A group of researchers, both reviewers and editors of international journals (amongst others, participants in COST action TD1306 "New frontiers in peer review"), in collaboration with the Center for the Promotion of Science (CPN), created a peer review seminar aimed at PhD students and younger researchers. At some universities in Serbia, students are trained in writing scientific papers, while there is hardly any peer review training. A survey conducted among the editors of 22 print magazines in Serbia (50 out of 70 editors replied) showed that the review process was ineffective, mainly due to poor response of invited reviewers, a long waiting times for review, and partly due to lack of competence and expertise of reviewers. Some editors feel that training of reviewers (especially younger generations) is the way to go in order to improve efficiency.

A 3-hour seminar, featuring five lecturers, covering the topics ranging from how to do reviews properly, through ethics in peer review to the epistemological aspects of writing and reviewing scientific papers and the functioning of specific peer review networks and platforms such as Publons. Prominent lecturers with extensive editing and reviewing experience for renowned scientific journals also address a number of interesting questions related to the peer review process: why review?; what are the goals of the review?; does the reviewer assist the journal editor or the author?; is the reviewer also an author of the reviewed work?; can the reviewer be objective?; can the review be cited?; and many other issues.

In 2017 and 2018 the Seminar was held on 5 occasions: at the Center for the Promotion of Science and at the Rectorates of the Universities of Niš, Novi Sad and Kragujevac. The seminar was attended by 275 participants, 84% of whom were young researchers (doctoral students, researchers) and 16% senior professors and scientists. 31% of them belonged to the field of social sciences, 30% came from technical and technological sciences, 24% from natural sciences and 15% from the field of medical sciences. The organizers of the seminar think that the reviewer training should continue, that members of the academic community are quite interested in the topic, and the result of the test review showed that there is a realistic need for such training. Training young people will increase the competence of individuals, the number of reviewers available, and thus the efficiency of the peer review process in journals.

Under this concept, the CPN has developed a programme designed for teachers whose primary purpose is to create an environment for learning and science discovery in which everyone is welcome to ask questions, explore, experiment and create new knowledge. As the national contact point for the largest European network of science teachers - Scientix, our idea is to connect teachers, their practices and experiences, and to promote STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), new pedagogical approaches, collaboration and project financing through various EU funds.

The program is implemented using the resources and developed practices of several EU projects in which the Center participates: SySTEM 2020, ODDYSEy, CREATIONS, Hypatia and STEM School Label. It is our desire to introduce educators to these projects and invite them to get involved in the activities that are of interest to them. In 2017 and 2018, over 40 events were held within this programme in Belgrade and 20 cities and towns across Serbia.

Find out more at eu.cpn.rs/naucno-obrazovanje-za-odgovorno-drustvo

Scientix is Europe's largest online community bringing together STEM teachers, as well as numerous decision makers and educators, with a view to supporting these disciplines and new pedagogical approaches. The online platform contains numerous projects by teachers themselves, which represent good practice examples. Among them, there are exceptionally high quality and successful projects involving teachers from Serbia. The main objective of the Center is to increase the number of such projects and teachers from Serbia involved.

The SySTEM2020 project focuses on learning outside of the classroom, primarily in the field of natural science and math. Mapping this type of extracurricular activities across Europe, as well as assessing the number and availability of transdisciplinary programmes are the basis for recommendations to educators in terms of conducting similar programmes. The survey will cover students aged 9 to 20 from 19 countries, with a balanced representation of different geographical and socio-economic status. Minorities and migrant communities will also be involved, providing an active map covering various existing practices in Europe.

STEM School Label is a project designed to accredit schools at European level which approach teaching STEM subjects in an efficient and innovative way, thus significantly contributing to the acquisition of skills and raising the level of competence in this field. The idea of this project is to strengthen collaboration between schools, industry and researchers at the local level, thus facilitating the transition from one stage to another in education.

The main goal of the ODYSSEy project is to help students focused on the natural sciences and technical disciplines improve skills such as argumentation, critical thinking and oral presentation. In addition to the Center for the Promotion of Science, partners in the ODYSSEy project include the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, the Energy Discovery Science Center in Tallinn, Estonia, and the Institute for the Study of Rhetoric and Communication in Athens, Greece.

The Hypatia project, named after the famous mathematician who lived in the 4th century, aims to attract 13- to 18-year-olds to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a gender-sensitive way. Local experts in the field of gender equality, science or science communication, high school teachers and teenagers who are hesitant about their choice of studies have joined a variety of activities within the Hypatia project.

The goal of the CREATIONS project is to introduce innovative teaching methods in natural sciences and mathematics based on insight learning, using elements of artistic creation. Such an approach provides students with opportunities to understand science through active and creative engagement and collaboration.

Thought experiments find their application in all teaching subjects, in almost all teaching methods; they can be part of any method of transfer and acquisition of knowledge, they are indispensable in the knowledge consolidation and retention process and provide unlimited space for innovation in the fields of teaching and education. Thought experiments are a healthy treat for the brain. In the fast-food era for our impoverished thinking, served in the electronic media social networking canteens, they provide much more than the crossword and sudoku. Thought experiments open the gates of intertwined, ornate and unpredictable paths in the gardens of thought, introducing us to the entertaining maze of conclusions about the issues and intellectual trappings that have always plagued us, or those which, unfortunately, we have never heard of.

Exploring conceptual possibilities is not something that can be confined to particular spheres of reality, as is the case with specialized sciences. Although its birthplace is in philosophy, by the very nature of thought experimentation, it finds its field of work in mathematics, physics, psychology, literature, history, economics, or any other discipline which challenges our thinking and knowledge about the nature of reality, including social reality and elements of reality created by man. This is why thought experiments find their application in all teaching subjects, in almost all teaching methods; they can be a part of any method of knowledge transfer and acquisition, they are indispensable in the knowledge consolidation and retention process and provide unlimited space for innovation in the fields of teaching and education.

Find out more at http://cpn.rs/misaonieksperimenti/

ABOUT THE SEMINAR

The Catalogue of the Institute for the Improvement of Education lists the Seminar under No 554 as accredited for school years 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021: https://zuov-katalog.rs/

The competence developed by the proposed programme: K2 - Teaching and learning competences. Expected Effects of Training: Participants will be instructed in the most significant and historically most influential thought experiments which defined the modern course of development of human knowledge. The participants will be able to develop forms of creative imagination among students, which is indispensable today in acquiring new knowledge, mastering new concepts, both in natural and social sciences, in critical thinking and understanding of the modern world.

The Seminar was designed and implemented by Dr. Mašan Bogdanovski from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade and Ivan Umeljić from the Center for the Promotion of Science.

Strategic integration of the scientific community and all stakeholders through partner networks, both in Serbia and abroad, with a view to increasing the quality of activities aimed at strengthening the cooperation between scientific research organizations, the Network of Regional and Vocational Training Centres, local governments, business sector and industry.

Promoting scientific research through support to socially responsible research, innovation and business, and increasing the visibility of the results of the local scientific community as well as aligning with the needs of local communities and society as a whole.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, with a view to supporting the dissemination of knowledge about the EC’S programme Horizon 2020, a series of thematic lectures and debates called Horizon on Thursdays was successfully organized.

Primarily intended for scientific researchers, but also for the general public, these activities provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to actively participate in this EU-funded programme, the largest EU programme related to research and innovation funding until now.