The construction of the Verokio Center, which will carry out state-of-the-art experiments in the field of physics and high technology in cooperation with CERN, will begin at the end of 2020, and completion of the facility within the Zemun Institute of Physics is expected in two years, says director of the Institute Aleksandar Bogojevic.
He points out that this is one of the priority projects of the Government of Serbia in the field of innovation, in whose construction will be invested five million euros. The idea to build Verokio, bringing together scientists from all over the world, was supported by the European Nuclear Research Organization (CERN), the Network of National Institutes of Italy (INFN) and the largest scientific facility in Germany (DESY).
Building that center, as a small part of CERN, is an ideal way for a small country to jump in and compete in the first science league, says Bogojevic about building a facility named after Florence Renaissance painter Andrea del Verokio, whose students were Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonaroti, etc.
One of the two buildings, with a total area of about 4,000 square meters, to be built in the Institute’s courtyard, will be dedicated to the work of about 50 of the best final year students and postgraduates of various profiles – engineers, physicists, biologists, designers – gathered around specific projects.
The idea, Bogojevic says, is for Verokio to be an incubator for the development of a “school of the future” and the concept of quality education for the 21st century. Our educational system was created for the 19th century and the industrial age. However, young people today need to have a much broader education, be more flexible, learn and learn all their lives to appreciate different creativity, which will be provided by our center, Bogojevic points out.
He reminds that Zemun Institute has the largest supercomputer center in the region, adding that Verokio will encourage the development of the high-tech sector in Serbia.
There have been unexpected breakthroughs in our IT sector over the past few years, and now the environment needs to be created for geneticists and researchers from other fields to come to Serbia and devise solutions not only for our market, but also for the US, Switzerland, says Bogojevic.
Researchers from the Institute of Physics have been collaborating with CERN for many years, but, according to Bogojevic, cooperation with that scientific institution was raised to a higher level when Serbia became an associate member five years ago, and as of this year, a full member of CERN.
Serbian physicists have been involved in three major projects at CERN, the collaborations of ATLAS and CMS, the two largest international research groups using CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerator, as well as the Grid project related to supercomputing. Our researchers participate in accelerator projects that detect particles smaller than atoms, serve to check existing and discover new laws of physics, but also apply them in the treatment of diseases, especially tumors, as well as in archeology. Membership in this organization is important for the development of innovative industries and new technologies that can commercialize and develop new economies.
CERN has many protected patents that members can use for free, as well as their equipment, and our Institit has been doing this for several years, says Bogojevic for Dnevnik.
CERN Co-operation Commissioner Aleksandar Belic, who has been engaged with the Institute’s researchers at CERN’s Grid computer network, estimates that Serbia’s re-membership of this international organization is one of the most significant events for our country in 2019 and brings many benefits for our scientific community.
He adds that researchers working in high-energy and elementary particle physics have the opportunity to more easily engage in CERN experiments and evaluate their work better.
He says membership in CERN also brings new lines of research funding and opens opportunities for collaboration in the fields of accelerator, microwave and other technologies, as well as technicians and engineers.
CERN membership will also benefit from education as many physics teachers and professors go through the institution. Industry will also benefit, as CERN procures everything used in research, from superconducting supermagnets to soaps, to international tenders.
Serbia, as a member state, is now eligible to participate on equal terms in these tenders. This has an immediate economic effect, but it also enhances the brand itself because the collaboration with CERN is a significant reference in high technology, Belic explains for Dnevnik.
