associate, Institute of Physics Belgrade; and Dr Milutin Stepić, Senior Research Associate, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, reached a unanimous decision.
Professor Branislav Nikolić graduated in 1995 with a degree in theoretical physics from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Belgrade. He earned his PhD with a dissertation on quantum transport in finite disordered electronic systems from Stony Brook University in New York. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware. His research interests include theoretical and computational condensed matter physics, non-equilibrium quantum theory of many-body systems and fields, quantum transport, nanoelectronics, nanobio interfaces, and high-performance scientific computing.
The Foundation ‘Prof. Dr Marko V. Jarić’ was established in 1998 with the aim of preserving the legacy of Marko V. Jarić (1952–1997). Its principal activity is the presentation of the eponymous prize, awarded to an individual or a group of scientists for outstanding achievements in physics.
At the ceremony to be held on Tuesday, 17 March, at noon at the Grand Hall of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, marking the presentation of the prize and the anniversary of Marko Jarić’s birth, addresses will be delivered by the Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, Dr Aleksandar Belić; the Director of the Foundation, Professor Petar Adžić; the Director of the Institute of Physics Belgrade, Dr Aleksandar Bogojević; the Chairman of the Panel, Professor Srđan Bukvić; as well as a representative of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The award presentation will follow.After the ceremony, as per tradition, the laureate will give a popular science lecture and present his research to the audience.
