The Ambassador of France to Serbia, H.E. Pierre Cochard and his team visited the Institute of Physics Belgrade on Thursday, November 2, 2023. The Attachés for Cooperation François-Xavier Kowandy and Vesna Adamović from the French Institute accompanied the ambassador in the delegation. Dr. Laurent Large, FEMTO-ST institute director, participated in the visit, as well, and held a colloquium at the Institute. FEMTO-ST is a research institute affiliated with the French National Centre for Scientific Research, which is one of the largest French institutes in the field of engineering science.
“There is a great similarity between the Institute of Physics and the FEMTO-ST institute, as well as other research institutions in France. This similarity is reflected in the creation of bridges between different disciplines and the successful valorization of discoveries in physics,” Ambassador Pierre Cauchard said during the visit. He reflected on the positive energy and enthusiasm of the researchers he met and positively evaluated the readiness of the Institute of Physics to work on relevance for society.
“We are grateful to France for their interest in what we do at the Institute of Physics,” said Dr. Aleksandar Bogojević, director of the Institute of Physics Belgrade. Dr. Bogojević introduced the Institute and the activities of four centers of excellence to the guests: Center for Solid State Physics and New Materials, Center for the Study of Complex Systems, Center for Non-Equilibrium Processes and Photonics Center.
During the visit, the ambassador had the opportunity to meet researchers, especially the younger generation, who spent part of their careers in France or cooperate with French institutions. Dr. Igor Prlina, Dr. Igor Franović, Dr. Tanja Berić, Dr. Jakša Vučičević and Dr. Marija Janković spoke with the ambassador.
During the visit, the members of the delegation visited the centers of excellence, where they additionally learned about some of the research carried out at the Institute. They were welcomed in the Center for Non-Equilibrium Processes by Dr. Nevena Puač and Dr. Saša Dujko, in the Center for the Study of Complex Systems Dr. Antun Balaž and Dr. Ivana Vasić, in the Photonics Center by Dr. Dušan Arsenović and Dr. Mihailo Rabasović, and in the Center for Solid State Physics and New Materials Dr. Nenad Lazarevic and Dr. Dejan Đokić.
After the visit, Dr. Laurent Larget, the French institute FEMTO-ST director, held a colloquium in the hall “Zvonko Marić”, where he spoke about the emulation of recurrent neural network processors through nonlinear delay dynamics. This topic aroused the great interest of the audience and initiated a long and dynamic discussion.
Photos by: Bojan Džodan/IPB