A Science|Business Widening public conference, in partnership with University of Montenegro and EIT Community
As evidenced by the priorities of the current trio of Council presidencies (Poland, Denmark and Cyprus), the EU’s strategic agenda reflects the challenge of keeping dual perspectives in balance – from managing the shorter-term causes and effects of multiple crises to implementing agreed longer-term goals such as enlargement of the Union in both Southeastern and Eastern Europe.
Against a backdrop of conflict, economic constraint and geopolitical turbulence, there are plenty of obstacles in the way of the EU and candidate countries achieving their enlargement goals. Nonetheless, and to paraphrase JFK’s time-honoured comment, the way forward may not be to ask what Brussels can do for the region, but rather what the region can do for – and, more importantly, with – Brussels in the years to come.
This question has particular importance for research and innovation (R&I), given its unique and transversal relevance to every part of today’s economies and societies. Put simply, creating European added value through R&I – whether for resilience, preparedness, competitiveness or sustainability – has necessarily become a two-way street. In parallel, it now becomes imperative to understand not only where and how the EU’s collaborative R&I instruments are already generating impact in Southeastern Europe, but also the region’s own assets and success stories in fostering science-based ecosystems that can strengthen the European Research, Innovation and Education Areas.
On October 21, Science|Business will organise its first-ever event in Montenegro – in line with the ministerial meeting of the Western Balkans Steering Platform on Research and Innovation – to debate the way forward, informed by “living” case studies of R&I in action. Our public conference will bring together leaders and decision makers from the region and beyond, and from the worlds of science, policy, industry and finance, to air bold policy ideas, share good practices and develop recommendations to optimise the regional impact of EU instruments in the years ahead.
PRELIMINARY AGENDA
14.00 Registration and welcome coffee
14.30 Welcome
- Edit Herczog, Chair, Widening Initiative, Science Business
14.45 Keynote:
- Sabine Henzler, Director, Joint Research Centre, European Commission
15.00 Pitch sessions
To showcase the talent in the region, we invited representatives of EU supported projects and initiatives, with the aim to highlight the tangible, on-the-ground impact; celebrate the success; and inspire students, young researchers and other stakeholders.
- Uroš Đorđević, Western Balkans Innovation Voucher “Sustainable Lipid-Rich Wastewater Management”; Chief Executive Officer, Agrounik
- Besmir Buba, Western Balkans Innovation Voucher “Advancing Dry Eye Solutions”; Owner, Pharmabest Group
15.20 Panel Session I – Branching and ripening of deep-rooted SEE collaboration
While EU policies and programmes already generated several benefits for the local academic and research ecosystems, ambitions and expectations tend to run higher, and as a result may overlook how far we came. The panel will centre on the symbiosis of existing accomplishment and future growth prospects.
- Andrijana Tasevska, Leader, POLICY ANSWERS Work Package, INOVA
- Çağrı Yıldırım, Head of EU Framework Programmes Department, TÜBİTAK
- Branka Zizic, EIT Community Officer, EIT Montenegro Community
Moderator: Florin Zubașcu, Executive Editor, Science|Business
16.05 Pitch sessions
- Mirela Alhasani, Member, Management Committee Multi-task, Multilingual, Multi-modal Language Generation (Multi3Generation) COST Action
- Vladimir Mrkajic, Science Communication Coordinator & Management Committee Member, FruitCREWS, COST Action; Head of Research and Development, InoSens
16.25 Coffee break
16.55 Keynotes
- Marat Fatkhullin, Vice President, Global Strategic Networks, Elsevier
- Åse Gornitzka, President, COST Association
- Rana Sanyal, Co-Founder & CSO, RS Research; EIC European Prize for Women Innovators Winner
17.50 Panel Session II – Nurturing research and innovation in the ERA
With the European Research Area Policy Agenda 2025-2027 in place, and the Horizon Europe 2028-2034 proposal planning to complement national efforts with EU level funding, the panel will deliberate the opportunities and risks of integration efforts for the region.
- Robert Blatnik, Head of Office for Substantive Project Support, Technology Transfer and Innovation, Jožef Stefan Institute
- Sanja Damjanović, Senior Researcher, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research
Moderator: Ágota David: Policy Officer, International cooperation - Europe and Americas, DG RTD, European Commission
18.35 Closing remarks
- Edit Herczog, Chair, Widening Initiative, Science Business
University of Montenegro
2 Cetinjski Put, Podgorica 81000, Montenegro
For more information, please contact Denitsa Nikolova at [email protected]
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