With support of a loan from the World Bank Group, Serbia intends to support the strengthening of the Serbian Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Serbia has received a loan from the World Bank Group for the Serbia Accelerating Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SAIGE) Project (Project) to support the strengthening of the Serbian Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem. The main objective of the Project is to improve (i) the relevance and excellence of scientific research; and (ii) innovative entrepreneurship and access to finance for enterprise growth, as a way of contributing to Serbia’s growth and competitiveness. The Project includes the following components.

Component 1: Serbia Science Fund Component 1 will (a) finance selected competitive programs of the Science Fund (SF), such as basic science grants, applied research grants; and (b) provide technical assistance (TA) for the capacity building and operationalization of the Science Fund, including governance, organizational structure, program design, monitoring and evaluation and other key institutional elements. 

Component 2: Serbian Diaspora Facility Component 2 will support establishment of a Serbian Diaspora Facility (SDF) within the Science Fund to finance technical assistance and provision of grants to scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs and Serbian diaspora to transfer knowledge and skills from the diaspora community back to the country. More specifically, the facility will leverage the strengths and desire of the Serbian diaspora community to contribute to the research, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Serbia.

Component 3: Project Implementation, Monitoring, Capacity Building. The Component 3 will finance activities related to project implementation and monitoring, including the operations of a Project Implementation Unit (PIU), established at the MoESTD and part of the operating costs of the Central Fiduciary Unit (CFU) at the Ministry of Finance (MOF). This will also include capacity building support to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (MoESTD), Science Fund, Innovation Fund and selected RDIs.

The SAIGE Project will support technical assistance (TA) for the operationalization of the Science Fund, including corporate governance, organizational structure, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and other key institutional elements. For the purpose of implementation of the Project requirements the SF engaged a team of international consultants from Slovenia, Austria, Romania and Croatia. Dorothea Sturn from ZSI acts as the Austrian expert.

Team:

• Dr. Dorothea Sturn (project leader)

Section: Research Policy & Development

Funding institutions and customers:

• Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia