In the opening part, the attendees were addressed by Bojana Krstić, Head of the Innovation Department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Ivan Zekavica, President of the Council for Cooperation between Science and Industry and Director of Festo Serbia, and Gorana Radovanović, Manager of the Helvetas office in Serbia.
The event began with a presentation of the capacities of the innovation centers of the University of Belgrade: the Innovation Center of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy (Prof. Dr. Đorđe Janaćković), the Innovation Center of the Faculty of Chemistry (Prof. Dr. Dušanka Milojković Opsenica), and the Innovation Center of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (Dr. Isak Trajković).
The program included panel discussions and the final segment “Insight Dialogue”.
Panel 1, titled “University and Industry – Capacities of Innovation Centers and Opportunities for Cooperation,” moderated by Dr. Sonja Đuričin, Scientific Advisor at the Institute of Economic Sciences, brought together representatives of the University of Belgrade’s innovation centers: Prof. Dr. Nenad Zrnić (Director of the Innovation Center of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering), Prof. Dr. Dušanka Milojković Opsenica (Deputy Director of the Innovation Center of the Faculty of Chemistry and Head of the accredited laboratory INOVALAB), and Dr. Nemanja Barać (Senior Research Associate at the Innovation Center of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy). The discussion focused on the capacities of innovation centers and existing models of cooperation with industry. Key conclusions highlighted the need to increase the number of accredited laboratories, establish long-term contractual relationships between companies and research organizations, develop an appropriate institutional and regulatory framework for introducing and implementing industrial PhD programs, redefine criteria for evaluating scientific research in the segment related to cooperation with industry, applied research and technology transfer, and ensure adequate funding for professional staff in innovation centers.
Panel 2, titled “Industry Experiences – How Cooperation with Universities Drives Innovation,” moderated by Dr. Lazar Živković, Research Associate at the Institute of Economic Sciences, gathered representatives of the business sector: Radovan Jovanović (Uniplast), Goran Volf (Minel GE), and David Mardešić (BeeCenter Belgrade). The discussion was guided by the experiences of companies in collaborating with universities, including how such cooperation is established and implemented, differences compared to developed practices, and its importance for innovation development. It was emphasized that scientific research at the national level largely relies on limited public funding, and that greater involvement of the business sector is needed, particularly in applied research.
Within the segment “Insight Dialogue – Horizons of Innovation: From Cooperation to Concrete Projects – What’s Next?”, moderated by Dr. Petar Mitić, Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Economic Sciences, and with the participation of Dr. Vladimir Todorović (Science and Technology Park Novi Sad), the next steps in improving cooperation between science and industry were discussed. In this context, the Horizons of Innovation Forum 2026, to be held on December 1 in Banja Luka, was also presented.
As a result of the event, the publication “University Innovation Centers: Capacities, Services, and Opportunities for Cooperation with Industry” was presented, providing an overview of the capacities, services, and cooperation models of the University of Belgrade’s innovation centers with the business sector. The publication is available at the following link.