18TH YEAR OF THE PAN-EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY "APEIRON"


Eighteen years of work of the higher education institution of the Pan-European University "Apeiron" Banja Luka is being celebrated with respect for epidemiological measures, without a celebration with guests, friends, partners and associates, on February 12.

And for this birthday, from the scholarship fund "Prof. Dr. Risto Kozomara" the three best students received scholarships - free tuition for the fourth year of study: Tatjana Đukić, Faculty of Philological Sciences, Dajana Đukić, Faculty of Legal Sciences and Teodora Kaplarski, student of the Faculty of Health Sciences. And this year, 13 doctors of science will receive their diplomas on March 5, in the ceremonial part of the 171st session of the Senate.

Although the year behind us has passed due to the pandemic, in limited conditions, significant results have been achieved and numerous activities have been carried out. At the University, they excelled in the teaching process under different conditions, thanks to their own distance learning system (DL system), which has been in use for more than 14 years, in which the Pan-European University is the leader in the Republic of Srpska. In 2020, the Center for Publishing published 6 scientific journals: EMC Review - Journal of economics and market communications, Quality Of Life, a journal in the field of food safety, environmental protection, ecology, then the journal Sports Science and Health, JITA -Journal of Information Technology and Application, a magazine dedicated to information technologies, TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT THEORY AND PRACTICE –TTTP, a magazine in the field of traffic and the Yearbook of the Faculty of Legal Sciences.

Four online international scientific conferences were organized: The scientific conference on translation was organized on December 18 and 19 by the Russian Translators' Union together with the National Society of Applied Linguistics of the Russian New University (RusNoU), the Institute of National Schools of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), the Institute of Philology and Intercultural communication of the Privola Federal University, the Center for Scientific and Educational Education "Integrative Translation of the Pre-Arctic Space" (SAFU Mihailo Lomonosov) and the Pan-European University "Apeiron". "SPORTS SCIENCES AND HEALTH", 10th international scientific conference organized by the Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences , was held on June 24 and 25. "Information technologies for e-education IteO 2020", the 12th international scientific conference was held on September 25, organized by the Faculty of Information Technologies. "EDASOL 2020", a conference on economic development and living standards, was held for the tenth year in a row on November 13.

Several interesting events marked the past year. On December 4, the "Russian Humanitarian Mission" presented 600 books, educational, methodological and fiction literature to the Faculty of Philological Sciences. The donation was presented by the head of the Russian humanitarian mission in the Balkans, Branimir Nešić. Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of the Russian Federation Anastasija Vladimirovna Gajdalenok officially opened the Corner of Russian Literature at the Pan-European University.

On July 27, an agreement on cooperation was signed between the Faculty of Sports Sciences of the University of "Apeiron" and two top handball clubs - "Borac" Banja Luka and "PPD Zagreb". Students will perform internships in the mentioned sports organizations, and the players of the mentioned clubs will be tested at the Center for Sports Diagnostics of the University.

The certified professional training of instructors, licensed theoretical lecturers, examiners of the theoretical part of the exam and examiners in driving a motor vehicle was held on July 4, organized by the Faculty of Traffic of "Apeiron" University, with the consent of the Institute for Adult Education. About 120 participants received certificates of completed professional training, which are valid for issuing licenses in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thanks to the spatial and technical capacities of the University, all regulations were complied with in accordance with the provisions of the authorities when holding this type of gathering due to KOVID 19.

During August, a summer school organized by the Faculty of Philological Sciences, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Faculty of Translation) and Russian New University (Moscow) was held for students of the Russian language. The school was dedicated to the work of the famous Russian poetess Anna Andreevna Akhmatova (1889-1966). The classes were organized through the Microsoft Teams service, and the participating students were presented with certificates.

PICTURE GALLERY

IF OUR STUDENTS WORK IN THE BIGGEST SCIENTIFIC FACTORY IN THE WORLD - THEN WE HAVE SUCCEEDED


On the occasion of the 18th year of work, we are talking to the rector of the Pan-European University "Apeiron", academician prof. Dr. Zoran Ž. Avramović


1. The Pan-European University "Apeiron" will enroll the eighteenth generation of students this year. What kind of education can those who choose you count on?

Let's remember that the university is an institution that deals with higher education and scientific research work and that it is considered one of the greatest contributions of the people of Europe to the world's cultural heritage. Our university, as a modern institution of higher education with 7 faculties and 34 study programs, in all 3 cycles of education, educates students with the aim of becoming experts up to current and future challenges. Students have the opportunity to learn from competent teachers, scientists and experts in the fields of informatics, health, economics, transport, law, languages ​​and sports. Such an ensemble of professors is difficult to meet in a wider environment and it guarantees a high quality of education. The University also has professors who are academics even in several prestigious academies of science and art, and ten emeritus professors also participate in the classes.


2. The past year, 2020, was marked by the pandemic of the respiratory coronavirus KOVID-19. How does the University act in these conditions?

Due to the current epidemic situation, we celebrate the eighteenth anniversary of our existence and work without a formal academy, but with the traditional awarding of scholarships to the best students. Behind us is a year of dramatic changes in the teaching and educational process. But the fact is that we have managed very well thanks to our own distance learning system (DL system), which we have been using for more than 14 years. Our DL system enables all students to access lecture videos, electronic textbooks, presentations as well as other electronic materials for studying and exam preparation at any time and from anywhere in the world. And that was the key challenge, the transition to a hybrid way of working - online monitoring of lectures from home and limited immediate presence in the classroom (ex-cathedra).
Students respected the restrictions immediately in the classroom, and at home they had at their disposal the interactive use of MS Teams to monitor classes in real time, as well as to exchange learning materials. This platform is dynamic, constantly updated by teachers with new teaching content and materials.


3. How important is the Pan-European University to practical teaching?

The concept of practical teaching is radically changing before our eyes. At the Pan-European University "Apeiron", full research attention, especially in doctoral studies, is devoted to the near future, intensive study of the practical application of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning, even tasks that were previously reserved for highly trained healthcare professionals, lawyers and managers (eg diagnosing diseases on medical images or reviewing legal case histories or routine banking and CRM), for example - can now to perform programmed machines.

Today, it is quite normal for an employer to require practical experience from a candidate in a job competition, in addition to acquired theoretical knowledge. We have agreements with more than 50 companies from the Republika Srpska, the Federation of BiH, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria and Germany on the provision of practical teaching services, which are evaluated in the ECTS credit system.

The modernly equipped offices of the Faculty of Health Care with teaching aids, then the richly equipped Center for diagnostics in sports and cooperation with reputable sports institutions and schools, represent an excellent base for the advancement of students through practical exercises. Students of the Faculty of Sports Sciences have lessons on the field every year, which refines the acquired knowledge in the teaching process.

A good teaching base for students of the Faculty of Health Sciences is practice at the University Clinical Center of the Republika Srpska and the University Clinical Center Tuzla, the Institute of Public Health of the RS, Terme Laktaši, the Health and Tourism Center Banja Vrućica, the Institute for Protection and Ecology of the RS, the Rehabilitation Center "Dom 2 Topola Izola - Republic of Slovenia, Kulaši Spa. Students also do internships in Germany, which opens the way to permanent employment. Students of the Faculty of Philological Sciences study at universities in Russia for one year. Students of the Faculty of Traffic in our mobile laboratories and in the field acquire valuable practical knowledge that will be extremely useful in practice tomorrow.

4. Where do your students work after their studies?

It is with great pleasure and great pride that we point out that our former students work in the largest scientific factory in the world - the European Institute for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. Together with the greatest research minds of today, they develop, program and investigate the most complex physical phenomena.

Some of them moved to the USA and developed complex software products there that recommended them to continue and complete doctoral studies at prestigious universities. We meet them as robot software designers for car manufacturing in Germany. We attend and participate in the defense of their doctoral dissertations at the University of Belgrade.

We are proud that the realization of the heart of the Uber system is directly related to "Apeiron". The American international company Uber, with over 100 million users worldwide, allows users to find transportation and pay for it over the Internet. This, the most sensitive part of this system - billing, was implemented by our teachers, associates and former students. FZN students are employed in the state and private sector, and we can state that former students are primarily employed in the Republic of Srpska, but also in all meridians of the world. We encourage and encourage them to be confident in themselves and their knowledge, because those who hope a little get a little. Therefore, we say to them: let your hopes exceed reality.


5. The University's scientific research institute brings good projects. How many students, the so-called young scientist, involved in his work?

The Scientific Research Institute of the Pan-European University conducts scientific and development research, participates in projects and activities for the needs of the market. Unfortunately, my impression is that our joint scientific research work as a unique "Apeiron" research team has not yet been sufficiently utilized and is not producing the expected results for me. However, some members of our team have, I wouldn't say impressive, but fascinating scientific research work behind them. This is supported by the claim that since the establishment of the University, we have had 10 professors emeritus, who have earned this distinguished status thanks to exceptional results in science and research. At our University, we have professors who have published more than 300 scientific and professional papers, participated in the work or managed the development of more than 150 scientific research and professional projects.

In the list of journals in which "Apeiron" researchers publish, there is a considerable number from the Web of Science (WoS) list, led by the distinguished family of IEEE journals.

Our students, primarily from the third and second cycles, are also involved in numerous researches, with quality research results.

The year behind us, in terms of the number and quality of published papers in which students of all three cycles took part, is one of the most research-rich years at "Apeiron". It is possible that this is a consequence of the corona virus pandemic, because we were forced to stay at home and give exercise more space. Thus, a large group of our researchers (primarily younger teachers and PhD students) managed to participate in an online conference in Durban (South Africa) in a very large number and to achieve great success. A special confirmation of this is that almost all of their papers from that Conference will be published in the Springer edition. The first immediate challenge in 2021 is participation in Erasmus projects - projects of the European Union. So we continue that process and create teams for quality in scientific research work in higher education. We achieve an enviable level of cooperation with a large number of other countries and universities. Through the internationalization of higher education, through restitution, we will create new values ​​and this will give new momentum to the new university.

QUALITY AS A CHALLENGE

I think it is time to overcome these too often emphasized differences between public and private universities. What should be key for the state and students is quality, and I can proudly say that "Apeiron" University possesses it and provides it to its students. In addition to modern teaching, we have a developed publishing activity, we publish seven scientific journals, and organize four scientific conferences.

RESPONSIBILITY TO STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IS KEY

"Apeiron" is today a respected institution of higher education in this region. Grown on solid foundations, with the unquestionable dedication of the teaching staff to students and the institution, it is taking big steps forward. I would like to thank the teaching staff for their dedicated work and the students for their serious and responsible work, with which we have raised the Pan-European University APEIRON to an enviable height in these 18 years.