Month: October 2026

In 2026, members of the ZeNCure and STEPUPIORS projects initiated a collaboration to advance colorectal cancer research using Zebrafish patient-derived xenograft (zPDX) models.

Project title: Enhancing non-communicable disease research excellence through zebrafish capacity building

Using the vast project-acquired experience in omics techniques, STEPUPIORS members Aleksandra Stanojevic, Mladen Marinkovic, Marko Radulovic and Milena Cavic will participate as proposers and lecturers of the first national Master 4.0 Bioinformatics study program with a consortium of institutions: University of Belgrade-Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade-Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade-Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade-Faculty of Dentistry and the Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia. The program is intended for students of various profiles: medical, technical-technological and natural-mathematical and has enrolled the first student generation in the 2026/27 academic year. The program is organized as a single unit without modules for a duration of 1 year (60 ECTS), and will also result in 8 short study programs lasting one semester, each carrying 30 ECTS. Professional practice for students will be carried out in 20 companies that supported the application, including the largest pharmaceutical companies in Serbia (Roche, Hemofarm) and the most famous bioinformatics companies operating in Serbia (BGI Group, Heliant, Velsera, Apis assay Technologies, Adriatec, EPAM, mBrainTrain, Persida Bio, Labena, RT-RK, Tecnalia, AIGO Business Systems, Varius Development, Quiddita, Bending Spoons, Smart Business Technologies, Siemens, Comtrade, among others) . The classes will be taught by 49 teachers from the University of Belgrade and the Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, along with 30 guest lecturers from business and renowned experts from abroad (USA, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Singapore).  The programme also includes professional internship training and a Master’s thesis, together accounting for 30 ECTS, defined in accordance with the standards of the National Entity for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education of Serbia.

The programme has been developed in response to the growing labour-market demand for professionals in this field, particularly in areas where a shortage of qualified experts has been identified. It is designed to enable students from diverse academic backgrounds to communicate and work effectively in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary environments.

https://www.ncrc.ac.rs/vesti-srcir/master-studijski-program-master-4-0-bioinformatika/?lang=srcir
https://www.chem.bg.ac.rs/studije/34-en.html
https://med.bg.ac.rs/?p=34133&script=lathttps://www.etf.bg.ac.rs/sr/vesti/2026/06/master-4-0-bioinformatikahttps://www.chem.bg.ac.rs/pz/news1.py?q=4233&l=1
https://www.etf.bg.ac.rs/sr/vesti/2026/07/akreditovan-novi-master-studijski-program-4-0-bioinformatika