ADDRESS OF THE RECTOR ON THE OCCASION OF THE 19TH ANNIVERSARY OF "APEIRON" UNIVERSITY

Rector_picture_day of the University

ADDRESS OF THE RECTOR ON THE OCCASION OF THE 19TH ANNIVERSARY

PAN-EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY "APEIRON"


The 19th anniversary of our University gives us reason to be truly proud. We are aware that the world does not stand still, it moves and everything is in motion. There are many challenges and exciting opportunities ahead. Join us.


Ladies and Gentlemen,


19 years ago, the innovative higher education institution Pan-European University "Apeiron" was founded in Banja Luka. An institution with a practical and contemporary approach to education, which prepares students to face the challenges of a constantly changing world. In those years, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska were at the beginning of the post-war democratic reality and the transition of the entire social system, including the activity of higher education. In this difficult, critical period of our social community, a group of enthusiasts led by Mr. Darko Uremović (founder and president of the University's Board of Directors), asst. Dr. Siniša Aleksić (founder and director of the University) and Kornelija Gilh (founder and member of the University's Board of Directors), with the immeasurable support of an ensemble of prestigious university professors headed by academician Prof. Dr. Rajko Kuzmanović (president of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republic of Srpska) - in 2003. , in accordance with the Law on Higher Education - founded and launched the Faculty of Business Economics, the first member of the future Pan-European University "Apeiron". The statutory goal of the then Faculty of Business Economics was to prepare students for managing business in an emerging market economy and to educate personnel capable of taking on the challenges of socio-economic transformation. Soon, in accordance with the growing needs of the market, the Faculty of Legal Sciences and the Faculty of Information Technologies were founded, and after the registration of the University (2006), the Faculty of Sports Sciences and the Faculty of Health Sciences were added to its composition.

These members are joined by the Faculty of Philological Sciences (2009) and the Faculty of Transportation (2013), so that the University currently has 7 faculties where teaching and scientific research activities of diploma, master's degrees are carried out in "in class" and "on-line" study modes. and doctoral studies in 34 study programs. Our prestigious institution is attended annually by an average of 3.000 students and researchers from all over the country, as well as from the Western Balkan region. Today's "APEIRON GROUP" also includes the "Gemit-Apeiron" Secondary School Center, the Scientific Research Institute, the Vocational IT Academy, the Career Guidance Center and the "Alumna" Employment Mediation Agency.


The Pan-European University "Apeiron" was founded as a result of the goals of the founders. It is also a consequence of the revolutionary vision that focused on helping to implement the difficult restructuring processes of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.


We will celebrate the 19th anniversary of "Apeiron" in the upcoming academic year 2021/2022. This is an important anniversary for our entire academic community and a good reason to be proud of the results of our work in the past year. It is also a time of summarizing and planning the future, because as the famous Goethe (JW Goethe) said, "he who does not move forward goes backwards".


Today, the Pan-European University is a growing and prestigious higher education institution that responds to contemporary socio-economic challenges. In the past period, we launched study programs in the areas of software engineering, multimedia and computer graphics, engineering and information systems security. During doctoral studies, students have the opportunity to conduct scientific research at the Faculty of Information Technologies, the Faculty of Business Economics, and the Faculty of Philological Sciences, while master's programs are conducted at all seven faculties, which boast a modern and dynamic modular-individualized program of teaching and research curriculum. .


Unfortunately, the previous academic year was also marked by the corona virus pandemic, which significantly affected the resource potential and workload of the University in order to provide conditions for the smooth development of education and scientific research. We have learned to react quickly to changing circumstances. We were constantly guided by two main goals - the necessity of continuing the educational process at the highest level and preserving the health, safety and well-being of the entire academic community and staff. The key to combating the spread of the corona virus has been the active monitoring of ever-changing global educational trends and the immediate introduction of distance learning. It was not news to us. These procedures allow us to speed up and improve processes that we already knew well. We survived this difficult year together. Moreover, we have not lost the confidence with which we look forward to the future. We successfully overcame this obstacle with the help of all our capacities and effective crisis management led by the dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Prof. Dr. Ljiljana Bijelić Stojanović. I am proud to admit that we have achieved our goals.


Unfortunately for all of us, our collective, like the entire society, suffered numerous irreversible human losses due to the consequences of the pandemic, which we remember with deep reverence and sadness and as a collective send expressions of our deepest sympathy to their dearest family members. We hope that the current year 2022 will bring an end to the crisis period from which we will emerge even stronger and more dedicated to the basic postulates of human existence on Earth - humanism, solidarity and social balance in order to preserve lasting peace, civilizational values ​​and improve social order in the world.


We are extremely proud of our result in the field of international cooperation within the framework of the ERASMUS + teacher and student mobility program, because we implemented mobility with higher education institutions in the European Union (Slovenia, Czech Republic). Our Office for International Cooperation has been strengthened by new staff who prepare international mobility and capacity building projects within the ERASMUS+ program. Important results continued to be achieved in obtaining and implementing national scientific research projects and activities within the funding program implemented by the Ministry for Scientific Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society of the Republic of Srpska, where we were approved for research projects in sports, health sciences, economics, traffic engineering, and information technologies. Scientific journals and scientific meetings under the auspices of the University continued the tradition of receiving funds from programs supported by the competent national Ministry, so we can conclude that we have raised the level of quality of activities in the field of scientific research, which resulted in an increase in the number of international and national projects received. grantor.


We pride ourselves on having a great alumni community. Thousands of our alumni run their own businesses, work as officials of public institutions or are employed in private companies. Our alumni are present in addition to our country and the region of the Western Balkans and all over the world, from China, Russia, Western Europe, to the United States of America and Canada.


The nineteenth anniversary of our University gives us reason to be truly proud. We are aware that the world does not stand still, it moves and everything is in motion. There are many challenges and exciting opportunities ahead. Join us. We still want to closely monitor what is happening around us and to actively react and respond to the needs of business and science. We want to show all people that getting a good education is an invaluable asset in this day and age.


At the beginning of 2022, the Pan-European University "Apeiron" received the exceptional privilege and honor of taking over the chairmanship of the Rectors' Conference of the Republika Srpska (RKRS) for a term of two years on behalf of all public and private universities in the Republic of Srpska. I am proud that this honor and obligation fell to me as the rector of the Pan-European University and I will try to continue the tradition of good cooperation and systemic support for the development of higher education at the level of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who, with their efforts, talent or ordinary human kindness, contribute to the development of our University every day. I would like to emphasize the word "our". This is our joint work, which is supported not only by the founders of the University, rectors and deans, but also professors, other academic staff, administrative staff, pensioners, and especially a large number of students and graduates. I am convinced that without the talent, creative work and commitment of a wide group of people, we would not be able to create and develop one of the best private universities in the Republic of Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today I want to thank all these people most deeply. Let us also remember with gratitude all those exceptional members of the "APEIRON" community who are no longer with us, and whose work at this university not only contributed to its development, but also changed and shaped us who had the honor of learning from them and working with them. Traditionally, on the occasion of University Day, the three best students will receive scholarships in the form of free tuition for one school year from the "Prof. Dr. Risto Kozomara" Fund.


I congratulate all students, academic workers, management, founders, administrative and support staff, retirees and alumni of the proud "APEIRON" family on University Day with the desire to live in peace and good health, dedicated to developing and improving our common home, our Pan-European University "Apeiron" ".

Rector

Pan-European University "Apeiron" Banja Luka

Prof. Dr. Sanel Jakupović