A new stage of closer cooperation between JINR and the Republic of Serbia started on 20 April 2007 when the Agreement between the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the Ministry of Science and Environment of the Republic of Serbia was signed. At the same time, ties between JINR and Yugoslavian, later Serbian, scientists have existed for a very long time.

Dubna, 26 March 2009. JINR Director Acad. A.N. Sissakian and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Serbia to the Russian Federation Prof. J. Kurjak signed a Protocol on stimulation of joint work in the framework of the Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and JINR

Belgrade (Serbia), May 2009. JINR Director Acad. A.N. Sissakian, Prof. A. Dobrosavljević, FLNR Scientific Leader Acad. Yu.Ts. Oganessian, JINR Vice-Director Prof. M.G. Itkis at the “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences

BLTP
Scientific collaboration between the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics (BLTP) JINR and the “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences (VINS) has a long history. In 1970 – 1990, scientists from the Theoretical Department of VINS, Dr. S. Stamenković, Dr. G. Vujičić and Dr. F. Vukajlović worked in BLTP. In collaboration with BLTP scientists N.M. Plakida and V.L. Aksenov they developed a unified theory of ferroelectrics and proposed a theory of high-temperature superconductivity. The results of these studies were published in journals, such as Physical Review, J. of Physics C, Physica and others, and were discussed in the monograph: V.L. Aksenov, N.M. Plakida and S. Stamenković “Neutron Scattering in Ferroelectrics” (Singapore, World Scientific, 1989). In 1993 – 2003, a scientist from the University of Montenegro, Dr. Ž. Kovaćević worked at BLTP. He obtained important results in the theory of high-temperature superconductors with impurities. It should be pointed out that in these investigations scientists from other countries – Hungary, Poland and Germany – participated as well.

Presently, scientists from VINS Dr. S. Galović and Dr. D. Čevizović are working at BLTP within the project «Тransport properties in nanosystems». They have studied photothermal and photoacoustic effects in nanostructured solids. The results of these investigations were published in the journal “Physica Scripta” and presented at the XVI International Conference on Photoacoustic and Photothermal Phenomena (27.11 – 01.12. 2011).

VBLHEP

Cooperation of our laboratory with the Yugoslav physicists was initiated by the visit of Slobodan Backović. In 1975, he began to study the processes of multi-particle production at high energies in the group headed by Prof. V.G. Grishin. S. Backović was actively involved in analyzing and processing of experimental data obtained with the 2-meter propane bubble chamber in a beam of negative pions at the energy of 40 GeV at the U-70 accelerator in IHEP, Protvino. This topic was very urgent at that period and many theoreticians and experimentalists from republics of the Soviet Union and JINR Member States were involved. The “Propane Collaboration” has been and remains the largest in the history of Dubna. Very soon S. Backović defended his Ph.D. thesis and returned to Montenegro where he became Rector of the University in Podgorica, Minister of Science and Education and Ambassador of Montenegro to the Russian Federation. For many years, S. Backović has visited, worked productively and published papers in prestigious journals together with the Dubna colleagues.

In 1979, Ljiljana Simić from the Institute of Physics, Belgrade, arrived to the same group. The area of her interests was study of relativistic nucleus-nucleus interactions. Many important scientific results were published and presented at large international conferences. It should be noted that in addition to S. Backović and Lj. Simić, many their graduate students and colleagues (including the University of Belgrade) have visited the Laboratory of High Energy including Dragan Krpić, Denis Salihagić, Nataša Raicević, Goran Škoro, Ana Bokan, and others. When meeting them at various forums, we always fondly remember our senior colleagues and the youth, not just physics.

Our colleagues acknowledge that working together on the 2m propane chamber had a major impact on development of high energy physics in the former Yugoslavia. And although many years have passed and the old experiments have gone down in history, we are continuing to work together at the physics frontiers by participating in the ATLAS experiment at LHC, CERN (Geneva).

FLNR
In 1994б the Agreement on Cooperation between the FLNR JINR, the “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences and the Institute of Physics, Belgrade, was signed, which covered 16 scientific and technological spheres, 4 of which referred to development, constructing and using the TESLA accelerator facility. Later on, the University of Belgrade (two faculties – of physics and electrical engineering) and the Lola Institute joined this Agreement.

Thus, since 1994 Dr. Krunoslav Subotić, leading researcher of the “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences, has been participating in the experiments on investigation of the heaviest nuclei, which are performed using the gas-filled separator by group № 1 of FLNR JINR. He makes an important contribution to calculation of parameters of the separator, performing of experiments, data analysis, and discussion of results. With his participation the superheavy elements from 113 to 118 were synthesized for the first time in the fusion reactions of Ca-48 with actinide nuclei including elements 114 and 116, the discovery of which was officially recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in 2011.

In February 2010, the 1st Coordination Meeting on the programme of cooperation between Serbia and JINR «Condensed Matter Physics with Ion Beams» was held in Dubna, which resulted in elaboration of 5 joint projects between JINR scientists and those from the “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade, in which about 50 specialists from both sides were involved. This Institute actively collaborates with FLNR. FLNR specialists visit Belgrade regularly. Also, JINR is visited by the specialists from the “Vinča” Institute.

FLNP
Collaboration of the Sector of NAA and Applied Research (SNAA&AR) of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics with Serbia started in 1998, with the University of Novi Sad. Prof. Miodrag Krmar (physicist) and Dragan Radnović (biologist) were interested in the biomonitoring programme “Atmospheric Heavy Metal Deposition Study in Europe – an assessment based on moss analysis” and joined a large consortium of the JINR Member States working in this field. They voluntary undertook moss sampling over the Northern Serbia, including one of the most polluted places in Europe, the copper mines in Bor. Moss samples were subject to NAA at the IBR-2 reactor, FLNP JINR. This was the first systematic moss survey in Serbia in 2000, followed by the second one in 2005 and the third one in 2010.

A team of physicists led by Dr. Mirjana Tasić involved in the environmental studies at the Institute of Physics of the University of Belgrade began collaboration with SNAA&AR in 2003, due to their interest in applying nuclear analytical techniques, namely, NAA in Dubna for assessing the environmental situation in Belgrade, especially after the tragic bombardment of Belgrade by the NATO military forces. Experience of SNAA&AR in active (using moss-bags) biomonitoring and multi-element NAA in Dubna of exposed moss bags from Belgrade helped colleagues in Belgrade to develop the methodology of this technique. It resulted in a series of papers well accepted by the international journals. The experimental material served as the basis firstly for Master thesis “Moss as bioindicator of air pollution in urban area by heavy metals and other elements” by Mira Aničić (under the joint supervision by Drs. Milica Tomasević (Belgrade) and Marina Frontasyeva (JINR), and finally for her PhD thesis “Active biomonitoring of trace element atmospheric deposition in urban area using moss Sphagnum girgensohnii Russow”, supervised by Prof. Aleksandar Popović (at that time Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning of Serbia) and the above mentioned scientists.

Extension of contacts with Serbian scientists in radioecology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Belgrade (Prof. Dragana Popović and others) led to an interesting multidisciplinary study in Kosovo affected by the depleted uranium in 2000. A combination of radiometry of natural and man-made radionulides carried out in Belgrade and multi-element NAA of various environmental samples (cow’s milk, vegetation, soil and moss) in Dubna allowed obtaining a complex set of data with high impact factors accepted for publication in the international journals.

In 2009, on the initiative of the Serbian team (Mirjana Tasić, Milica Tomasević, Slavica Rajšić, Mira Aničić) an international project “Revitalization of urban ecosystems through vascular plants: assessment of technogenic pollution impact” by Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Turkey was successfully launched in the framework of the Black-Sea Economic Council Programme. In 2011, the same consortium together with a few more countries (Croatia, Macedonia, Germany and Norway) applied for the EU COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) programme with a network project in the same field of investigation.

In 2010, SNAA&AR and the team from the Institute of Belgrade began to implement a project “Atmospheric deposition study in street canyons of Belgrade and Moscow” financed from the Serbian fee to JINR. Moss bags with clean moss from the Domkino Bay of the Moscow Sea was exposed for two months at the level of 1, 3, and 6 floor of many-storied buildings in the districts of Moscow and Belgrade with intense vehicle traffic. NAA of these samples was performed in December 2011 cycle of the modernized reactor IBR-2.

Since 2011, SNAA&AR has been participating in the subproject “An integral research on the air quality in urban areas” of the National Project of Serbia “Investigation of climate change and its influences on environment – monitoring influences, adaptation, and offsets” (2011-2014). Dubna team is included in the consortium for application to the EU (FP7 2012-2013-1) funded Regpot project “Reinforcing a center for atomic and molecular physics in nonequilibrium systems and their application in plasma medicine, micro discharges, nanotechnology, antimatter studies and environmental science” proposed by the Center for Nonequilibrium processes of the Institute of Physics University of Belgrade, Serbia (coordinator of the project – Prof. Zoran Petrović).

In 2011, a researcher from the University of Novi Sad Nikola Jovančevič started to master the original method to investigate super-fluid properties of nuclei of different types (form, parity of nucleon number, excitation energy) developed at the Sector of neutron-nuclear interactions’ investigations of the Nuclear Physics Department of FLNP. At present, only measurement of the intensity of two-quantum gamma-cascades of capture of thermal and resonance neutrons with the following extraction of level density and radiative strength functions of dipole transitions gives the most favourable conditions to investigate this process. In the framework of cooperation with Serbia the experiments at the IREN neutron beam and the total analysis of obtained data are planned.

Сooperation between the Department of Neutron Investigations of Condensed Matter (DNICM) FLNP JINR and the University of Novi Sad (Yugoslavia) was started in 2000 and validated by Protocol № 3312-4-00/03 on joint research activities signed by the JINR Director at that time V.G. Kadyshevsky and by the Rector of University of Novi Sad Svetolik Abramov. The joint scientific activities provided structure and texture investigations of crystalline and polycrystalline materials in a wide range of temperatures and pressures, as well as determination of isotopic composition of materials by means of nuclear spectroscopy. The persons responsible were Prof. Anatoly Nikitin (FLNP JINR) and Dr. Miodrag Krmar (Yugoslavia).

Cooperation includes friendly visits of Serbian colleagues and JINR scientists, and in this respect the FLNP researchers Prof. Anatoly Nikitin and Dr. Tatiana Ivankina visited Serbia in September, 2008. The purpose was to make perspective plans for expansion of cooperation between the FLNP JINR and scientific organizations of Serbia.

September 2008. JINR Prof.A.N.Nikitin (left) and Prof.Dragan Popović, Director of the Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade (right)

In the laboratories of the Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade

Serbian scientists take part in the research work on the following themes of the Topical plan for JINR research and international cooperation for the year 2023:

• Theoretical Physics
  “Fundamental Interactions of Fields and Particles”
  leaders: D.I. Kazakov, O.V. Teryaev,
  on the Serbian side – Belgrade Univ.;
  
  “Theory of Nuclear Systems”
  leaders: N.V. Antonenko, S.N. Ershov, A.A. Dzhioev,
  on the Serbian side – IPB;
  
  “Theory of Complex Systems and Advanced Materials”
  leaders: V.A. Osipov, A.M. Povolotskii,
  on the Serbian side – INS “VINČA”;
  
  “Dubna International Advanced School of Theoretical Physics (DIAS-TH)”
  leader: I.G. Pirozhenko,
  on the Serbian side – IPB, Belgrade Univ.
• Elementary Particle Physics and Relativistic Nuclear Physics
  “CMS. Compact Muon Solenoid at the LHC”
  leader: V.Yu. Karjavin,
  on the Serbian side – INS “VINČA”;
  
  “NICA Complex: Design and Construction of the Complex of Accelerators, Collider and Physics Experimental Facilities at Extracted and Colliding Ion Beams Aimed at Studying Dense Baryonic Matter and the Spin Structure of Nucleons and Light Ions, and at Carrying out Applied and Innovation Projects”
  leaders: V.D. Kekelidze, A.S. Sorin, G.V. Trubnikov,
  on the Serbian side – Belgrade Univ.
• Nuclear Physics
  “Development of the FLNR Accelerator Complex and Experimental Setups (DRIBS-III)”
  leaders: I.V. Kalagin, S.N. Dmitriev, S.I. Sidorchuk,
  on the Serbian side – INS “VINČA”;
  
  “Investigations of Neutron Nuclear Interactions and Properties of the Neutron”
  leaders: E.V. Lychagin,
  on the Serbian side – IPB, Belgrade Univ., UNS.
• Condensed Matter Physics, Radiation and Radiobiological Research
  “Investigations of functional materials and nanosystems using neutron scattering”
  leaders: D.P. Kozlenko, V.L. Aksenov, A.M. Balagurov,
  on the Serbian side – INS “VINČA”;
  
  “Modern Trends and Developments in Raman Microspectroscopy and Photoluminescence for Condensed Matter Studies”
  leaders: G.M. Arzumanyan, N. Kučerka,
  on the Serbian side – Belgrade Univ.;
  
  “Radiation Physics, Radiochemistry, and Nanotechnology Investigations Using Beams of Accelerated Heavy Ions”
  leaders: S.N. Dmitriev, P.Yu. Apel (FLNR),
  on the Serbian side – INS “VINČA”;
  
  “Research on the Biological Effects of Heavy Charged Particles of Different Energies”
  leaders: E.A. Krasavin, А.N. Bugay,
  on the Serbian side – INS “VINČA”, Belgrade Univ.
• Networking, computing, computational physics
  “Information and Computing Infrastructure of JINR”
  leader: V.V. Korenkov,
  on the Serbian side – Belgrade Univ.;
  
  “Methods, Algorithms and Software for Modeling Physical Systems, Mathematical Processing and Analysis of Experimental Data”
  leaders: Gh. Adam, P.V. Zrelov,
  on the Serbian side – Belgrade Univ.;
  
  “Information and Computing Infrastructure of JINR”
  leaders: V.A. Matveev, S.N. Nedelko,
  on the Serbian side – UNS.
• Educational Programme
  “Organization, Support and Development of the JINR Educational Programme”
  leaders: G.V. Trubnikov, V.A. Matveev, A.Yu. Verkheev,
  on the Serbian side – UNS.

The Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) was established to solve current issues concerning the Serbian-JINR cooperation and includes three permanent representatives from each side and experts appointed due to specific tasks of the next committee.

At present, the Joint Coordination Committee includes:

From JINR

• Prof. R.Lednický, Vice-Director,
• Prof. S.N.Dmitriev, FLNR Director,
• Dr. D.V.Kamanin, Head of the International Cooperation Department;

From the Republic of Serbia

• Dr. Srdjan Petrović, Coordinator on the Serbian-JINR Cooperation from the Serbian side, JCC member responsible for the joint research in the field of “Condensed Matter Physics” – Principal Researcher of the “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences.
• Dr. Ljiljana Simić, JCC member responsible for the joint research in the field of “Particle Physics” – Principal Researcher of the Institute of Physics Belgrade.
• Dr. Mirjana Tasić, JCC member responsible for the joint research in the field of “Nuclear Physics” – Principal Researcher of the Institute of Physics Belgrade.

A Meeting of the 1st Coordination Committee on cooperation between JINR and Serbia was held at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research on 23 June 2010.

A Meeting of the 2nd Coordination Committee on cooperation between JINR and Serbia was held in Belgrade in March 2011.

Thus, fruitful scientific cooperation of Serbian physicists with JINR scientists continues to grow and mature. Due to this cooperation, new opportunities to develop direct contacts with the largest accelerating centers of the world open to scientists from the Republic of Serbia.

At present, JINR actively cooperates with the following organizations of the Republic of Serbia:

• “VINČA” Institute of Nuclear Sciences
• Institute of Physics Belgrade of the University of Belgrade
• University of Belgrade
• University of Novi Sad

The Representative of the government of the Republic of Serbia to JINR from 2011 to the present day is Professor Radivoje Mitrović, State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia.

Radivoje Mitrović was born on 11 March 1957. In 1988 he became Master of Science in “Machine Design” at the University of Belgrade; in 1992 he defended PhD at the University of Belgrade.

He is the participant of many scientific conferences in the field of Rolling Bearings, Tribology, Machine Design, Construction Integrity, Technical regulations and standards, etc. He is the author and co-author of many papers published in conference proceedings and journals and the laureate of many prizes.

Main Scientific Achievements

As a Professor and as a Chief of Machine Design Department, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade, R.Mitrović upgraded the existing center and established a new laboratory LIMES (Laboratory for testing of machine elements and systems). The laboratory is accredited by the EU standards for Rolling bearing testing and control, such as Dimension, Vibration, Radial clearing, Hardness, Residual magnetism, etc. A special part of the new laboratory is the dynamic materials testing with a new state-of-the-art servo-hydraulic dynamic testing machine Zwick HB 250. In the laboratory not only specimens but real machine parts and elements with the dimensions up to 1600 mm can be tested.

http://www.danas.rs/konf2009/obrazovanje/biografije.779.html

At present, Nebojša Nešković, Vice-President of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS); Chief Researcher, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, is the Representative of the Serbian Government to the Scientific Council of JINR.

• New Year’s Day – 1-2 January;
• Orthodox Christmas – 7 January;
• Saint Sava Day – 27 January (working holiday);
• Serbia National Day (Statehood Day), Candlemas – 15 February;
• Orthodox Great Friday – 22 April (2011); 13 April (2012);
• Orthodox Great Saturday – 23 April (2011); 14 April ( 2012);
• Orthodox Easter – 24 April (2011); 15 April (2012);
• Orthodox Easter Monday – 25 April (2011); 16 April (2012);
• May Day (International Worker’s Day) – 1-2 May;
• Europe Day (Victory Day) – 9 May (working holiday);
• Saint Vitus Day – 28 June (working holiday).

• On 30 November – 1 December, the 9th meeting of the JINR-Serbia Joint Coordination Committee on Cooperation (JCC) took place in Belgrade as part of the visit of the Institute’s delegation to the Republic of Serbia
• On 4 October 2023, the 12th Collaboration Meeting of the MPD Experiment at the NICA Facility started at the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences in Belgrade
• On 3 October 2023, a JINR delegation met with high-ranking science leaders of the Republic of Serbia in Belgrade. The meeting focused on discussing a wide range of issues related to enhancing the scientific and practical cooperation between JINR and Serbian scientific organizations with the primary goal of gradually advancing Serbia’s status in JINR from an Associate Member to a fully-fledged Member State
• On 18 May 2023, an international working meeting on the development of the University Centre JINR project “Open information and educational environment to support fundamental and applied interdisciplinary research at JINR” took place at UC JINR. Representatives of universities of the JINR Member States and Associate Members took part in the event
• On 22 – 24 February 2023, the JINR delegation led by Vice-Director Vladimir Kekelidze worked in Belgrade. The regular, 8th meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee on Cooperation was dedicated to the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Vinča Institute. The meeting of the Committee took place on 23 February 2023 at the Vinča Institute. Director of the Institute Snežana Pajović and JINR Vice-Director Vladimir Kekelidze welcomed participants
• From 22 to 24 February 2023, a JINR delegation led by Vice-Director Vladimir Kekelidze visited Belgrade on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the widely known Serbian scientific organization the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences. Festive events were held on 22 February at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
• From 19 to 22 September 2022, the World Conference on Basic Sciences and Sustainable Development was held in Belgrade, Serbia. The event became one of the main events of the Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD 2022). A delegation of the Joint Institute, co-organizer of IYBSSD 2022, attended the Conference
• On 28 April 2022, the Workshop “Computational biology and physics” was held, at which issues of scientific cooperation between the Laboratory of Radiation Biology JINR, the Laboratory of Information Technologies JINR, and scientific organizations of Serbia were discussed
• From 24 to 28 December 2021, representatives from the University of Belgrade visited the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems. Elena Radovanovic, a professor of the Faculty of Physical Electronics, and Milena Micic, an undergraduate student, spent four days in Dubna at the DLNP invitation
• On 22 November, an Action Plan for advance of the Republic of Serbia to full membership in the Joint Institute was signed at the session of the Committee of Plenipotentiary Representatives of the Governments of the JINR Member States (CP) in Bulgaria
• From 8 to 12 November 2021, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research is holding the 19th international training programme “JINR Expertise for Member States and Partner Countries” (JEMS-19)
• On 11 February 2021, JINR Vice-Director Richard Lednický had a video conference meeting with State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia Marijana Dukić Mijatović
• On 9 December 2020, representatives of Serbia took part in a representative international workshop devoted to the conception of JINR Information Centres
• On 2 March 2020, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia to the Russian Federation Mr Slavoljub Carić came for a fact-finding visit to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
• A delegation of representatives of the Cabinet of Minister for Innovation and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia visited JINR for the first time on 18 November 2019
• On 17 – 18 October 2019, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia Vladimir Popović accompanied by Assistant Minister Victor Nedović and a group of Serbian scientists visited the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
• On 11 September 2019, a meeting of a delegation representing the Republic of Serbia with representatives of the JINR leadership was held
• The international training course, which took place from 17 to 21 April 2017 and participants of which were 11 scientific and administrative specialists from Associated Members and Partner Countries of JINR (Egypt, Zambia, Oman, Russia, Serbia and Tunisia) came to an end
• The 4th Session of the Joint Coordination Committee on cooperation between JINR and the Republic of Serbia was held as a videoconference on 9 February 2017
• On 28 October 2015, the press tour for journalists from England, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, India, China, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, France and the Republic of South Africa was held in JINR
• The third stage of the international student practice that ended in the JINR University Centre on 24 September 2014 gathered in Dubna students from Belarus, Serbia and the Republic of South Africa
• The 3rd Meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee on cooperation between JINR and Serbia was held on 22 April 2014 in the “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences in Belgrade
• Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Jovanović received Head of the International Cooperation Department Dmitri Kamanin and the Serbian Coordinator of cooperation with JINR Cerjan Petrović from the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences on 8 November 2013 in Belgrade
• Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Serbia to RF Slavenko Terzić accompanied by First Counselor of the Embassy Momčilo Zercović and Defence Attaché Zoran Stojković visited JINR on 6 November 2013
• Coordinator of JINR-Serbia cooperation agreement from the Serbian side S.Petrović (the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade) visited JINR on 13-23 June 2012
• On 28-30 March 2011 a JINR delegation visited  Belgrade, Serbia and the 2nd Joint Coordination Committee on the JINR-Serbia cooperation took place
• On 23 June 2010 a Meeting of the 1st Coordination Committee on cooperation between JINR and Serbia was held at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
• The 1st coordination meeting on the program of collaboration between Serbia and JINR “Condensed matter physics with ion beams” was held at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions on 25-27 February 2010
• On 18-20 May 2009 the official delegation headed by the JINR Director Academician A. Sissakian paid a visit to the Republic of Serbia