IPB

Dr Aleksandar Bogojević on Science in Serbia

14. April 2022.

’In a small country such as ours, science should be an initiator of certain processes which society necessitates’, says Dr Aleksandar Bogojević, director of the Institute of Physics, Belgrade, referring to the fact that science is relevant to a society because it represents an exciting adventure for many people.

Dr Bogojević was a guest on the TV show ’Naučni portal’[Science Portal] broadcast on 12 April 2022, on the second channel of the Radio Television of Serbia. In an interview with the editor Aleksandra Šarković, the Institute’s director considered various roles science plays in a society, how it carries them out and how much effort is necessary to translate the language of science so that as many people as possible understand it.

A part of the interview was dedicated to two major projects launched at the Institute of Physics – the Serbia Accelerating Innovation and Growth Entrepreneurship Project (SAIGE) which is being implemented in cooperation with the World Bank, European Union and the Government of Serbia, as well as the Verrocchio Project. ’We started cooperating with the World Bank 10 years ago, but through the latest SAIGE project, this cooperation has had a great impact on us and offers us to strengthen some things with the help of our country, the World Bank and European Union’, states Dr Bogojević, explaining that this project, which boosts innovative entrepreneurship at institutes, offers an opportunity to develop a broader approach to science.

’The second such an agent is the Verrocchio Project. This institution should not just be a scientific one but have an important educational role, and not just in the sense of us producing narrow field specialists necessary for future work’, emphasizes Dr Bogojević, adding that along with science and education, the third essential aspect is the innovative-technological one. ’If in one place you play three very distinct roles, it is only then that you are a complete institution’, concludes Dr Bogojević.

’Naučni portal’ is a new collage-type of a TV show of the Editorial Board of the RTS scientific programme, which has been broadcast since 2020, with the idea of bringing forth news and stories of the world of science. Several researchers of the Institute of Physics, Belgrade have taken part in the show, as part of the long-term cooperation between the Editorial Board of the RTS scientific programme and the Institute of Physics.