University of Novi Sad
The University of Novi Sad (UNS) was founded in 1960. It is the only state university in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, comprising 14 faculties and 3 research & developmental institutes. There are more than 50,000 students, 5,000 teaching and non-teaching staff, as well 300 study programmes at all three academic cycles. It is a comprehensive university covering all major fields of study and research. University of Novi Sad is rather active in the international collaboration field participating in both educational and research projects (ERASMUS+, HORIZON EUROPE, COST, Interreg etc). When the number of international projects in which the University has participated is concerned the University is the top leader both in the country and the region, where most of these projects were aiming at restructuring and reforming higher education processes, structures and programs. Also, UNS has become recognized as a reform-oriented university, developing intensively international cooperation with universities and other institutions in the area of higher education and having considerable experience in implementing academic mobility programs. University of Novi Sad has also gained considerable visibility in the international research arena and has become widely recognized as excellent University due to its strategic orientation towards becoming more research-oriented university which is reflected in the active participation of its researchers in EU funded research programmes and co-publishing scientific papers with their fellow colleagues in international scientific journals. One of the bright examples proving this is the first teaming project selected under HORIZON 2020 programme at University of Novi Sad initiated by University’s BIOSENSE Institute Centre of Excellence for Advanced Technologies in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security (ANTARES) by which it has become the only University in the region implementing this prestigious project.
Role: University of Novi Sad (UNS), being located in one of the Widening Countries, represents the direct beneficiary of all activites foreseen in the Project, by recruiting its academic and non-academic staff for participation in the capacity building workshops and trainings and mobilities for enhancing their transversal skills and raising the quality of service offered to researchers . Apart from this, UNS is the leader of the Task 2.3: Access to Shared Resources, which aimes at fostering synergies between academic research and industrial innovation, leading to the co-creation of new knowledge and technologies identifying potential research partners, defining joint research agendas, and establishing collaborative frameworks
Ana Šoti
Ana Šoti is Head of the Research and Project Management Office of the University of Novi Sad and in the past fourteen years has been responsible for managing TEMPUS, FP, IPA, ERASMUS+, HORIZON 2020 etc. various types of short-term educational and university services’ development projects, workshops and conferences, database of projects. She also directly participated in University’s Tempus projects related to university reforms in various segments (teaching, quality control, management) and entrepreneurship (management, link toward enterprises), as well as co-coordinated UNS’s participation in ERASMUS MUNDUS EXTERNAL COOPERATION WINDOW / Action 2 mobility programme – BASILEUS. She was a co-writer and member of the coordinating team for the TEMPUS projects SIPUS and was also directly involved in the implementation of the Tempus project FUSE, the two projects aiming at internationalisation policies advancement, thus from the very beginning being directly involved in interantionalisation processes at the University of Novi Sad. She is the co-writer and administrator of the ERASMUS+ project Boosting Engagement of Serbian Universities in Open Science (BE-OPEN) dealing with implementaton of Open Science principles at Serbian universities, further of the ERASMUS+ project A Knowledge Alliance of Agribusinesses, Academia and Business Angels for Disruptive Farm-to-Fork Agri-Tech Training (AgTech7). Currently she has been an Insttuional manager within the European univerisites projekct EUGLOH, and a team member of HORIZON project Boosting R&I Talent Interoperability and Employability in Europe (BRITE-EU).
Biljana Pajin
Prof. Dr. Biljana Pajin is a full professor in the Food Engineering program at the Faculty of Technology in Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad. At all three levels of study, she teaches courses related to confectionery and specialty fats for this industry, supervising many of theses at the undergraduate and master’s levels. Under her mentorship, six doctoral dissertations in the field of food engineering have been completed. She is also a co-author and author of several textbooks and practical guides. Independently or as a co-author, she has published 10 monographic publications and over 240 scientific and professional papers in both domestic and international journals, as well as at scientific conferences. She has participated in one Horizon Europe project as a manager of project related to legal, financial and administrative affairs, three IPA cross-border cooperation projects as well as two Erasmus projects. She has also led or participated in several bilateral projects and over 25 national projects. Her scientific work is evidenced by over 70 papers listed in the SCI database. Her h-index is 20.
Bojan Batinić
Bojan Batinić works as a project management officer at Research and Project management Office of the University of Novi Sad and in the past four years has been responsible for managing of IPA, ERASMUS+, HORIZON 2020, Horizon Europe projects.
He has extensive experience in financial management of international projects implemented at the University of Novi Sad, monitors financial implementation of projects’ activities and monitors the application of international and national regulations regarding project implementation.
His work focuses on supporting project coordinators in sound financial implementation of projects.
Dana Živković
Dana Živković is project officer at the Research and Project Management Office of the University of Novi Sad. She primarily deals with legal issues within the implementation of international projects such as intellectual and industrial property rights and contractual liability and runs negotiations for conclusion of international project agreements. She is also in charge of monitoring project implementation and project management and administration tasks as well as creation of different legal documents, forms and procedures for project implementation and research activities and harmonisation of internal regulations with EU legislation in the field of international projects. She was a team member of various ERASMUS+ projects: “A Knowledge Alliance of Agribusiness, Academia and Business Angels for Disruptive Farm-to-Fork Agri-Tech Training“ (AgTech7), “ENhanced Learning and teaching in International Virtual Environments“ (ENLIVEN), “Enhancing the digital competencies and entrepreneurship skills of academic musicians in Serbia for culturally more engaged society“ (DEMUSIS), “Curricula Development in the Fields of Reproductive Biology/Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Regenerative Medicine in Serbia“ (ART-REM) and “Implementation of Dual Education in Higher Education of Serbia“ (DualEdu). Currently, she is a team member of European universities project EUGLOH and HORIZON project “Boosting R&I Talent Interoperability and Employability in Europe” (BRITE-EU).
Dejan Madić
Dr. Dejan Madić, full professor and current Rector, has managed and/or participated in a number of organisations and bodies at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, UNS, and international organisations. He was engaged as a consultant for educational reforms in the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, a member of the Working Group for drafting the Law on Sports of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, coordinator for School Sports of the Commission for Development of Strategy for the Development of Sport in Vojvodina of the Secretariat for Sports and Youth of AP Vojvodina.
Otilija Sedlak
Otilija Sedlak is a Full Professor at the Department of Quantitative Methods in Economics at the Faculty of Economics in Subotica, University of Novi Sad. Since October 2024, she has been serving as Vice-Rector for International Cooperation at the University of Novi Sad. She teaches at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels in courses closely aligned with her scientific interests, including Operations Research, Financial and Actuarial Mathematics, Mathematics for Economists, Quantitative Methods in Economics and Management, and Risk Management.
Željka Cvejić
Dr. Željka Cvejić is a Full Professor at the Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad. Her research is centered on experimental condensed matter physics, with a particular focus on nanostructure ferrite materials and MXene-based systems developed for applications in sensors, electrodes, and advanced biointerfaces. She is also engaged in interdisciplinary research connecting physics with biomedicine, including the use of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques in the analysis of soft biological tissues. In the field of clinical optometry and vision science, Dr. Cvejić investigates visual behavior, wavefront aberrations, corneal imaging, and the outcomes of modern refractive and cataract procedures such as LASIK and FLACS, contributing to prevention-oriented and technology-supported approaches in eye care. She teaches physics, nanoscience, spectroscopy, and clinical optometry at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. Dr. Cvejić has authored over 60 SCI-indexed journal publications, contributed to academic textbooks and book chapters, and delivered several invited lectures at international conferences. She actively participates in national and European research initiatives and promotes interdisciplinary education in vision science and digital health. Total citations: 888; h-index: 16 (Google scholar, February 2026) Through the BRITE project, she contributes to strengthening European research capacity, fostering interdisciplinary training, and advancing innovative solutions for future healthcare challenges.
Zita Šeres
Prof. Dr. Zita Šeres completed her undergraduate, master's and then doctoral studies at the Faculty of Technology in Novi Sad. Immediately after graduation, since 1997, she worked at the Faculty of Technology as a scholarship holder of the Ministry of Science and Technological Development. Since 2000, she has been employed at the Faculty of Technology in Novi Sad as an assistant trainee and assistant, as well as an assistant professor and associate professor. She has been a full professor since 2019 in the scientific field of Food Engineering. Zita Šeres teaches 9 subjects at all three levels of study, in the Food Engineering and Chemical Engineering study programs. So far, she has been the mentor of a large number of final, diploma and master theses, 4 doctoral dissertations, and is currently supervising the preparation of 2 doctoral dissertations. She has participated in a total of 18 scientific and 4 professional-educational projects (1 Horizon Europe, 4 IPA CBC projects, 1 ERASMUS). She managed 3 IPA CBC projects in the period 2013 – 2014, 2020 – 2022 and 2024- current. In addition, she was the manager of 2 short-term projects of the Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research and 1 bilateral project. She was participating in the HORIZON EUROPE Twinning project, under the acronym TwiNSol-CECs, where she had the role of project manager for strategic issues. Also within the EUGLOCH Erasmus project, she is the holder of Program Package 7 at the University of Novi Sad level, where she is responsible for working on the University strategy. Zita Šeres is the author and co-author of a total of 269 publications with a total score of 715.1. She is the author of two textbooks and one auxiliary textbook, and co-author of 70 papers in international journals of M20 category, 14 technical solutions, as well as numerous papers and announcements at international and national conferences. According to data from the e-Science platform, the citation rate is 573, and according to data from SCOPUS, the h-index is 20.
Nataša Ɖurišić-Mladenović
Dr. Nataša Ɖurišić-Mladenović is an Associate Professor at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technology Novi Sad. She has extensive experience in environmental science, including the application of chromatographic methods for contaminant monitoring and (bio)waste-to-energy valorization. She has supervised dozens of BSc and MSc theses and is currently mentoring three PhD candidates. She coordinated the Horizon Europe project TwiNSol-CECs (Grant Agreement No. 101069867; 2022–2025), focused on strengthening the capacities of the Faculty of Technology Novi Sad in the area of contaminants of emerging concern. She also served as Communication Coordinator in the FP7 CEFSER project (GA229629; 2009–2012), which aimed to establish a Centre of Excellence in Food Safety. In addition, she was the lead scientist for the Serbian team in a bilateral project with Germany (2020–2021) in the field of bioenergy/bioeconomy. Dr. Ɖurišić-Mladenović is the Coordinator of the Chemical Contaminants Unit within the Laboratory for Testing Food Products at the Faculty. She has chaired several scientific events and has served on the organizing committees of numerous scientific events at the Faculty of Technology Novi Sad. Since 2025, she has been a member of the Editorial Board of Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry. Publications and metrics (as co-author): 50 SCI-indexed journal articles, 2 book chapters in international monographs, 1 student book, 1 supplementary student textbook, and numerous papers in national journals and conference proceedings. Total citations: 1,207; h-index: 20 (Scopus, February 2026).