Improving the Scientific Output of Serbia by training our students

1
Improving the Scientific Output of Serbiaby
training our students

• Ivana Djuretic, PhD candidate
• Harvard Medical School,
• Department of Immunology

2
Serbia lost its regional leadership role in
science in the 1990s
Study1 1993-Belgrade falls behind Zagreb,
Ljubljana, Bucharest, Sofia in the number of
published scientific articles.
Filipi-Matutinovic, Stela (1997). Vrednovanje
naucnog rada. SANU, Beograd.
Study2
Igic, Rajko (2001). Naucno-istrazivacki rad u
bivsim jugoslovenskim republikama. Kontakt.
3
Why is it important that we improve our
scientific output?

• Scientific research cures diseases, saves lives.
• Reaching the EU standards is necessary in every
  aspect of our society.

4
Can we compete with more developed countries in
scientific output?
Scientific wealth of nations
Percent of published articles
Relative performance of nations
May, RM. Science. 1997 Vol. 275 (5301)
Articles per person
5
What do the smaller countries with great relative
performance in science have in common?
They foster research in academic environments.
Think-STUDENTS! They are the driving force of
academic research.
6
Is there interest in Serbia for academic research?
Number of PhDs awarded every year
At the University of Belgrade 300?125,000 people
In the US 40,000?18,000 people
Interest in scientific research in Serbia is
comparable to that of the US.
We have the potential!
7
Harvard Medical School Campus
The center of scientific research in biological
and biomedical sciences of the world (over 10,000
researchers). Individual lab budgets-hundreds of
thousands dollars year year.

• Labs often temporarily host students from foreign
  universities.
• Even a short research experience at Harvard is
  invaluable.
• Serbian students rarely participate in such
  collaborations!

8
Taking advantage of the flourishing scientific
milieu at Harvard for educating and training our
own students
.
Lets bring Serbian undergraduate and graduate
science students to participate in research at
Harvard labs.
9
Outline of the program

• Creating a list of Harvard faculty that would
  participate in the program and provide specific
  projects, mentorship, and unlimited access to
  experimental resources.
• Contact relevant organizations and the University
  of Belgrade to select appropriate students
• Select 3-5 students per year for a 6-month stay.
• Provide funding for their living expenses.

10
The benefits will outweigh the small cost of this
program

• Personal training
• Networking (further collaborations, equipment
  donations to Serbia, nurturing interest for
  Serbian science by the worldly experts).
• Increased chances of getting acceptance for one
  of the doctoral programs in the US. They would
  become the preferred candidates among the rest of
  the international applicants.

11
Major hurdle Compensating for the living expenses

• About 1,000-1,500 per student per month
• Only 30,000/year for the initial groups!
• Reasonable amount to fund for Serbian Diaspora in
  the US and/or the Serbian government.

If you can help, let me know!