An effective institutional and policy context for science, technology and innovation (STI) is essential to boost the knowledge economy. This chapter, along with three sub-dimensions, analyses the overall STI trends and performance in the region, the development of sustainable and impactful STI policies and processes. The first sub-dimension, the STI system, assesses the STI regulatory framework and strategies, including smart specialisation strategies and the institutional framework for STI policy. The second sub-dimension, public research systems, analyses the governance of the public scientific research sector, funding approaches and human resource capacity to foster academic research excellence. The third sub-dimension, knowledge exchange and co-creation, assesses policies that support integration between scientific research and the private sector, which is critical for technology transfer, as well as policies and initiatives to promote European and regional collaboration in STI.
Western Balkans Competitiveness Outlook 2024: Serbia
10. Science, technology and innovation
Abstract
Key findings
Since the previous assessment, Serbia has further developed its science, technology and innovation (STI) policies (Table 10.1). With an average score of 3.6, Serbia outperforms all the other economies in the Western Balkans. The overall STI system is increasingly maturing, and Serbia’s biggest strength in STI policy remains its institutional framework. By contrast, targeted investments require further strengthening of scientific research outputs and outcomes.
Table 10.1. Serbia’s scores for science, technology, and innovation
|
Dimension |
Sub-dimension |
2018 score |
2021 score |
2024 score |
2024 WB6 average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Science, technology and innovation |
9.1: STI system |
4.2 |
2.9 |
||
|
9.2: Public research system |
3.3 |
2.5 |
|||
|
9.3: Knowledge exchange and co-creation |
3.2 |
2.0 |
|||
|
Serbia’s overall score |
2.1 |
3.1 |
3.6 |
2.5 |
|
The key findings are:
Serbia has a well-developed STI policy framework, comprising a national STI strategy (2021‑25), a Smart Specialisation Strategy (2020-27) and a strategy for the development of a start-up ecosystem (2021-25), along with a strong institutional and regulatory framework. Serbia was also one of the first economies worldwide to pioneer STI policy for a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Roadmap.
The institutional setup for STI policy was streamlined in 2022 with the creation of a new Ministry that exclusively focuses on Science, Technological Development, and Innovation. This consolidates responsibilities and reduces the risk of overlapping mandates and conflicting priorities. Nevertheless, horizontal coordination across Serbia’s institutional framework remains complex.
Overall investment into research and development (R&D), particularly from the private sector, remains low at 0.97% of GDP in 2022. However, public sector investments have grown considerably in recent years – most notably, the Science Fund has significantly expanded its operations, providing over EUR 75 million in financial support for scientific research through eight programmes. In 2023, the government has further pledged to increase funding by 50% within five years as part of its commitment to the European Research Area (ERA).
Linkages between academia and the business community are slowly increasing, but more efforts are needed to maintain and expand momentum. Both the Innovation and Science Fund operate dedicated programmes to stimulate business-academia collaboration, while additional large-scale financial support schemes targeting innovation and start-ups are expected to create spillover effects in the medium term.
An institutional support structure for business-academia collaboration is in place and operating well. Serbia has secured large-scale investments to expand its network of Science and Technology Parks (STP) further and construct a state-of-the-art biotechnology park. Additionally, it has established a dedicated Research and Development Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI).
State of play and key developments
Against the background of a strong policy and institutional framework and increased financial support for STI-related activities, Serbia’s performance in the European Innovation Scoreboard has improved to 63.2% of the EU average in 2023, significantly outperforming all other WB6 economies (European Commission, 2023[1]). In terms of categorisation, however, the economy remains an emerging innovator amid continuous shortcomings in intellectual property assets and environmental sustainability.
Gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) is increasing but remains low at less than 1% of GDP in 2022, with less than half of the share stemming from the private sector (Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, 2022[2]). Patent applications to the European Patent Office have doubled in recent years, with 20 applications and 12 applications submitted in 2021 and 2022, respectively; however, only four have been granted (EPO, 2022[3]). The number of active researchers, at around 2 200 per million inhabitants, is double the regional average and has also shown a slow increase in recent years (just over 2 000 in 2019). However, it remains only around half of the EU average (UNECE, 2021[4]).
Sub-dimension 9.1: STI system
Serbia has a well-established STI policy framework. Since the previous Competitiveness Outlook, a new Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development (2021-25) called “Power of Knowledge” has entered into force, and its implementation is progressing swiftly. Its key objectives include strengthening research institutions and infrastructure and improving Serbia's integration into the European Research Area (ERA). In addition, the economy adopted a dedicated strategy for developing a start-up ecosystem (2021-25) and a complementing Law on Innovation Activities in 2021, aimed at creating a national strategic framework to boost start-up activity across the economy. A strategy on artificial intelligence has been in place since 2019, reflecting Serbia’s commitment to focus STI policy making on targeting emerging technologies.
The implementation of Serbia’s Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3), adopted in 2020 in line with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre methodology and practices, is progressing well. The 2021-22 Action Plan has been successfully implemented and was scheduled for external evaluation by the end of 2023, to align its evaluation cycle with that of EU Member States. This evaluation, however, has not yet taken place, and the 2023-25 Action Plan was adopted in December 2023, without taking into account the shortcomings of the previous action plan. As part of its S3 framework, Serbia notably joined a Global Pilot Programme on STI for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Roadmaps,1 and was among the first economies in 2022 to successfully adopt such a Roadmap; it thus became a pioneer for embedding sustainability in its national STI framework. Serbia’s S3 strategy focuses on a number of priority areas, including, among others, information and communication technology (ICT), agrifood, machines and manufacturing systems, creative industries, and eco-smart energy sources and solutions. Across these areas, the Roadmap identifies ten areas of direct impact on the SDGs.
Serbia has taken steps to streamline its institutional framework in support of STI since the previous assessment. In 2022, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (MoESTD), formerly overseeing STI policy design, was reshuffled into a new Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation (MoSTDI). The reorganisation aimed to strengthen the focus on science and innovation and their interlinkages and streamline STI policy measures. However, the Ministry of Economy remains in charge of some elements of innovation policy, including for industries. The National Council for Science and Technological Development supports horizontal policy development, particularly regarding scientific research, while the Council for Encouraging the Development of the Digital Economy, Innovation, High-Tech Entrepreneurship and Digitalisation, established under the auspices of the Prime Minister in 2021, is mandated to steer STI policy related to innovation and digital transformation. The multifaceted setup of Serbia’s institutional STI framework underlines the government’s commitment to the innovation agenda but, at the same time, continues to add complexity to effective and co-ordinated policy making.
The Serbian Innovation Fund remains the economy’s flagship institution for implementing innovation-stimulating activities and providing financing for innovative projects. Since its launch in 2011, it has provided over EUR 80 million in financing. Since 2019, its activities have been complemented by the Science Fund, which is now fully operational and adequately resourced and focuses on fostering research excellence. In combination, Serbia’s holistic approach to addressing both the demand and supply side of innovation and R&D provides a powerful tool to support innovation activities in the medium term. Moreover, Serbia has established solid internal monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to oversee STI policy implementation. Serbia’s national statistical office conducts biannual innovation surveys, while a dedicated team within MoSTDI regularly monitors the implementation of the Smart Specialisation Strategy. However, there is no evidence of an independent ex post impact evaluation of Serbia’s previous innovation framework (2016-20), which could have informed the new “Power of Knowledge” strategy, and an external evaluation of the previous S3 action plan (2021-22) is pending. In contrast, an external evaluation was conducted on the Innovation Fund’s programmes throughout 2020, which is an important step towards international good monitoring and evaluation practice.
Sub-dimension 9.2: Public research systems
Public research excellence, a cornerstone of Serbia’s STI strategy, has been a key objective of improving the quality and efficiency of scientific research. Among others, it envisages targeted support for high-performing researchers and scientists and support for the publication of high-impact potential research. The promotion of research excellence is also the focus of a World Bank-supported programme called “Serbia Accelerating Innovation and Growth Entrepreneurship” (SAIGE),2 which has been implemented since 2020 and supports Serbia’s efforts to improve research excellence to contribute to the economy's growth and competitiveness.
Although the National Council for Science and Technological Development oversees the overall implementation of R&D policy measures, Serbia’s higher education institutions (HEIs) operate with a relatively high degree of independence, setting their own research priorities; only limited co-ordination via MoSTDI is required of them. However, the 2019 Law on Science and Research has introduced a stronger focus on performance-based institutional funding in combination with competitive project-based financing through the Science Fund, thereby incentivising HEIs to prioritise strategically relevant research with commercialisation potential.
Overall investments into R&D remain low at 0.97% in 2022 (up from 0.91% in 2020), with around 44% stemming from private sector activity. In 2023, Serbia committed to increasing public investments into R&D by 50% over the next five years, and public sector spending has already begun to increase, primarily through the Science Fund. These efforts can have a positive impact on gross domestic R&D expenditure (GERD) figures, although more recent information on R&D budget allocations remains limited. Up to the end of 2023, the Science Fund launched ten programmes and approved nearly EUR 75 million in funding for 415 projects; these were awarded based on transparent evaluation criteria and in line with international good practice. In total, over 2 700 researchers have benefited from this support.
A number of efforts are under way to strengthen Serbia’s overall low capacity for human resources for research and innovation. Since 2019, the number of scientific researchers is rising again after several years of stagnation. Against this background, the Science Fund’s PROMIS programme, first launched in 2020, continues to provide young researchers with financial support to launch research projects. As of end-2023, more than 300 young professionals have received over EUR 9 million in support. Based on this success, a new phase of PROMIS was launched at the end of 2023 with a budget of EUR 4 million for the following two years (Science Fund, 2023[5]). In related efforts, MoSTDI offers scholarships to doctoral research and co-finances researchers to participate in conferences or professional training. Meanwhile, under the umbrella of the SAIGE programme, training in grant proposal writing, applications, and project management is provided. In addition, 161 Serbian researchers have successfully participated in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).3 Serbia also encourages linkages with its diaspora for research and development projects. Its Programme of Cooperation with the Serbian Scientific Diaspora, launched in 2020 to foster research mobility and provide vouchers for short-term study visits, reached 88 Serbian researchers abroad. The programme’s success led to a second phase of the initiative, launched in 2023 (Science Fund, 2023[6]).
In addition, Serbia actively participates in research-related international and regional collaboration initiatives. Its “Power of Knowledge” strategy is aligned with the priorities of the European Research Area (ERA), and the economy successfully participates in Eureka4 and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST).5 Moreover, Serbia remains the largest WB6 beneficiary under EU framework programmes. Over 600 participants, one-third of whom come from the private sector, received over EUR 135 million under the Horizon 2020 framework, while 318 projects have already benefited under Horizon Europe since 2021 (Horizon 2020, 2023[7]). Serbia also actively participates in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI)6 and adopted a National European Research Infrastructure roadmap in 2018. However, it has yet to introduce the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) Regulation into national law, which would enable the establishment of pan-European research infrastructures.
Sub-dimension 9.3: Knowledge exchange and co-creation
Serbia has made progress in strengthening linkages between public scientific research and the private sector, with the Innovation Fund remaining the economy’s most important vehicle to provide incentives for business-academia collaboration. Since 2016, the Fund has offered both competitive and collaborative grants to engage with scientific researchers and businesses on joint technological projects with a realistic commercialisation strategy. To date, it has supported 63 projects with over EUR 16 million in financial backing, several of which have been closely aligned with Serbia’s strategic STI framework and the economy’s SDG ambitions. Examples of such projects include, for instance, one aimed at developing an AI-based energy management platform that automates the search for optimal patterns in energy consumption and production. Another initiative focuses on developing an innovative biocontrol product for plant disease and pest control in an eco-friendly food supply chain.
In addition, the Innovation Fund continues to operate an innovation voucher scheme that has benefited over 1 000 SMEs with more than EUR 5 million. Under the umbrella of the Proof-of-Concept programme, implemented in 2020, the Fund also offers financial and mentoring support to test research projects' commercialisation and technological readiness. The Proof-of-Concept programme has supported 93 projects thus far, while the Technology Transfer Facility (TTF) programme has provided over EUR 1.7 million to 72 beneficiaries to date. In 2020, an independent evaluation of the Innovation Fund’s portfolio found its ongoing programmes performed well. Since the last assessment, the Innovation Fund has launched a set of additional programmes, including the Serbia Venture Programme, Katapult and Smart Start. Although these programmes target start-ups with high growth potential rather than industry collaboration with R&D institutes specifically, it can be expected these large-scale measures will create spillover effects in the medium term as the innovation ecosystem expands.
Serbia has also taken steps to strengthen intellectual property (IP) protection. The Intellectual Property Office offers some assistance for patenting and commercialisation, and further notable revisions have been introduced to the Patent Law in 2021. The revisions brought the economy’s IP legislation broadly in line with the EU acquis, covering research in R&D institutes, universities and private companies and ensuring that proceeds from commercialised intellectual property are equally split between the creator and the organisation holding the patent. The latter revision offers a non-financial incentive for scientists to collaborate with private firms. However, enforcement capacity remains weak despite efforts to improve performance and co-ordination across enforcement bodies and align IP enforcement with relevant EU directives.
Serbia continues to operate a strong research and innovation (R&I) infrastructure for business-academia collaboration. Its four Science and Technology Parks (STP) in Belgrade, Čačak, Niš and Novi Sad have outgrown capacity, and Serbia has secured a EUR 70 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2023 to expand its existing STP network. Parts of this investment will also contribute to constructing a new state-of-the-art biotechnology park and centre of excellence (Box 10.1). In addition, a dedicated Research and Development Institute for Artificial Intelligence in support of the AI strategy was established in 2021, with the aim to research and apply the latest artificial intelligence technologies and become a global centre of excellence for scientific research and technology transfer related to AI and machine learning. While technology transfer services are available at all major universities in Serbia but remain underutilised, the Innovation Fund continues to run the TTF programme successfully. This programme is designed to build transactional capabilities in technology transfer by adopting an integrated approach that engages researchers and local and international technology transfer practitioners in Serbia.
Box 10.1. Expansion of R&D brick and mortar infrastructure in Serbia and construction of the region’s new bioeconomic centre Bio4 campus
In 2023, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided a loan of EUR 70 million to the government of Serbia to be used to finance the construction and purchase of new equipment for the expansion of existing STP facilities in the cities of Niš and Čačak – which have currently reached almost full capacity – and the development of a new STP facility in Kruševac. An additional EUR 10 million is available to be used for the expansion of existing STPs in Belgrade and Novi Sad and the development of new STP facilities within the new biotechnology park Bio4 in Belgrade. EBRD’s financing is complemented by a technical assistance project to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in Serbia and reinforce the STPs’ practices in their alignment with international best practices for their establishment, management and operation. The project will focus on the following four elements: i) performance management, ii) strategic orientation and financial sustainability, iii) linkages between STPs and the wider Serbian innovation ecosystem, and iv) skills development and linkages with universities.
The Bio4 campus construction commenced in late 2023 near the Torlak Institute in Belgrade and is expected to be completed by 2026. The estimated value of the new bioeconomic hub is around EUR 450 million, with EUR 200 million secured from a loan by the Development Bank of the Council of Europe. This represents Serbia's most significant individual investment in science. The construction is divided into several phases, with the first phase involving 110 000 square metres of laboratory space, business areas accommodating seven faculties, and nine scientific institutes. More than 300 laboratories will be built, where experts from Serbia, initially including over 1 000 Ph.D. students, will work on advancing innovations and improving the quality of life in Serbia. The future occupants of the Bio4 campus include biological, pharmaceutical, chemical, medical, agricultural, technical-metallurgical, and sport and physical education faculties, the STP Belgrade, and nine institutes specialising, among others, in genetic engineering, nuclear energy applications, medical research, and artificial intelligence.
This ambitious expansion of the institutional support network will assist regional development and the retention of talent and entrepreneurship in Serbia, by providing critical research and business infrastructure for the incubation and growth of innovative start-ups and businesses in the economy.
Source: Pyrkalo (2023[8]).
Serbia shows a strong commitment to open science policy, the principles of which are included in the Law on Science and Research. Serbia adopted the National Platform for Open Access in 2018, which mandates that all publicly funded research, including via the Science Fund, be open access. Subsequently, more than 80 institutions have registered publications in 2023, up from just 10 in 2018. Furthermore, in 2020, a dedicated team for Open Science in Serbia was established within the (formerly called) MoESTD, to outline all necessary improvements, measures and regulations related to open science based on the principles of the European Open Science Cloud project.
Overview of implementation of Competitiveness Outlook 2021 recommendations
Serbia has fully or partially implemented all Recommendations of Competitiveness Outlook 2021 (Table 10.2). Most notably, efforts have been made to fully operationalise the Science Fund, which now works with the Innovation Fund as the economy’s two key implementation vehicles for STI policy. Public sector investments in research and development have increased significantly, underlining the government’s commitment to science and innovation. However, R&D investments remain low, particularly from the private sector.
Table 10.2. Serbia’s progress on past recommendations for science, technology, and innovation
|
Competitiveness Outlook 2021 recommendations |
Progress status |
Level of progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Further strengthen the Science Fund |
The Science Fund has become fully operational, with adequate human and financial resources. |
Strong |
|
Implement the Action Plan of the Smart Specialisation Strategy |
Implementation of the STI framework, including the Smart Specialisation Strategy, is advancing well and is supported by an up-to-date Action Plan. |
Strong |
|
Increase investment in R&D |
While overall investments in R&D remain low, Serbia’s Government committed to increasing budget allocations for R&D by 50% over the next five years, and public sector spending has already begun to increase. |
Moderate |
|
Build capacity for better enforcement of intellectual property protection |
Efforts to further align IP enforcement with the relevant EU directives and to increase internal co-ordination capacity are ongoing; however, prosecution capacity remains limited. |
Limited |
|
Stimulate more intense co-operation between industry and academia |
Serbia’s four-pillar STP network has grown substantially in recent years, with expansion plans well under way. |
Moderate |
The way forward for science, technology, and innovation
Serbia has progressed well with the implementation of its STI agenda, and the policy framework is showing signs of maturity and consolidation. Nevertheless, further efforts are needed, especially in creating opportunities for the commercialisation of research and public-private co-creation. Going forward, Serbia should focus its efforts on the following:
Prioritise STI initiatives of strategic importance, including digitalisation, frontier technological development and sustainability. Serbia’s participation in the UN Global Pilot Programme on STI for SDGs Roadmaps has laid the foundations for forward-looking STI initiatives with high relevance for global challenges. While both Serbia’s Innovation and Science Funds already support relevant projects, the further tailoring of financing programmes – for instance, by introducing higher incentives or dedicated programme foci – would support the economy’s efforts to stimulate R&D in priority areas, such as emerging technologies and green transition, and boost awareness among both academic and business representatives.
Adhere to the commitment to increase public funding for research and innovation by 50% until 2028. Serbia has significantly increased funding for STI activities, and both the Innovation and Science Funds are operating large-scale funding programmes. However, to maintain the momentum of these schemes and provide long-term funding prospects for R&D to the economy, Serbia must work towards increasing GERD with a credible, time-bound and openly accessible funding plan.
Attract private investments into research and innovation (R&I). Increasing private sector spending on research and innovation remains a significant challenge for Serbia. While measures taken in recent years are showing encouraging signs, additional efforts to target R&D-intensive foreign direct investment (FDI) are needed to promote Serbia’s image as an R&D location and boost private sector R&D activities via large-scale FDI investments. A network of cutting-edge, fully funded and well-equipped and staffed centres of excellence, such as the new Bio4 campus or AI institute, can attract international talent and corporate investments in R&D-intensive industries.
Consolidate improvements in the Intellectual Property (IP) protection regime. Additional efforts to improve the co-ordination of law enforcement bodies, build capacity and digitalise information on intellectual property would help establish a track record in enforcing IP regulation. Improved enforcement can incentivise and strengthen the confidence of businesses to invest in research and development activities in the economy.
Develop a comprehensive action plan to promote open science. Providing open access to science promotes academic integrity, builds trust in the public research system within the business community, and raises public awareness about the importance of research among the general public. A dedicated plan of actions, including measures such as training, digital literacy, awareness raising for researchers, and capacity building for research and development institutes would complement Serbia’s National Platform for Open Access, and stimulate more co-operation within academia and beyond. The Netherlands can provide a relevant example of good practices in this regard (Box 10.2).
Box 10.2. The Netherlands’ approach to Open Science
The Netherlands has actively spearheaded and integrated open science into public policies for several years, manifested in a National Plan Open Science developed under the National Programme for Open Science (NPOS), first launched in 2017. The Plan outlines the Dutch government's vision and strategic goals for advancing open science, built around four key pillars:
Open Access: Ensuring that all publicly funded research publications are freely accessible to everyone.
FAIR Data: Promoting the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles to enhance the quality and reuse of research data.
Recognition and Rewards: Reforming the academic reward system to value and incentivis open science practices.
Skills and Training: Providing researchers with the necessary skills and training to adopt open science practices.
Building on these principles and strengthening local capacity to foster open science, the Netherlands eScience Centre and the Research Data Netherlands consortium have developed and maintained national infrastructures to support open science. These platforms offer tools, services, and expertise to help researchers manage, share, and analyse their data effectively.
Dutch universities and research institutions have also negotiated with publishers to promote open access publishing. The Association of Universities in the Netherlands has negotiated transformative agreements with major publishers, ensuring that Dutch researchers can publish their work on open access platforms without additional costs.
Moreover, many Dutch funding agencies, including the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, have implemented open research data policies. These policies require researchers to make their data openly available through repositories or archives to enhance transparency and reproducibility in research.
Serbia could take inspiration from several of these initiatives as it seeks to develop its open data policies. Possible benefits include increased collaboration between researchers, increased accessibility and reusability of scientific data as well as improved integrity and transparency in scientific research.
Source: National Programme Open Science (2022[9]).
References
[3] EPO (2022), European Patent Office – Country Dashboard Serbia, https://www.epo.org/en/about-us/statistics/statistics-centre#/countrydashboards.
[1] European Commission (2023), European Innovation Scoreboard 2023: Country Profile Serbia, https://ec.europa.eu/assets/rtd/eis/2023/ec_rtd_eis-country-profile-rs.pdf.
[7] Horizon 2020 (2023), Horizon 2020 Country Profile Serbia, https://dashboard.tech.ec.europa.eu/qs_digit_dashboard_mt/public/extensions/RTD_BI_public_Country_Profile/RTD_BI_public_Country_Profile.html?Country=RS.
[9] National Programme Open Science (2022), Open Science 2030 in the Netherlands, https://eosc.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/NPOSAmbitionDocument-version-1.0.pdf.
[8] Pyrkalo, S. (2023), “Serbia to build science and technology parks with €80 million EBRD loan”, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, https://www.ebrd.com/news/2023/serbia-to-build-science-and-technology-parks-with-80-million-ebrd-loan.html.
[6] Science Fund (2023), Diaspora 2023 – Open Public Call for Collaborative Research Projects, Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, https://fondzanauku.gov.rs/2023/12/diaspora-2023-open-public-call-for-collaborative-research-projects/?lang=en#:~:text=DIASPORA%202023%20enables%20researchers%20to,for%20the%20DIASPORA%202023%20program.
[5] Science Fund (2023), PROMIS 2023 – Supported 30 Research Projects of Young Researchers, https://fondzanauku.gov.rs/2023/11/promis-2023-supported-30-research-projects-for-young-researchers/?lang=en.
[2] Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (2022), Statistical Release - Research and Development Activity, 2022, https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2023/PdfE/G20231238.pdf (accessed on 15 March 2024).
[4] UNECE (2021), Researchers (in full-time equivalent), per 1,000,000 Population, https://w3.unece.org/SDG/en/Indicator?id=124 (accessed on 15 March 2024).
Notes
← 1. Based on the understanding that STI plays a significant role in attaining the SDGs, the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Team launched the Global Pilot Programme on Science, Technology and Innovation for SDGs Roadmaps. The programme initially involved five pilot countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya and Serbia). These pilots provide inputs for developing roadmaps in other economies that successfully integrate STI into national actions addressing the SDGs (https://sdgs.un.org/universal/work-stream-9-sti-policy-frameworks-action-plan-and-roadmaps-32671).
← 2. The SAIGE Project aims to foster Serbia’s growth and competitiveness by improving the relevance and quality of scientific research, and to promote business innovation and growth finance accessibility. The project implementation has started in 2020 and is led by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation (https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P170185).
← 3. The MSCA is an EU programme that provides grants to support research careers and encourages transnational, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility (https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu).
← 4. Eureka is the largest intergovernmental network for co-operation in R&D and innovation in the world. It is present in over 45 economies, where it provides access to public funding, promotes collaboration and innovation and offers advice, through various programmes (such as Eureka Clusters, Globalstars, InvestHorizon) (https://www.eurekanetwork.org/).
← 5. COST is a funding organisation for the bottom-up creation of research networks, called COST Actions. These networks offer an open space for collaboration among scientists across Europe (and beyond), thereby fostering research advancements and innovation (https://www.cost.eu).
← 6. ESFRI was established in 2002 with the aim of supporting the scientific integration of Europe and strengthening its international outreach. It brings together national governments, the scientific community and the European Commission, to promote a coherent and strategy-driven approach to policy making on research infrastructures in Europe (https://www.esfri.eu).