Press conference about SASA Activities
A press conference was held at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts on Thursday, 7 May, during which Academician Zoran V. Popović, SASA Vice President, presented the Academy’s programme, which will be realised in the period between May and September 2026.
As he noted, the Academy and its branches in Novi Sad and Niš, as well as the Centre for Scientific Research of SASA and the University of Kragujevac, will offer a rich programme over the upcoming four months.
Organised by the SASA Board for Science, the international scientific conference titled ’Science Diplomacy’ will be held on 13 May. The conference aims to examine the role of science and scientific cooperation in contemporary international relations, as well as their importance in shaping public policies based on scientific findings. The presentations and discussions will focus on various aspects of science diplomacy, including the role of scientific expertise in the processes of public policy formation, the role of international scientific organisations in contemporary global circumstances, the development of the European framework in this field and the role of national research and innovation centres in international cooperation
The Regional Biophysical Conference will take place at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, from 1 to 4 June. This international scientific conference was launched as a form of cooperation among biophysical societies of Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Since it was established in 2005, the conference has been hosted in these countries and has served as a dynamic platform for presenting the latest findings in experimental, theoretical and applied biophysics. This year’s conference is organised by the Society of Biophysicists of Serbia, in cooperation with the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, the Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade and the Faculty of Physical Chemistry, University of Belgrade. The event is supported by the IUPAB (International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics) and EBSA (European Biophysical Societies’ Association). The conference will bring together researchers from the region and beyond to discuss a wide range of topics in contemporary biophysical research.
Hosted by the Echocardiographic Association of Serbia, the scientific conference ’ECHOS SERBIA 2026’ will be held on 29 May, at SASA. The aim of the symposium is to provide physicians with practical, contemporary training in the rapid, accurate and efficient use of cardiac and vascular ultrasound in emergency-room settings by means of a modern, practically- oriented approach.
The scientific conference ’Rajko Đurić: Life and Work’, scheduled for 11 June, will be dedicated to the life and work of one of the founding fathers and most renowned associates of the Board for the Study of Life and Customs of the Roma, who was one of the world’s leading scholars of Romani studies.
In June, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts will also host the scientific conference ‘100 Years since the Establishment of the Clinic for Infectious and Tropical Diseases’ (5–6 June), and the Eighth Symposium of the Serbian Proteomics Association, titled ‘Application of Multiomics Technologies in Biochemistry and Biomedicine’ (19 June).
As part of its lecture programme, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts will host a lecture by SASA Foreign Member Zoya Popović on 12 May, titled High-Frequency Analogue Circuits for Communication Systems and Sensors. Dr Zoya Popović is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Carlos III University of Madrid. During her career, she has received two IEEE MTT Microwave Prize awards (in 1993 and 2005) for the best journal paper, the URSI Issac Koga Gold Medal and the ASEE/HP Terman Medal. She is also a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award and the IEEE MTT Distinguished Educator Award. She currently serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Proceedings of the IEEE.
Dr Zoran Lutovac will give a lecture titled ’Human Rights in Populism: USA, Hungary and Serbia in Comparative Perspective’ on 19 May. The lecture focuses on human rights through the lens of populism, examining them in three distinctive political contexts, which include the United States of America, Hungary and Serbia.
The Brank Ćopić Endowment Award ceremony will also take place on 19 May, at the SASA Lounge.
Following the pause, the programme SASA Library Book Forum is returning. It was successfully helmed by the long-standing director of the SASA Library, Academician Miro Vuksanović, whose dedicated work significantly contributed to the development of one of the Academy’s most important units. As part of the Book Forum, on 19 May, the edition Južnoslovenski filolog (Book 81, Volume 1-2) ‘Marking the 150th Birth Anniversary of Academician Aleksandar Belić (1876-1960-2026) will be presented. This year is honoured throughout the entire 2026 by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Following a session of the SASA Presidency held on 23 April, Academician Slobodan Grubačić was appointed the new director of the SASA Library.
Speaking of programs, the SASA Gallery will soon host the exhibition ‘Saint Sava’. The Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church will organise the exhibition to mark 850 years since the birth of Rastko Nemanjić – Saint Sava, the first Archbishop of the independent Serbian Church and a great figure in the education of Serbian people. The exhibition is authored by Bishop of Moravica, Professor Tihon Rakićević, SASA Corresponding Member Igor Borozan and Dr Miljana Matić. Through the presentation of valuable original materials – historical documents, old manuscripts and printed books, fresco paintings, icons, graphics, paintings, church-art embroidery and other works such as frescoes copies and stone sculptures, as well as digital, multimedia content, this exhibition aims to present the life, work and legacy of Saint Sava. It will be open to visitors from 15 May to 19 July 2026.
The next exhibition at the SASA Gallery is titled Even in Slavery there is Freedom: Serbian Art during the Second World War, authored by Dr Irina Tomić. The exhibition offers an overview of artistic production in Serbia between 1941 and 1945, highlighting art as an expression of spiritual freedom, resistance, and the preservation of human dignity during wartime and occupation. The exhibition will feature the works of the most distinguished Serbian artists of various generations, including numerous members of the Academy: Paja Jovanović, Đorđe Jovanović, Aleksandar Deroko, Jovan Bijelić, Cuca Sokić, Milo Milunović, Zora Petrović, Sreten Stojanović, Đorđe Andrejević Kun, Moša Pijade, Petar Lubarda, etc.
In the period between May and the end of June, 16 concerts will be organised at the SASA Gallery. One of them, scheduled on 18 June, will be dedicated to the Stanojlo Rajičić Award ceremony, when the laureate Nina Rakočević, will give a violin concert.
Yesterday, on 6 May, the exhibition ‘Marjan and Marko Mušič: The Art of Architectural Drawing’ organised by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU), opened at the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology. The exhibition offers an extraordinary insight into a century of architectural drawing as well as into the creative dialogue between two great figures of Slovenian architecture, Marjan and his son Marko M. Mušič. The exhibition is open to visitors until 30 May.
The exhibitions to follow during the summer at the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology are as follows: ’Academicians and Mountaineers’ and ’Metamodernism’, organised by the architectural collective Kolektiv arhitekata.
At the end of August, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts will traditionally host the International Symposium of Physics of Ionised Gases (SPIG) from 24 to 28 August. Within this programme, poster sessions from the conference will be presented at the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology on 26 and 27 August.
Traditionally, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts preserves the memory of its deceased members, as well as members of its predecessors—the Society of Serbian Letters, the Serbian Learned Society, and the Serbian Royal Academy—through ceremonial sessions, chamber exhibitions, scientific meetings, and exhibitions.
A ceremonial session marking the 150th anniversary of the election of Katarina Ivanović as an honorary member of the Serbian Learned Society will be held on 22 May, while a ceremonial session honouring the 100th anniversary of the birth of Miroslav Pantić is scheduled for 29 June.
The SASA Library is currently hosting a chamber exhibition dedicated to Dragomir Vitorović, and additional chamber exhibitions are planned for: Ljubomir Nenadović (20 May–5 June), Laza Lazarević (10–26 June), Novak Radonić (1–17 July), and Svetozar Miletić (12–28 August).
A commemorative session dedicated to Academician Sava Halugin will be held on 25 May, while a session in honour of Academician Vladimir Rakočević will take place on 26 June.
Academician Popović also highlighted the particularly extensive work of the SASA branches in Novi Sad and Niš, as well as of the SASA Centre for the Scientific Research and the University of Kragujevac, all of which have prepared numerous lectures, exhibitions, scientific meetings and presentations of publications in the coming months, thus confirming the active role of the Academy in scientific and cultural life throughout Serbia.