The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Innovation Fund, the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia and the World Bank marked today the completion of the “Project supporting research, innovation and technology transfer in Serbia” funded with 2.5 million EUR from the Pre-Accession European Union Funds (IPA) for 2013, and implemented in cooperation with the World Bank.

At the ceremony organized by the Innovation Fund in Science technology park Belgrade, the participants were addressed by: Mladen Šarčević, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, Stephen Ndegwa, Head of the World Bank Office in Serbia, Sem Fabrizi, Ambassador and Head of the European Union Delegation in the Republic of Serbia and Ivan Rakonjac, director of the Innovation Fund.

Key results of the project

The technology transfer program supported 19 scientific-research projects worth 360.000 EUR, among which three found business partners and concluded a license agreement for the placement of products on the market. After its pilot phase, it becomes a permanent program of the Fund, and the call is continuously open throughout the year.

There are 11 services developed, among which, most important are innovation vouchers. Financial aid through 220 innovation vouchers was received by 180 small and medium enterprises, in the total amount of 1.17 million EUR.

The program of cooperation between science and economy has supported 14 innovative consortium projects consisting of companies and public scientific-research organizations, with a total value of 4.4 million EUR.

The Project also provided continuous technical support to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, in the development of the Research and Innovation Sector Development Strategy, and the Platform for the Development of Scientific Research Infrastructure, with accompanying action plans.

The panel “Applied Scientific Research, Innovation and their Financing in Serbia” was held in the framework of the ceremony with an emphasis on the application of scientific research, technology transfer and their financing in Serbia. The panel was moderated by Maja Anđelković, Senior Private Sector Expert at the World Bank, and discussed by: Prof. Dr Vladimir Popović, State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Dejan Šuvakov, Program Manager, Delegation of the European Union to the RS, Mladjan Stojanović, Coordinator of Technology Transfer Program, Innovation Fund, Zorica Branković, PhD, Scientific Advisor, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, Bojan Pavlović, Managing Director, PhytoNet.