Final WBC-RRI.NET Project Meeting

The final WBC-RRI.NET project meeting titled "Sustainability of Responsible Research and Innovation in the Western Balkans" held on 8 and 9 February 2024 in Skopje, gathered participants from the Western Balkan region and the countries of the European Union.

The conference was attended by Asst. Prof. Anđela Pepić, PhD, Head of the Center for Research Development and Support at the University of Banja Luka, Dragana Radulović, MA, Senior Associate for Scientific Research and University Development, Milica Marić, Project Assistant, and students Marija Stojaković and Aleksandar Tošić.

The goal of the event was to present the results of the project, to highlight key achievements during the duration of the project, and to continue cooperation through the established Regional Association for Responsible Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The key results that were achieved through the implementation of project activities at the University of Banja Luka were presented: the establishment of the Academic Integrity Community of the University as an informal group of employees gathered around the idea of promoting academic integrity and ethics, improvement of STEM education, improvement of the digital repository of scientific publications of the University of Banja Luka, and a direct impact on changes to the application requirements for scientific research projects and support for small and medium enterprises.

Competition for students

During the event, a competition for students called "Responsible Research and Innovation in Practice - Case Study" was organized, in which students from the University of Banja Luka also took part. They had the opportunity to work in teams with students from the region to design and present their ideas using the principles of responsible research and innovation.

The event was organized as part of the implementation of the Horizon 2020 project „Embedding Responsible Research and Innovation in Western Balkan Countries: Enhancement of Self-Sustaining Research and Innovation Ecosystems (WBC-RRI.NET) ˮ, in which the University of Banja Luka is one of the partners in the consortium.