Year: 2020

The Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) unreservedly stands by the appeal of nine university professors, members of the Environmental Chemistry Section, addressed to the councilors of the Belgrade Assembly on the occasion of the announced adoption of the Plan for the Detailed Regulation of the Makiško Field. 

This Plan would enable the construction of 4.5 million square meters of residential and commercial space on 700 hectares of a protected hygienic and sanitary zone, which represents the most important source of groundwater for Belgrade's water supply. The Maki area along the Sava is a zone of protected reni wells, thanks to which Belgrade is one of the few European capitals with quality drinking water. A project that poses a risk to the water supply system should not be approved without a detailed analysis of all relevant scientific and research institutions in Serbia and without a broad and transparent public discussion. 

We invite the city councilors, as well as all competent institutions, to respect the views of the profession and the arguments presented in the appeal of the nine professors. We invite the entire academic and civil public to stand behind the integrity of scientific opinion, and to defend Article 74 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, which mandates the preservation of a healthy environment (Everyone has the right to a healthy environment and to timely and complete information about its condition; Everyone, especially the Republic of Serbia and the autonomous province, is responsible for environmental protection; Everyone is obliged to preserve and improve the environment). 

Everyone has the right to a healthy environment and to timely and complete information about its condition.

Everyone, especially the Republic of Serbia and the autonomous province, is responsible for environmental protection.

Everyone is obliged to preserve and improve the environment.

Everyone has the right to a healthy environment and to timely and complete information about its condition.

Everyone, especially the Republic of Serbia and the autonomous province, is responsible for environmental protection.

Everyone is obliged to preserve and improve the environment.

The Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement has, on several occasions, received complaints about non-transparency and uneven criteria for evaluating researchers in the same field in the structures of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. Also, despite multiple calls to edit the database of researchers and their results, no progress has been made in the past years, and this segment has been completely neglected. 

When it comes to the bodies of the ministry, first of all the parent scientific committees, there is a uniform assessment that all parent scientific committees and the commission for appointments should make their work more transparent and that it is necessary to make the procedures for the appeal of researchers who feel that they are damaged in the evaluation process. There are differences in efficiency and accessibility to the academic community among the parent boards, but the assessment is unanimous that there is significant room for improvement. Particular dissatisfaction is caused by the actions of the selection committee for scientific titles, which often does not respect the reports submitted by the competent matriculation board, but conducts the evaluation at its own discretion without explanation. 

In this sense, we request the Ministry to take measures that would enable the transparency of the process of collecting and evaluating data on scientific research results in MPNTR:

Issue	Recommendation
Locking of the RIS database, impossibility of checking references and points	Transparency of the results base, their visibility and availability
Out-of-date verification of results entered in RIS	Prompt update of all entered results for 2018, 2019, and soon 2020
The commission for professional elections often, during the professional elections, changes the scoring on the reports submitted to it by the MNO	It is necessary to submit an explanation for all changes in the reports during the selection process in order to make the process transparent and to make it clear where the errors in the categorization are.
Vocational elections are taking too long (the legal deadline of 6 months is not respected) because the MNO is late in reviewing the reports	The period prescribed by law for the duration of the selection process must be observed; all instances in that process must work more efficiently and comply with laws and regulations
In most MNOs, the professors of the faculty dominate numerically, although the associates of the institute are much more dependent on the decisions of the MNO	To ensure that in the future convocations of all MNOs, members from the institute and the faculty are equally represented
Ignorance of interdisciplinary degrees and programs in the structure of parent boards, which is why researchers with interdisciplinary results are inadequately evaluated	Enable the recognition of interdisciplinary results through the establishment of a different way of evaluation that would not force researchers to choose only one discipline, because this is in complete contradiction to the spirit of interdisciplinarity
The evaluation of monographs, collections and other results is not transparent at individual MNOs	Make publicly visible the categorization of all MNOs for publications submitted to them for inspection, with explanations
Different practices among different MNOs regarding the assignment of categories to publications - some MNOs decide upon request, and some only within the framework of the election for the title or the annual reports of the NIO	Define a uniform practice of evaluation of publications, which would be independent of the election of individual researchers and annual reports
Technical solutions do not have a defined evaluation process outside of previous project reports or job selection	It is necessary to define a procedure for the evaluation of technical solutions on demand, instead of related to the selection of positions, because this categorization is important for cooperation with the economy.
Requests for submission of printed copies with requests for appointment and sealed invitations	In addition to responsibility towards the environment, the process would be further facilitated if all documentation were sent in electronic form and without the requirement for stamped invitations, which have long since gone out of world practice, and with respect to email invitations.
Researchers are not instructed in the procedure for appeals against decisions on elections to positions	Make the complaint procedure available on the Ministry's website so that researchers who feel they have been harmed in the process can refer
There are no reports from the sessions of parent scientific boards or commissions for elections to titles	Publish regularly the minutes from the meetings of the parent scientific committees and the commission for the selection of titles with clearly indicated changes in relation to the reports of the selection commissions for the title from the parent institutions

Also, we hereby appeal to the Ministry to make transparent the procedure for amending the Rulebook on the procedure, method of evaluation and quantitative presentation of scientific research results of researchers and the selection of members of the Working Group for drafting the new rulebook. It is inadmissible that the members of the working groups of the Ministry are unknown to the academic community, as well as that the remarks coming from researchers are ignored. Also, we ask that the suggestions coming from individual scientific fields be taken into account for a fairer evaluation of the results. 

Belgrade, 16.12.2020.

This is a notice addressed to the international academic community about the violation of university autonomy and academic freedom at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Belgrade by the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church 

For more than a year now, we have been witnessing deeply discouraging events at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology (FOT), one of the 31 faculties – members of the academic community of the University of Belgrade. Professor Maksim Vasiljević and assistant professor Marko Vilotić were unlawfully deprived of teaching positions at their Faculty in 2019. In the fall of 2020, professors Rodoljub Kubat and Maksim Vasiljević were fired from FOT in violation of the law and the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. 

Professor Kubat was illegally fired as a result of obvious retaliation and persecution due to criticism of illegitimate decisions made at the FOT and criticism of some members of the Holy Synod, while prof. Vasiljević was fired even without that. The decision regarding the loss of the teaching position at FOT included the order of the Synod to the dean of FOT to immediately issue a directive on the termination of employment of Kubat and Vasiljević. The FOT statute contains a provision, contrary to the University statute, which authorizes the Synod to withdraw its blessing for any particular teaching position at this faculty. However, by the end of 2019, the Statutory Council of the University of Belgrade (the most relevant University body in charge of the statutory issues) concluded that the Synod's influence was contrary to the Law on Higher Education and the Statute of the University of Belgrade . And this influence was crucial for the termination of employment that was enacted in the case of Prof. Kubat and Prof. Vasiljevic. According to the same decision issued by the FOT dean, prof. Kubat and prof. Vasiljević could not even "perform other duties" at FOT. The essence of this document is a statement claiming that the dean's directive has been based on "a legally binding and executive decision of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church". According to this decision, prof. Kubat and prof. Vasiljević are not allowed to defend themselves legally! This decision is not only contrary to the Law on Higher Education and the Labor Law, but also violates human rights of both professors: their freedom of scientific and intellectual creativity guaranteed by article 73 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, as well as their right to a legal defense determined by article 36 of the Serbian Constitution. 

The Republic of Serbia is a secular state based on its constitution and only court decisions can be binding. Decisions of state executive bodies also cannot be binding, they can only be final. Moreover, only court decisions and state administrative acts have executive power. According to the Labor Law, the decision of the Synod cannot be a reason for termination of employment. The Holy Synod is not a state institution that governs public authorities. Prohibition of lectures at the University by any external authority, outside the University itself, is an open violation of its autonomy. The university autonomy is guaranteed by article 72 of the Serbian Constitution. 

Until recently, the Serbian Orthodox Church has not been much involved in the academic affairs of the FOT, so a kind of modus vivendi sustained this fragile institutional cohabitation. The interference of the Holy Synod in the autonomy of FOT and the violation of legal norms of the University of Belgrade should be placed in the context of an illegitimate and uncontrolled demonstration of church power – this time directed against professors of theology who expressed freedom of thought , conscience and public opinion. There is no doubt that Prof. Kubat and prof. Vasiljević themselves are victims of illegitimate interference of clerical power structures in the work of the University of Belgrade. Deprived of their academic position, they were exposed to open formal and informal persecution contrary to legal and civilizational norms. The University of Belgrade and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia must not remain passive on this issue in order to prevent further systematic harassment of members of the university community. They should enforce state and university laws and regulations to protect colleagues by taking into account the existential aspect that directly affects the well-being of their families. In the recent past, under the same autocratic government, a number of professors were expelled from the University of Belgrade in 1998, following the ratification of a poor university law. 

Therefore, we appeal to international academic institutions to condemn the open persecution of university professors in Serbia. As stated in the UN special report (2020) on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression: "Without academic freedom, societies lose one of the essential elements of democratic self-governance: the capacity for self-reflection, for knowledge generation and for a constant search for improvements of people's lives and social conditions". The Bonn Declaration on Freedom of Scientific Research (2020) further emphasizes that the "freedom of thought and intellectual creativity also requires freedom and security of individuals". Needless to say, the level of democratic development of a society is measured by respect for academic freedom. The academic freedom in Serbia, university autonomy and freedom of thought in general should be vigorously defended by law, as well as by the solidarity of our colleagues and other intellectuals from the international academic community. 

On the occasion of the "Fourth call for talented young researchers - students of doctoral academic studies for involvement in scientific research work in accredited scientific research organizations (hereinafter referred to as NIO)", published on November 23, 2020, the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (Masa) requests a reformulation of the conditions of this invites:

1. That the right to submit an application has the right to young researchers who have enrolled for the first time in the first year of doctoral academic studies for the academic year 2020/2021;

So young researchers who are full-time doctoral students under the age of 30 have the right to apply, taking into account the argument of introducing affirmative measures for young people in accordance with the National Youth Strategy 2015-2025.

REASONING

The network of academic solidarity and engagement recognizes the necessary condition defined in this way as discriminatory, since it eliminates the possibility of applying to other younger researchers who meet the other conditions of the competition, primarily the condition of regular studies, high average grades in doctoral studies and other results relevant to scientific research work. Doctoral students in their higher years of study continuously demonstrate their commitment to science through academic publications and participation in scientific meetings, and in this sense represent the valuable intellectual capital of our country.

Massa strongly supports the purpose of this public call, which envisages the inclusion of younger and talented students of doctoral academic studies in scientific research work in accredited NIOs. We believe that it is in the interest of all NIOs that accepted candidates have the best possible qualifications for high-quality scientific and research work. Therefore, we point out that the criteria set in this way cannot adequately determine the professional contribution of future candidates to scientific research work in the Republic of Serbia, because only those candidates who are in the current academic year 2020/2021 are taken into account. enrolled in doctoral academic studies - therefore just less than two months after enrolling in the largest number of faculties in the country.

This call practically excludes all those younger researchers who have published in relevant scientific journals, presented papers at conferences in the country and abroad, or otherwise made notable and measurable contributions to the academic community. The average grade at undergraduate and master's studies may be relevant, but we consider it not a sufficient indicator for determining the quality and achievements of candidates for scientific research work.

Finally, we emphasize that the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement fully supports the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development in order to provide the opportunity for talented younger researchers to continue their careers in accredited NIOs in the country for the fourth year in a row. However, precisely in order to find the best candidates for inclusion in scientific research work and the domestic academic community as a whole, we request the Ministry to open space for fair competition and the selection of the best candidates based on scientific research results, and in accordance with good European practices.

The letter with the above content was sent to the ministry on 10.12.2020.

In recent years, the government led by party and state president Aleksandar Vučić unscrupulously attacks every form of protest and pointing out the factual situation in society, especially if it is directed by academic citizens. This manner, unfortunately, has become even more pronounced with the corona epidemic, where neither the place nor the time is chosen, nor the words for brutal insults. It can be a conference of the Crisis Staff, a parliamentary speaker, diplomatic visits, the United Nations, between two bites, and a whole series of other staged performances.
Doctors have inhuman working conditions, during the corona epidemic, and on top of that, the president of the country does not hesitate to respond to them brutally when someone points it out publicly. This paradox of ignoring the threat of the medical profession is only a projection of the continuous usurpation of the Crisis Staff and the contradictory statements of its professional members. In a demonstrative campaign, between tanks, the president shamefully called out anesthesiologist Dr. Rade Panić, from the "red zone" of the Kovid hospital, who pointed out the desperation of the health system and the critical situation of patients. This kind of contempt and insult to Dr. Panić, who speaks on behalf of doctors who give the maximum of themselves and their health to help the sick, is completely unacceptable. Manipulation of information does not stop. While in July we had full Covid hospitals in Serbia, with officially 400-500 positive tests per day, now those same Covid hospitals are full with 5000-7000 positives per day, not to mention the deaths. Let's not forget that many doctors and medical personnel sacrificed their lives while the president of the country was running the pre-election and post-election campaign without taking any epidemiological measures. The Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) asks the President to refrain from commenting on the work of those who are in the front lines of the fight against the virus, as well as to publicly apologize to Dr. Panić and all the doctors whom he insulted and belittled in this way, their dedicated and professional work in the prolonged extraordinary circumstances.

MASA provides full support to our colleague Dr. Živko Ćurčić, who was illegally dismissed by the decision of the director of the Institute for Crop and Vegetable Agriculture, Dr. Svetlana Balešević Tubić.

Dr. Živko Ćurčić has been working on research related to sugar beet at the Institute for 13 years, and for the last 4 years he has been trying to save it from being completely shut down. If he loses this battle, by all accounts, a large part of the unique genetic resources in the Institute's collection will also be irretrievably lost.

When it comes to the alleged offense for which colleague Ćurčić was fired, we fully agree with the opinion of the Science Union, submitted to the Institute, which states that colleague Ćurčić did not violate his work obligations with his statements. According to the Law on Science and Research, scientific work is based on the publicity of its activities, and it is completely incomprehensible that a state institute, which was founded under the Law on Public Services, can use its employee's statement about endangered research as a basis for dismissal.

Every day and at every step, we are faced with the dramatic consequences of the increasingly widespread practice that in our state institutions, instead of knowledge, a diploma, even if it is a fake one, is more valued, obedience instead of expertise, and mediocrity instead of integrity. The price for this is paid not only by courageous scientists like Dr. Ćuričić and their families, but also by all citizens of Serbia. MASA believes that it is high time to stop the increasingly frequent persecution of scientists in this country, because otherwise we will have no choice but to call on all our colleagues to stand up in defense of the dignity of the scientific community in Serbia.

The Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) presents the online edition of a publication that deals with the process of accreditation of higher education institutions and study programs in the Republic of Serbia, authored by Marija Stefanović and Sonja Kuzmančev Stanojević. The increase in interest in this topic arises primarily after the report of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and the exclusion of the National Body for Accreditation and Quality Control from full membership. Since the professional public appealed to the problems in the accreditation process even before the ENQA report itself, MASA joins the appeal, among other things, through a detailed analysis of the accreditation procedure covered in this study.

The Network for Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) presents an online edition of a publication that analyzes norms, practices and the lack of advancement to higher education. at universities in the Republic of Serbia, created on the basis of Boban Stojanović's research during the summer of 2020. The conversation on this topic has already been largely initiated within the academic community, and now you can refer in detail to the content of the study, which is the basis for further MASE activities in this area .

Mass strongly condemns the attack on our member and colleague assistant professor Dink Gruhonjić, editor-in-chief of the Vojvodina Research and Analytical Center (VOICE). Extremist groups that are the organizers of this shameful act are apparently operating unhindered in Serbia, spreading an atmosphere of fear with verbal threats and endangering the safety of political dissenters. We see the attack on colleague Gruhonjić as an attack on the right to free opinion and express one's views and beliefs, either through academic work or through journalistic texts.

 We appeal to the general public, to the citizens of Novi Sad, Dink's neighbors, as well as the citizens of all of Serbia to become active and not allow extreme groups to rule our lives with their intimidation. We request the competent authorities to urgently take adequate measures in order to prevent threatening acts that cause incalculable damage to the entire society.