Serbia to get a “small CERN” – Construction of research center in Zemun to start in late 2020

The construction of the Verrocchio Center for modern experiments in physics and high technology, which will be carried out in cooperation with CERN, will begin in late 2020, and the completion of the facility within the Institute for Physics in Zemun is expected in two years, says the director of the institute, Aleksandar Bogojevic.

He emphasizes that this is one of the government's priority projects when it comes to innovations and that EUR 5 million will be put into it.

The idea for the construction of Verrocchio, which would gather scientists from all over the world, has been supported by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the National Institute for Nuclear Physics of Italy (INFN) and the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY).

– The construction of this center, as a small part of CERN, is an ideal way for a small country to take part in scientific research on the highest level – Bogojevic told Tanjug about the construction of the facility named after Florentine renaissance painter Andrea del Verrocchio, who taught Leonardo da Vinci, among others.

One of the two buildings, of the total area of around 4,000 m2, to be built in the institute's yard, will be the premises for the work of around 50 graduate and post-graduate students of various profiles – engineers, physicists, biologists and designers – gathered around certain projects.

The intention, Bogojevic says, is for Verrocchio to be an incubator of the development of “a school of the future” and a concept of quality education for the 21st century.

He reminds that the institute features the largest super-computer center in the region and adds that Verrocchio will also stimulate the development of the high-tech sector in Serbia.

– In the past years, there have been unexpected breakthroughs in our IT sector, and now we should create an environment for geneticists and researchers from other fields to come to Serbia and design solutions not just for our markets, but also for the markets of the USA, Switzerland... – Bogojevic says.

Institut za fiziku Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

Inistitute for Physics in Zemun

Government of Serbia

Aleksandar Bogojević

Verrocchio

CERN

INFN

DESY

physics

Andrea del Verrocchio

Leonardo da Vinci