News

BIOLAWEB workshop on writing successful European project proposals, financial management, and project reporting at ICTM (April 4-6, 2023)

The 3-day workshop within the BIOLAWEB project was held by Hervé Dumont, Antoine Moatti, and Louise Vaast from the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) at ICTM in Belgrade. Interactive courses were intended for the International Cooperation and Project Office (ICPO) staff, experienced and early-stage researchers at ICTM. The audience was pleased to hear about launching the new Annotated Grant Agreement, a user guide for the EU Model Grant Agreements, on 1^st April 2023 and to find out how to build a competitive proposal for different European programs. On the second and third days, the workshop attendees were trained in financial management, project reporting, and preparation of consortium agreement.

BIOLAWEB project – latest events

The second expert visit related to the development of the Strategy for biomonitoring organized within the BIOLAWEB project

On March 27th and 28th, the researchers from the ICTM, as a coordinating institution of the BIOLAWEB project, had the privilege and pleasure to host partners from NIVA (Norwegian Institute for Water Research) and INRAE (French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment), as a part of the expert visit.

The goal of the visit was to define the first strategic steps for stepping up and stimulating scientific excellence in biomonitoring at ICTM and to discuss the first results of the questionnaire on the short and long-term research needs of the institute. The results obtained will serve as the basis for creating a tailor-made scientific strategy for the ICTM in the next phases of the BIOLAWEB project. During the second day of the expert visit, colleagues from partner institutions talked with ICTM researchers who were interested in helping the BIOLAWEB team to outline scientific strategies and formulate new joint research projects in the future.

BIOLAWEB project organized the first roundtable related to biomonitoring in Serbia

The first roundtable related to biomonitoring in Serbia, organized on March 28th at the premises of the ICTM by the BIOALWEB project, gathered together international experts from NIVA and INRAE, with relevant stakeholders responsible for water bodies in Serbia and their monitoring.

Issues related to the biomonitoring of surface waters in Serbia were discussed, as well as the possibility of implementing new methods, such as DNA metabarcoding. Participants together tried to identify the needs and problems of all stakeholders.

One of the BIOLAWEB goals is to establish good communication and cooperation with the institutions in Serbia relevant to biomonitoring. This will set the base for the future advance in the field of water bodies management in Serbia.

The Second consortium meeting of the BIOLAWEB project

The second BIOLAWEB consortium meeting took place in Belgrade on the 28th of March 2023, at the premises of ICTM. Partners from three consortium institutions participated in the meeting, ICTM, NIVA, and INRAE.

Discussions during the meeting were very productive. The progress during the past six months was analyzed, and the activities planned for the next six months of the project were presented.

The first workshop organized by the BIOLAWEB project on the topic: Metabarcoding of diatoms and phytoplankton for biomonitoring

The BIOLAWEB project organized the first workshop on "Metabarcoding of diatoms and phytoplankton for biomonitoring" from March 29-31, 2023, at the ICTM. The workshop was a hybrid event attended by almost 110 participants, of which about 60 were included via the ZOOM application.

The workshop was led by scientists from the French National Institute for Food, Agriculture and Environment (INRAE), Dr. Clarisse Lemonnier, Dr. Frédéric Rimet, Dr Agnès Bouchez, and Dr Benjamin Alric, the leading experts in the field of metabarcoding for biomonitoring.

Participants gained valuable knowledge about state-of-the-art science, general aspects of metabarcoding for biomonitoring, and specific methods and challenges in diatom and phytoplankton metabarcoding. Furthermore, being together with colleagues from different regions, institutions, and fields of science, this event gave us a chance to get to know each other better, discuss interesting subjects, and make plans for future cooperation.

BIOLAWEB team was delighted to have a chance to host such great lecturers and numerous guests.

The success of our researchers - the approved projects within the "Green Program of Science and Business Cooperation" program of the Science Fund

The Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia has published the final list of projects financed in the next two years as part of the "Green Program of Cooperation between Science and Business." This program is intended to provide practical support for the cooperation of science and the economic sector, based on available scientific potential, as well as support for sustainable development and raising environmental quality.

Within the evaluation procedure, carried out in two stages, 20 projects were selected for financing. ICTM is proud to coordinate the project OxyRePair - Renewal of the Waste Oxygen-Evolving anodes from Hydrometallurgy and their improved Activity for Hydrogen Economy, Wastewater and Soil Remediation, with our colleague Dr. Vladimir Panić as a PI. The University of Belgrade - Faculty of Organizational Sciences, the State University in Novi Pazar, the University of Prishtina - Faculty of Technical Sciences, and the Innovation Center of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade will participate as partners in the project.

ICTM will also participate as a partner in three projects: Step2PolyGreen - A step to green polyester products: Sustainable solutions for everyday objects (the lead SRO is the University of Kragujevac - Faculty of Technical Sciences in Čačak, a PI is Pavle Spasojević,  partners are Innovation Center of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade, ICTM and the Innovation Center of the Faculty of Chemistry in Belgrade), STABILISE - Sustainable deployment of biomass catalytic gasification technology to increase the utilization of renewable energy in the Serbian industry (the lead SRO is Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences - University of in Belgrade, PI is Dejan Cvetinović, partners are ICTM and University of Belgrade - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) and PhytoPFAS - Phytoremediation for in situ treatment of agricultural soil and  surface waters polluted with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – research on PFOS and PFOA as model compounds (the lead SRO is the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry, PI is Vladimir Beškoski, partners are ICTM, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Physical Chemistry and University of Belgrade - Faculty of Medicine).

Congratulations to all the teams! We wish them a lot of success in the realization of the planned activities!

Invitation to the conference - 10th World Conference on Physico Chemical Methods in Drug Discovery and Development

We are pleased to announce that the 10^th World Conference on Physico Chemical Methods in Drug Discovery and Development and 6^th World Conference on ADMET and DMPK will take place in Belgrade at the University of Belgrade Rectorate building on September 4-6, 2023. The conferences are organized as a part of the 10^th Meeting of the International Association of Physical Chemists (IAPC) with IAPC and the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry as co-organizers. The aim of this joint event is to provide an opportunity for the world scientific community closely related to pharmaceutical research, to come together and in a warm and stimulating atmosphere, present their original work and share experiences and problems. More specifically, the aim of the meeting is to address the most advanced directions and new achievements in physico-chemical methods, which underlie almost all instrumental techniques used in the research processes in drug discovery and pharmaceutical development. Some of the world's leading experts in the field have already confirmed their presence.

This year the meeting is accompanied by 6^th European Summer School on Drug Development (ESSDD-6) which will be held at the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, September 2-3, 2023. ESSDD-6 is a two-day intensive course designed for students and pharmaceutical researchers who wish to broaden their knowledge and advance in their career. The professionals, managers and investors who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the complex process of drug development will also find this course very beneficial. The aim of ESSDD-6 is to provide a relaxed but stimulating environment for students and other participants to attend the lectures, to establish a long-term relationship among participants and to encourage vigorous and fruitful interactions and discussions.

Detailed information about the conferences and the summer school is available on the website: https://www.iapchem.org/index.php/iapc-10-home.

As this kind of meeting will be held in Serbia for the first time, we truly hope that You will recognize its importance and join us as a participant. We believe that the satisfaction will be mutual.

Best regards,

Local Organizing Committee and
dr Tatjana Verbić, Associate Professor
University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry
Conference Chair of the International Scientific and Organizing Committee and
Local Organizing Committee