Doctoral scholarships, grants and awards for scientific achievements presented at an official ceremony

Minister of Science, Dr. Sanja Damjanović, presented today the scholarships for doctoral research, grants for innovative projects and European Social Survey and awards for scientific achievements in 2018 at a ceremony organised in Villa Gorica.

In her address to numerous officials and winners of scholarships, grants and awards, Minister Damjanović said that the ceremony marked the work of the Ministry as well, because it allocated funds amounting to EUR 1.5 million in a single day. She stressed that the previous two years were challenging, and that the work of the Ministry was characterised by exceptional dynamics and the launching of many new initiatives and projects aimed at building a more efficient national scientific-innovative ecosystem.

The Minister further emphasised that the Ministry of Science initiated the implementation of a major international research infrastructure, in order to empower excellence and regain the tradition of technological development in the region of Southeast Europe.

“Thanks to a 60% increase in budget of the Ministry of Science for 2018, we were able to set ambitious goals and begin to achieve them. We are guided by an ambitious vision, knowing that Montenegro has exceptional people and that our country can achieve much more in this area.
Creative people are our biggest capital. For this reason, all of our programmes have a component of employment of young and highly qualified people. In addition, Montenegro must be oriented towards innovation in order to have a chance in the global economy. Technological development and innovation are key drivers of knowledge-based economic development as they open up space for creating new products and services, as well as for new jobs.

We are aware of the challenges that Montenegro is facing as a small country. However, because of its size, the country also has a number of advantages that we have to use, such as the ability to easily connect, communicate, quickly interact and adapt. It is precisely thanks to these advantages that we are in the final phase of implementation of one of the most important policy documents of our country, the Smart Specialisation Strategy, whose preparation required synchronisation of several sectors. This strategy is one of the mechanisms for better integration of science and economy. Montenegro will be the first country after EU28 to adopt this strategy. On this occasion, I would like to thank all the actors who helped us in this complex process.

I particularly want to thank the rectors and administrations of the universities in Montenegro, because they partnered us in establishing a new doctoral research programme. We are also grateful to the Clinical Centre, which provided significant support to the project of the South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies.

I would also like to thank everyone who accepted our invitation for cooperation, as we often asked for their help so that our strategies, programmes and projects would reflect the needs and possibilities of our society.

Finally, I thank all of you present here, numerous associates from abroad, project evaluators, as well as my team – including the colleagues from the Council for Scientific Research Activities – thank you for your cooperation, understanding and support.

Of course, I also wish to congratulate all those awarded; we have great expectations from you, because we need good role models and examples”, Minister Damjanović said in her speech.

On the occasion, Minister Damjanović presented certificates of appreciation to the representatives of the University of Montenegro, University of Mediteran and University of Donja Gorica for successful cooperation in the implementation of the programme of scholarships for doctoral research.

The ceremony was attended by the Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, Ivan Brajović, as well as by former President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanović, and numerous representatives of the Government, diplomatic and scientific community, state institutions and the economic sector.

During the ceremony, a promotional video presentation on the activities of the Ministry of Science in the past two years and the plans for the future period was shown.

The scholarships for doctoral research in the total amount of EUR 750,000 have been awarded to:

Tanja Bakić – Faculty of Philosophy
Stefan Bulatović – Faculty of Philosophy
Jovana Davidović – Faculty of Political Science
Kristina Gvozdenović – Faculty of Political Science
Milan Ivanović – Faculty of Philology
Olga Jokanović – Biotechnical Faculty
Marina Radonjić – Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Marija Radunović – Faculty of International Economics, Finance and Business (UDG)
Ana Velimirović – Biotechnical Faculty
Marija Vojinović – Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Aleksandra Gezović – Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology
Jelena Mijušković – Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Isidora Stanković – Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Ramiz Kurbegović – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Andrea Kavarić – Montenegro Tourism School (University of Mediteran)
Mirjana Đukić – Faculty of Civil Engineering
Balša Bajagić – Biotechnical Faculty
Nina Nikolić – Faculty of Civil Engineering
Luka Rakojević – Faculty of Arts (UDG)

The awards for innovative projects in the total amount of EUR 760,000 were granted to:

Amplitudo LLC for the “Software Upgrading with Enterprise Resource Planning Elements for the New INDIGO Platform with New Competencies” project.
This innovative and market-oriented enterprise labour optimisation application has received the highest evaluator ratings.

Fleka LLC for the “TALKINI” project
The authors plan to develop a new video conferencing application, which will have several significant features within a single product, thus surpassing the existing solutions.

Fleka LLC for the Virtual POS project
An effective and elegant solution for increasingly demanding e-commerce applications, especially for small businesses that do not have a developed IT network.

Business Universal Media for the Proventum project
This innovative solution is an electronic application that will enable companies to increase the efficiency of administrative procedures.

Faculty of Information Systems and Technologies of the University of Donja Gorica for the “Real Time Environmental Parameters Monitoring System” project.
The innovation envisages a significant improvement of the existing technology in monitoring the environment and the quality of drinking water.

M-tel for the “Energy Efficient Smart Home” project
This innovative solution is based on the control of home appliances via smartphones, as a means to achieve cost rationalisation and energy saving.

M-tel for “Using Electronic Protocols” project.
An innovative, standardised electronic protocol intended for the healthcare system, which should enable Montenegro to catch up with the modern medicine.

Faculty for Food Technology, Food Safety and Ecology of the University of Donja Gorica for the “Products and Process Innovations in the Montenegrin Food Industry” project.
This project relates to innovations in traditional dairy products, achieved through development and integration of special probiotic cultures.

Faculty of Information Systems and Technologies of the University of Donja Gorica for the “MontePN” project
The main goal of this innovative project is to establish a modern permanent GNSS station in the territory of Montenegro, which will become part of the global network of stations and which will have the possibility of receiving signals from the Galileo Navigation Satellite System as one of the largest projects of the European Space Agency (ESA)

The grant for “European Social Survey in Montenegro” project was awarded to:

Prof. Olivera Komar, Faculty of Political Science of the University of Montenegro

The awards for scientific achievements in 2018 were presented to:

Milena Simović, MSc, a student of the second year of doctoral studies at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, Germany, in the category for the most successful female scientist up to 30 years of age.

Miloš Brajović, MSc, a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Podgorica, as second-ranked in the competition for the most successful scientist up to 30 years of age.

Prof. Željko Jaćimović, full professor at the University of Montenegro – Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology in Podgorica, in the category of the most successful scientist above the age of 30.

Innovator Milan Bojović, author of the most successful patent of the year – “Battery charging device for electric vehicles”, whose prototype received numerous awards at international conferences.