The Faculty of Technical Sciences, a place that, for more than six decades, fosters the continuous development of higher education, science and economy. The dedicated and devoted work of its more than 1,200 employers: professors, assistants and non-teaching staff is guided by a common vision and their success is confirmed by the most important parameter of the quality of such an institution – the trust shown by 16,000 future engineers currently studying at our faculty. I can proudly point out that this is what makes us the largest higher education institution, not only at the University of Novi Sad, in the Republic of Serbia, but also in this part of Southeast Europe.

Over 35,000 square meters of space with modern laboratories, lecture halls and classrooms provide the learning environment which offers 85 accredited study programs of all levels of study. Through interdisciplinary studies these programs cover the fields of engineering and technology, science and mathematics, art and medicine and are organized in 13 departments.

In recent decades, with the opening of the global labor market, we have witnessed a large number of young professionals leaving Serbia. The research data suggest that as many as 34% of young people between the ages of 18-29 are thinking of leaving the country. The vast majority of these young people has been educated in Serbia and wants to move to the developed western countries after graduation. The experience from the neighboring countries which have recently joined the EU (Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, …) is also worrying as it shows that a large number of young people there choose to continue their education in western Europe after high school and do not come back.
What is the solution? First of all, “entrepreneurial education” which covers all educational activities that aim to prepare a person to become a responsible, proactive individual who has the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to achieve the goals they set for themselves to live better (European Commission, 2015). It presupposes that the education system be focused on a process in which learning is approached by combining different STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), to develop critical thinking, increase scientific literacy and create new generations of innovators and inventors. Innovation, again, leads to the emergence of new products and services, and engineers play a key role in maintaining stability and ensuring the growth of their countries’ economies. The Faculty of Technical Sciences has educated more than 20,000 such engineers.

We are proud to say that the Faculty of Technical Sciences is going in that direction as one of the few faculties in the country and abroad that has experienced a sharp increase in student enrollment as well as in the number of newly employed professors and assistants at all levels of the recently accredited study programs.
We pay special attention to the further advancement of e-learning, as well as to the development of distance learning courses which will increase our competitiveness in the region. The concept of blended learning is being introduced into world education, which combines traditional educational methods and e-learning. This approach to education requires modern learning tools, designed to connect learning with the existing information system within the educational institution and/or through a web-based learning portal. The purpose of such a platform is to provide a centralized computer-based learning environment in a short period of time. After considering all the above facts and characteristics of the examined platforms, our choice was reduced to the CANVAS learning management system.

The basis for achieving high quality in teaching lies primarily in scientific research work and its improvement. Therefore, the unity of teaching and research work must be one of the basic starting points of every modern institution, as was outlined in the 1987 “Magna Charta Universitatum”. Dedicated work and investment in science and research, has qualified the Faculty of Technical Sciences to regularly host numerous scientific and professional conferences on the most important current engineering topics. Thanks to its long-standing close cooperation with a large number of scientific institutions from all over the world and the expertise of its professors, the Faculty is the lead institution or a partner institution on several hundred national and international projects. We are especially proud of our professors and assistants, who annually publish over 200 scientific papers in leading international and national journals. They also teach at prestigious world universities as guest lecturers and work on numerous patents, studies and facilities.

In view of the goal to advance the previous two activities (education and science) into a strategic development resource and the fact that modern education must be applicable in practice, it is necessary to support further connections between the scientific research and the business sector, their joint cooperation and dialogue. We are pleased to point out that the Faculty annually signs over 200 contracts with various business entities in order to transfer the results of scientific research into practice and has established agreements on scientific and professional cooperation with over 100 companies. We are proud to point out that the professors from our Faculty have been the co-founders of over 110 companies in the field of high technologies.

The construction of the Science and Technology Park of the University of Novi Sad, the largest investment in science and higher education in Serbia in the last 30 years, where the Faculty uses over 9,000 m2, has expanded our capacities and created ideal conditions for joining teaching, science and economy under one roof without which modern education of the XXI century is unthinkable. Over 3,000 future engineers from the IT sector are educated in this facility’s lecture halls, modern laboratories and classrooms. In the near future, it will also house development centres of various companies and start-ups where the ideas of our professors, assistants and students will be put into practice.

Our common goal is to maintain our leading role in the field of higher education in the future. Following the world trends, by cooperating with successful companies, with constant respect for students’ ideas, views and suggestions, we will continue to improve and innovate our study programs and study concepts.

In the future, we will continue to respond to the challenges of the 21st century in a timely, serious and responsible manner, as we have done so far. In this way, we have been securing for decades our HIGH POSITION AMONG THE BEST.