Faculty of Organizational Sciences at the University of Belgrade Receives a Modern New Wing
Overcoming Challenges and Embracing the Future with a New State-of-the-Art Facility and Accredited Courses in IT and AI.
31/03/2023
The Faculty of Organizational Sciences at the University of Belgrade was established 53 years in 1969. The faculty was initially established to offer education to employees already working in the economic sector in various state-owned institutions and companies, who did not possess a higher education degree. With time, the faculty gained prominence and has become one of the most sought-after faculties in Belgrade. The faculty admits approximately 900 new students every year, but last year, it received over 2000 applications for enrolment, which is almost double the available student capacity. Despite its success, the faculty has faced significant challenges over the years, with the most pressing being the lack of physical space. Until 1982, the faculty was situated in the suburbs of Belgrade and subsequently moved to a new centre location, which was formerly a primary school building.
”We had only 900 square meters available, which was too small even for a primary school, let alone for a faculty. We had only five classrooms, no amphitheatre and no professional study cabinets.”
Aleksandar Markovic, Professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of BelgradeProfessor Aleksandar Markovic from the Faculty explains that working in this limited space was very challenging. ”We had only 900 square meters available, which was too small even for a primary school, let alone for a faculty. We had only five classrooms, no amphitheatre and no professional study cabinets,” says Professor Markovic. Over the year, the faculty expanded its working space by adding one more floor to the existing building, as well as an underground amphitheatre and an annex, bringing the total space to over 5000 square meters, which was a significant improvement but still insufficient. The faculty needed to further expand its existing capacities, introduce updated curricula, and offer better conditions for its 6,000 students and 270 employees.
The situation changed drastically for the better in April last year when the Faculty received a modern, new wing covering an area of 6,056 square meters. This marked a significant step in the modernization of Serbian education. The total investment of €9.3 million was financed by the government and the European Investment Bank (EIB), which has been a long-standing partner in Serbia’s education, research and development sectors. The new facility comprises two 200-seat auditoriums, a reading room with a library, a laboratory, IT rooms, and multifunctional halls, all equipped with computers and interactive whiteboards. Thanks to these improvements, the faculty will be able to increase its annual student intake by 25-30 %.
”With over 11,000 square meters of space, we now have more than enough room to conduct our teaching and research activities in the best possible way. Thanks to this, we can now plan new classes and further expand an innovate our curricula with the help of the new facilities and equipment.”
Aleksandar Markovic, Professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of BelgradeProfessor Markovic explains that the new facility has enabled the faculty to adopt a new development strategy and an improved vision for the future. ”With over 11,000 square meters of space, we now have more than enough room to conduct our teaching and research activities in the best possible way. Thanks to this, we can no plan new classes and further expand an innovate our curricula with the help of the new facilities and equipment,” says Professor Markovic.
The faculty has recently received accreditation from the ministry for new courses, including information and software engineering, as well as artificial intelligence. This is a significant development that will contribute to the growth of Serbia’s innovation and IT sectors. Furthermore, the faculty achieved a major success by winning the first prize at the prestigious international CBS Global Case Competition 2022, surpassing 300 student teams from universities across the globe.
About the project
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lending arm of the European Union. As the biggest multilateral financial institution in the world, the EIB has been active in Serbia since 1977, providing finance to support key infrastructure projects, SMEs, industry, services and local authorities, providing a total of €7.2 billion of investments to date.
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Photo credits: Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade