Category: News

We invite you to a press conference on the occasion of the launch of the initiative to evaluate the constitutionality of the Law on Science and Research. The conference will be held in Media Center (Terazije 3, Belgrade) on Tuesday, February 11, starting at 12 noon.

Janko Baljak (Academic Solidarity and Engagement Network), Vladan Čokić (Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade), Suzana Blesić (Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade), Gazela Pudar Draško (Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade) will speak at the conference. Belgrade) and Tomislav Živanović (GSPRS Nezavisnost).

The experiences of at least four scientific institutes within the University of Belgrade, in which there has been a change of leadership over the past year, testify to the fact that the grossest violation of Article 72 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, which guarantees the autonomy of universities and scientific institutions, is currently taking place. The Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) believes that it is a particularly devastating fact that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia is behind the aforementioned violation of the Constitution, although it should rightly be expected that it is the guarantor of its implementation.

Over the past year, several scientific institutes within the University of Belgrade have received new leadership, appointed by the competent Ministry. In no institute did the appointed candidates have the support of the employees. Among the new directors, even two were not previously employed in those institutes, and one did not even meet the legal minimum to be appointed to the position of director of a scientific institute. On the other hand, the candidates who received the majority support of their colleagues based on their competence and reputation in the scientific community, did not receive the support of the Ministry.

Since it is clear that there is a violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, i.e. the stifling of the autonomy of scientific institutes, MASA demands the urgent initiation of the procedure for changing the Law on Science and Research (Article 60), in order to end the existing autocracy in accordance with the law and guarantee autonomy according to the reputation of faculties and universities in Serbia. In the period until the adoption of the proposed changes, we also demand that the appointment of directors who do not have the support of the employees be suspended, and that in those institutes where the will of the employees has already been violated, the Ministry appoints as acting directors candidates who received the majority support of their colleagues at the Scientific Councils.

The Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) was formed with the aim of gathering under the umbrella of an open network organization all members of the academic community who are ready to engage in strengthening the voice of the profession by advocating for the consistent application of the basic principles of academic work and their defense when they are threatened. . MASA advocates respect for the principles of university autonomy, honesty, solidarity, freedom of critical thinking, publicity and transparency, and social responsibility in the academic community.

Mreža akademske solidarnosti i angažovanosti (MASA) osuđuje praksu zapošljavanja kadrova na Akademiji vaspitačko-medicinskih strukovnih studija, odsek u Ćupriji, zbog koje je, do sada, osam kvalifikovanih nastavnica izgubilo radno mesto u poslednjih godinu dana.

Svaka od ovih nastavnica uredno se prijavila na konkurs za mesto predavača iz svoje stručne oblasti. U pitanju su Zdravstvena nega, Integrativna zdravstvena i socijalna zaštita i Javno zdravlje. Svaka je kvalifikovana za posao nastavnika veština, višeg predavača ili profesora strukovnih studija, jer ima master ili doktorat, kao i višegodišnje radno iskustvo u nastavi iz ovih naučne oblasti. Umesto njih, primljene su osobe čije su naučne kvalifikacije iz potpuno drugih naučnih oblasti za koje konkurs uopšte nije raspisan – menadžment u ekonomiji, civilna bezbednost, veterina i društveno-humanističke nauke.

Ovim je grubo narušena procedura konkursa da se na predavačka mesta biraju osobe koje imaju predavačko iskustvo iz naučne oblasti za koju je konkurs raspisan. Takođe, nisu ispoštovani principi akreditacije nastavnih programa po kojim predmete mogu predavati osobe koje imaju kvalifikacije iz relevantnih naučnih oblasti.

Nastavnice koje su izgubile radno mesto, odnosno za koje je po Zakonu o visokom obrazovanju čl.75 trebalo raspisati konkurs pre pokretanja akreditacije, navedene su u elaboratu za akreditaciju i reakreditaciju programa Strukovni master medicinska sestra i Strukovna medicinska sestra, predatom Nacionalnom akreditacionom telu. Zloupotreba je na ovaj način dosegla vrhunac, jer one nisu angažovane na pomenutim radnim mestima.  Prikazivanjem lažnih podataka prekršen je etički kodeks. Dodatno, nastavnice su ukazivale i na niz drugih nezakonitosti, kao što je nerealno prikazivanje radnog opterećenja zaposlenih kako bi se dobila akreditacija.

MASA oštro protestvuje protiv ovakve prakse i poziva prosvetnu inspekciju da neodložno preispita svaki od ovih konkursa, a Nacionalno akreditaciono telo da preispita akreditaciju studijskih programa u kojima bar 15 predmeta predaju osobe koji za njih nemaju potrebne naučne kvalifikacije. Takođe, ukazujemo da je nedopustivo da Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja propušta da reaguje na dostavljene prijave i poslovanje Akademije vaspitačko-medicinskih strukovnih studija, odsek u Ćupriji vrati u zakonske okvire.

MASA is concerned about meeting the standards that would allow the lifting of the suspension of the National Accreditation Body (NAT) within the European Higher Education Association (ENQA). NAT is a key body in the Serbian higher education system, because it monitors the quality of studies and approves study programs at all faculties and higher schools.

In 2012, this body received the status of a full member of ENQA, thus Serbia received confirmation that the accreditation system is in accordance with European standards. Unfortunately, at the beginning of 2018, the membership of NAT was suspended and placed under observation. ENQA has informed the management of NAT that it is not satisfied with the way in which it awards accreditations to Serbian faculties and higher schools.

The main objection raised is that the same people do the evaluation and make decisions about accreditations. Another complaint is the excessive number of local reviewers compared to external reviewers. The third is that evaluation reports do not reflect the teamwork of reviewers. ENQA gave NAT a two-year deadline to correct the perceived failings and placed it under observation. That deadline expires on March 22, 2020.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development informed the public that all observed deficiencies have been eliminated and that NAT will once again become a full member of ENQA. It is in the interest of the entire academic community that this process ends successfully and that all doubts about the accreditation process are removed. MASA asks the Ministry to inform the public about concrete steps taken in accordance with ENQA's objections.

The establishment was welcomed by the academic community Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia (Fund), which should encourage the development of scientific research and the application of their results for the sake of faster social, technological, cultural and economic development of the Republic of Serbia. In this context, the news that the Fund will use the best comparative experiences and practices, such as those used in Horizon 2020, in the evaluation of project proposals within its programs, met with the undivided support of the academic public.

How is it Program for excellent projects of young researchers (PROMIS) is the first program of the Fund, it establishes standards, and it is certain that the experiences in all phases of its implementation will determine the way in which the Fund will lead subsequent programs. At this point, it is necessary to point out the following shortcomings of the current process of project selection within PROMIS.

Reviewers play a key role in the evaluation of received projects. The standard in similar European calls is for the list of reviewers to be publicly available before the call is published, which was not the case with PROMIS. A publicly available list of reviewers removes doubts about the review process and contributes to transparency in competitive research funding programs. Therefore, publication of the complete list of reviewers, their names, titles, and affiliations, as well as review instructions, is required.

During the first stage of evaluation, the reviewers rate the projects, and the reviews and comments of the reviewers are known only to the project managers. The second level of evaluation foresees that the Program Board of the Fund gives up to 35 points to the projects from the preliminary list of projects, which completes the selection process. Considering that the distance between the worst and the best placed project from the preliminary ranking list is only 10 points (55 to 65 points), it is clear how important the evaluation of the Program Board is for the final outcome. That is why we believe that it is of crucial importance that this stage of evaluation be transparent, and we request that the evaluations of the Program Board be clearly indicated in the final balance of points for each project that has entered the second stage of evaluation.

This is especially important considering that Act on procedures for the preparation of the Program and selection of Science Fund project proposals publication of the preliminary ranking list in the second stage of evaluation is not foreseen. We believe that it is necessary for the Science Fund to clearly demonstrate how the scoring of project proposals was carried out at all evaluation stages so that all registered researchers and the entire academic public can clearly, unequivocally and transparently make sure that the entire process was carried out in accordance with Act. We invite the Fund to publish on its website not only the final ranking list for PROMIS and all future programs, but also:

1) a complete list of reviewers, their names, titles and affiliations;

2) review instructions;

3) the final list of all proposals that have passed the evaluation with a clearly indicated structure of points won.

These are crucial and minimal steps for establishing and maintaining trust between the academic community and the Science Fund, a body that will play a key role in the system of financing scientific research in the Republic of Serbia.

MASA welcomes decision of the Committee for Professional Ethics of the University of Belgrade which established non-academic behavior, i.e. plagiarism, of the current Minister of Finance of the Republic of Serbia, Siniša Malog, during the preparation of his doctoral dissertation. 

This has not yet put an end to the affair that seriously shook the credibility and integrity of the University of Belgrade, but it has set a clear framework for the further struggle against the collapse of its autonomy and dignity. In accordance with the mentioned Decision, we expect a quick reaction of the Senate of the University. We believe that this Decision will contribute to other joint efforts to stop non-compliance with the rules, procedures and ethical standards that are the basic guarantors of the institutional independence of our academic institutions. 

The entire academic community in Serbia, as well as the general public, expected the Committee for Professional Ethics of the University of Belgrade to make a decision on the validity of Sinisa Malog's doctorate on November 4, 2019.

This date is fixed by agreement of 24.09.2019. between the administration of the University of Belgrade and the students who blocked the Rector's office, demanding that the issue of the disputed doctorate of Sinisa Malog, which has been threatening the reputation of the University of Belgrade for more than five years, be finally resolved.

Extension of the deadline for the final decision until November 22, 2019. it's an unpleasant surprise.
Rector of the University of Belgrade, prof. Ph.D. Ivanka Popović explained that, due to an oversight in the interpretation of the regulations, and considering the newly created circumstances after the decision of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, it is necessary to extend the deadline in order to comply with the appeal procedure of 15 days.

The omission in the interpretation of regulations is big and unpleasant both for the academic community and for the general public. However, we are of the opinion that this was not the result of the intention, because delaying the resolution of this issue cannot bring any benefit to the academic community. On the contrary!

We fully understand the dissatisfaction of students due to these circumstances. We also understand, and we're sure the students do, that the delay is really necessary for procedural reasons. If the appeal deadline is not met, we would provide an opportunity to have the Professional Ethics Board's decision overturned in court.

In other words, we are ready to wait, together with the students, for the final decision to be made within valid academic and legal frameworks. In the meantime, the teachers and researchers of the University of Belgrade will also file appeals against the FON's decision regarding Sinisa Malog's doctorate.

We express our belief that, based on the unequivocal, and publicly presented, evidence of plagiarism in Sinisa Malog's doctorate, the Committee for Professional Ethics of the University of Belgrade will make the correct decision on November 22.

We, the teachers and researchers of the University of Belgrade, stand by our students and will support any student initiative that will protect the academic integrity, reputation and autonomy of our university. The university, made up of teachers, researchers and students, represents the intellectual force on which the foundations of modern society rest. We will not allow these values to collapse.

Initiative University support #1 of 5 million
Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement - MASA