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The Faculty of Sciences won the first coordinating project in the EU Horizon 2020 Program

In the next three years, the Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad will implement a significant scientific research project worth about 900,000 Euros, related to the study of hydro-meteorological extremes, floods and droughts.

Due to its complexity, the study of hydro-meteorological extremes is of utmost importance for South East Europe. It has been estimated that as a result of climate change, the hydrological cycle is changing, which could lead to an increased risk of floods – says the head of EXtremeClimTwin project Biljana Basarin, PhD from the Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management (Chair of Physical Geography). – We remember that several devastating floods in Central Europe during the last 20 years were caused by extreme rainfall. The complexity of the relationship between atmospheric conditions, extreme precipitation and floods, together with the observed growing trends, indicate the necessity to improve science and build research capacity in this field and in Serbia.

Losses caused by extreme climatic and hydrological events reached 453 billion Euros, 12 billion euros per year on average, 79,200 Euros per square kilometer or 811 Euros per capita.

The Faculty of Sciences recognized this need and, with the project proposal, successfully applied for a call from the European Union Framework Program for Research and Innovation called Horizon 2020 (H2020-WIDESPREAD-2020-5 Twinning). The project proposal was evaluated with a maximum of 15 points as the best from Serbia. The project will be implemented under the title “Twinning for the advancement of data-driven multidisciplinary research into hydro-climatic extremes to support risk assessment and decision making” (ExtremeClimTwin), and provides the Faculty of Science and partners with almost 900,000 Euros for research capacity building in areas of detection and description of extreme hydro-climatic events.

The partners of the Faculty of Sciences in this project are three outstanding research institutions from the EU: Climate Risk Analysis from Germany, Loughborough University from Great Britain and the Center for International Climate Research from Norway. EU partners will transfer knowledge and research skills by providing training for the research team members at the Faculty of Sciences. Networking with EU partners will be realized at all levels, and such exchange of knowledge is certainly for the benefit of all participants in the project, the wider scientific community and certainly, due to the urgency of the problem, many stakeholders from the non-academic sector. The project is also important for nurturing the potential of young researchers at the Faculty of Sciences and strategically connecting the Faculty with international research institutions through sustainable partnerships and the transfer of knowledge, results and scientific methodologies.

The project starts on November 1, 2020 and will last for 36 months.

Achievements

New Erasmus + project approved: InAMath – An interdisciplinary approach to mathematical education

According to the Decision of the Agency for EU Mobility Programs of the Republic of Croatia, the financing of the project InAMath – An interdisciplinary approach to mathematical education (Erasmus + Key Activity 2: Strategic Partnerships (KA201)) was approved. The project brought together distinguished educational institutions from the region, from Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

The project owner is the University of Rijeka (HR), and the University of Novi Sad, i.e. the Faculty of Sciences, is one of the partners in the project. In addition to the University of Novi Sad, the project partners are the Center of Technical Culture Rijeka (HR), Elementary School Nikola Tesla from Rijeka (HR), Elementary School of the Hero Janez Hribar (SLO), University of Primorska (SLO) and University of Mostar (BIH).

The aim of this project is to design educational content that will increase interdisciplinarity in the mathematics education from 1st  to 4th grade of primary school and which will be available to all interested users. Project activities include the design and implementation of educational content with primary school students using interdisciplinary methods, the development of teaching materials that will be available to class teachers and subject teachers, as well as teacher education for the preparation and implementation of such activities. The task of the University of Novi Sad is to contribute to the mentioned project activities, and especially to make the connection between mathematics and chemistry and geography more attractive for primary school students.

The project started in September 2020 and will last for three years.

Achievements, ,

GRASP – a new project in the field of artificial intelligence

The GRASP project in the field of artificial intelligence, dealt by researchers from the Faculty of Sciences, Novi Sad meets very high and precise criteria of the Science Fund, which finances projects with clear and sustainable goals, a concept and systematic and well-designed methodology.

The research must have a high level of scientific excellence, quality and innovation, and the project “GRASP” (Graphs in Space: Graph Embeddings for Machine Learning on Complex Data) deals with the problems of graphs, i.e. networks, in the “traditional” form of data – table, with special reference to the application of artificial intelligence techniques. Graphs, or networks, are one of the most important ways to understand the world around us. The points (nodes) of a graph can represent entities (e.g. people), while the connections (branches) between points express a relationship or interaction (e.g. acquaintance) between them. In this way, almost every phenomenon, from the level of atoms to galaxy levels, can be modelled in the form of a graph. On the other hand, one of the key operations available on graphs is their transformation into a “traditional” form of data – a table. In a table, entities are represented by rows, while columns indicate attributes that describe entities. If we go back to people, for example, the attributes that describe them can be name, surname, height, weight, etc.

The field of graph embedding deals with ways to transform graphs into tabular form, which is important because it allows the application of “traditional” tabular techniques of artificial intelligence (more precisely, machine learning) and data analysis to achieve insights that would be difficult or impossible by direct observation of networks. For example, by using well-known tabular techniques on an interaction graph of a Facebook user, we can (1) classify users into some categories of interest, (2) identify communities, (3) recommend “friends,” and (4) predict whether two users will interact in the future.

Improving graph mapping techniques in this project will enable researchers and experts from Serbia and the world to apply machine learning and data analysis techniques in areas where this was not previously possible or did not give satisfactory results, primarily in scientific research (e.g. bioinformatics, sociology, economics), but also in technology and industry (eg predictive analysis of energy, telecommunications and transport networks), education (e.g. predictive analytics based on data from e-learning systems), and society in general (e.g. improved/new services of social networking sites, or even new types of social networking that were not possible before).

The project will last for two years, with a budget of over 120 thousand Euros, and the team consists of both experienced and young researchers from the Faculty of Sciences, Novi Sad, with an emphasis on researchers at an early stage of their careers. All participants are employed at the Department of Mathematics and Informatics, the Chair of Computer Science and the Chair of Information Technology and Systems. The project leader is Miloš Radovanović, PhD and the team also includes: Mirjana Ivanović, PhD, Vladimir Kurbalija, PhD,  Miloš Savić, PhD,  Brankica Bratić, Nemanja Milošević, Dušica Knežević and Aleksandar Tomčić.

Achievements

Three Students of Gastronomy from the Faculty of Sciences won the Bronze Medal as Members of the Serbian National Team at the Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart

The students and lecturers of the Chair of Gastronomy, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, are the members and leaders of the professional association of the Culinary Federation of Serbia (CFS), whose main objective is the development of the gastronomic profession in the country and the region. This year, for the first time, CFS sent their national junior team to take part in the Culinary Olympics of IKA 2020, one of the most important international competitions, held in Stuttgart, Germany, from February 14 to 19, 2020.

Our national team was proudly represented by 11 members up to the age of 23, consisting of hardworking, ambitious and young, dedicated chefs from various hospitality establishments in Serbia as well as gastronomy students, including 3 gastronomy students from the Faculty of Sciences:

  • Dušan Grujić;
  • Vladimir Jež and
  • Tatjana Bodvaji.

They underwent rigorous training at the Faculty of Sciences where they had trained intensively for more than 6 months together with their lecturers, mentors and colleagues. At the competition they were accompanied and supported by the teaching assistant Maja Banjac and skills teacher Goran Radivojević. In addition to the great support from their faculty, the Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Research also helped them in this endeavour.

The prestigious IKA 2020 World Culinary Competition is the largest culinary competition that gathers over 2,000 chefs from more than 59 countries, and has been visited by some 28,000 visitors. The Olympics involved:

  • 31 national senior teams,
  • 24 national junior teams,
  • 29 regional teams and
  • about 720 more individual categories

from a total of 74 countries.

Meals preparation took place every day in 14 kitchens, which served 1,200 meals, 7 catering teams prepared 840 meals, 6 junior teams presented national buffets and 8 national teams presented their chef tables, with 180 individual categories daily.

Our team competed according to the competition requirements in two disciplines:

  • National Restaurant, for which it was awarded a bronze medal and
  • IKA Buffet, for which it received a diploma with enough points to win the 4th place.

National Restaurant is a discipline where chefs prepare a menu of three courses (starter, main course, dessert) for 60 people, within an interval of 5 hours of pre-preparation and 2 hours of preparation and serving, at an à la carte restaurant.

The IKA Buffet is a discipline in which hot and cold, savoury snacks for 12 people are prepared and served, along with the prescribed meals based on rabbit meat, and dessert.

They evaluated teamwork, discipline, professionalism, precision, creativity, application of modern techniques and equipment, sanitation and safety at work, presentation of dishes and, of course, sensory characteristics of the dishes, which carried the most points. This was accompanied by the constant supervision of highly respected and professional WASC judges such as: Uwe Staiger (Germany); Adrian Bader (Switzerland); Carlo Sauber (Luxembourg); Domico Maggi (Italy); Rick Stephen (Singapore) and many others.

Achievements

Welcome meeting for Erasmus+ students

International Relations Office organised the Welcome meeting for incoming Erasmus+ students on Friday, November 1st 2019 at the Faculty of Sciences.

Erasmus+ students were welcomed by prof. Srđan Rončević, Vice Dean for Science, International Cooperation and Development and Gordana Vlahović, Head of International Affairs. During the meeting, Ivana Pejović, International Relations Officer gave a presentation about the Faculty of Sciences and other practical information related to student life in Novi Sad. Erasmus+ students shared their first impressions about studying in Novi Sad and also had the opportunity to chat with Erasmus+ coordinators in a non-formal atmosphere.

This winter semester the Faculty of Sciences has received 6 students from Spain, 1 student from the Czech Republic and 1 student from Austria within Erasmus+ Programme.

 

International Relations

Visit of Colleagues From the University of Eastern Finland

Prof. Dr. Ritva Kantelinen and Zinab Elgundi, PhD student from the School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education of the University of Eastern Finland visited the Faculty of Sciences University of Novi Sad from 14th until 18th October 2019. The visit was organized as part of the international cooperation within the Erasmus+ Programme.

The guests were welcomed and hosted by professors Dr. Ljiljana Knezevic, Dragana Vukovic Vojnovic and Stanka Radojcic from the Centre for Languages for Specific Purposes. During the visit Ritva and Zinab gave lectures to local students about the Finish educational system and language education. In addition, the purpose of the visit was to extend and improve the cooperation in the field of foreign language education.

On last day of their visits colleagues from Finland had a meeting with the International Relations Office of the Faculty of Sciences in order to discuss about possibilities to enhance the cooperation and implement further joint activities. Many good ideas have been shared and the new calls for projects were identified. Looking forward to continuation this excellent collaboration with UEF!

International Relations

Winning the 1st place in the Open Innovation Challenge competition

The Demo Day of the Second Cycle of Open Innovations Lab of the DA-SPACE project was held on April 18th in the Business Incubator, Novi Sad.

The winning team, Slaven Tenodi, Kristiana Zrnić and Katarina Avramović, all students at the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection under the mentorship of Nenad Grba, a research associate within the International Interreg Project DA-SPACE, won the 1st place among 9 student teams of the University of Novi Sad in the competition of young teams in solving business challenges – Open Innovation Challenge, and won the place for the international competition to be held in Ulm, Germany from May 13th to May 17th 2019. The topic of the winning team was Water and Energy Efficiency for Better Industry (WE2I).

The competition was organized by the Vojvodina ICT Cluster, University of Novi Sad and the Provincial Secretariat of Finance. The project was supported by the European Union (ERDF, IPA, ENI).

Achievements

Gastronomy students returned with the awards again

In Thessaloniki, the ‘11th International Culinary Competition of Southern Europe’ was held from March 1st to March 4th as part of the International Tourism Fair, HELEXPO. This is a famous festival which is a part of the calendar of the World Association of Chefs Societies and is organized by the Chefs Association of Northern Greece and the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS).

Our team from the Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, the Faculty of Sciences in Novi Sad, achieved outstanding results – three medals and one certificate of merit. Danica Rinčić won a silver medal in the pasta category, Aleksandra Dimitrijevic won a bronze medal in the risotto category, Miloš Kuzmanović won a bronze medal in the risotto category, and Tatjana Bodvoji won a junior merit award in the vegetarian dish category.

Maja Banjac, Teaching Assistant at the Chair of Gastronomy, won a bronze medal in the senior category – poultry dishes. Maja was the only female contestant in the category, and competed with two national team members and four professional chefs from prestigious catering establishments from Ukraine, Lithuania, Taiwan and Greece.

One of our team’s objectives at the competition was to promote authentic food from Vojvodina. The dishes for the competition were prepared in a modern way from local food products: mangulica (Mangalitza) bacon, wine from Fruska Gora, fungi from Fruska Gora, carrots from Begec, cheese from Sombor, wheat, proso millet. Our gastronomy team’s objective to promote local products at this prestigious competition was supported by the Foundation 2021, Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture. Students were mentored by: Goran Radivojevic, Skills Teacher, Dr Bojana Kalenjuk, Assistant Professor and Maja Banjac, Teaching Assistant.

There were over 2,000 contestants from 29 countries at the competition. The judges were renowned, well-known in the world, with the highest judging licences given by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS): Roberto Beltramini (Luxembourg), Tony Chang (Taiwan), Victor Orn Andresson (Ireland), Eric Wong (Singapore), Thomas Kuster (Switzerland), Svetlana Riskova (Latvia), Joachim Mueller (Sweden), Nikolas Konstantinou (Cyprus), Nikolaj Crump (Denmark), Georg Wallig (Germany), Marco P. Bruschweiler (Switzerland, Thailand) and Argiro Barbarigou (Greece). On behalf of the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS), in addition to the mentioned distinguished members, there was the President of WACS Thomas Gugler.

Achievements

G-BiKE: European network of scientists for integrating genomic information into ecosystem management

A project with an interesting acronym – G-BiKE, COST Action Genomic Blodiversity Knowledge for Resilient, is a newly funded project of the European Union with the aim to connect scientists, managers and users of natural wealth across Europe in order to emphasize the importance of applying scientific knowledge of genetics and genomics in the conservation of plant and animal life.

Although today genetic information can be obtained for most of the organisms, standardisation of the protocols for detecting and monitoring species’ genetic diversity and their adaptive potential is still missing. The main idea of the G-BiKE project is to establish the usage of genomic knowledge as a standard tool in the environmental protection programmes, in order to ensure the persistence of populations and species.

As the acronym of the project alludes to a bicycle, the main idea of the project is to connect two wheels, one symbolising scientists and the other all the practitioners directly involved in the application of ecosystem protection programmes. The project started with a meeting in Brussels attended by 45 scientists from 27 European countries. Serbia was represented by three scientists: Prof Dr Mihajla Djan, full professor at the Faculty of Sciences in Novi Sad, Dr Nevena Velickovic, assistant professor at the Faculty of Sciences in Novi Sad and Dr Srdjan Stojnic, research associate at the Institute of Lowland Forestry and the Environment in Novi Sad.

Scientific programme of the Action is divided in five thematic units which are organized as working groups. The team from Serbia will participate in the working group focusing on the implementation of genetic markers as indicators for monitoring the state of natural populations. The work of this group will result in a unique database including the species of the European continent which are crucial for the development of genetic and genomic markers and the list of areas of special importance for the implementation of environmental protection measures (the areas which are prone to fast changes or which represent cross-border areas of species distribution).

Dr Cristiano Vernesi from Italy was appointed as the Action Chair, and during the first meeting other leaders were appointed, including a representative from Serbia – dr Nevena Velickovic who was appointed as the Science Communication Manager.

Note:

The project was obtained within the COST programme. COST is an intergovernmental framework for European cooperation in the domain of science and technology which opens space for the projects, which have already been financed at the national level and involve at least five institutions from the programme member countries, to be coordinated at the European level. COST programme financially supports the collaboration activities such as organising conferences, seminars, working group meetings, meetings of the executive boards of individual projects within the programme, participation in summer schools, as well as travel expenses for short-term scientific visits.

International Relations