Serbian biology faculty with expertise in IgG-based diagnostics for ALS and ecosystem services for sustainable crop protection.
The Faculty of Biology at the University of Belgrade conducts research across two distinct biological domains: neurological disease diagnostics and agricultural-environmental biology. In the neuroscience domain, they develop automated functional screening systems using IgG antibodies to detect biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, working with astrocyte models and live-cell imaging techniques. In the ecological domain, they study how biological communities — microbes, endophytes, pollinators, herbivores — interact within farming landscapes to deliver ecosystem services such as natural pest control and pollination. As a biology faculty, they bridge fundamental research with applied outcomes in both medical diagnostics and sustainable agriculture.
Led AUTOIGG (€693,000, MSCA-RISE), developing automated functional screening of immunoglobulins for ALS and other neurodegenerative disease diagnosis using calcium imaging, ROS assays, and multi-electrode arrays.
AUTOIGG centers on astrocyte-based assay systems as the cellular model for testing patient-derived IgGs, indicating deep expertise in glial cell biology and live-cell functional assays.
Participated in EcoStack (€234,246, RIA), a 15-partner European project studying how stacking ecosystem services — biocontrol agents, pollination, plant defense priming — can reduce chemical inputs in crop protection.
EcoStack keywords include endophytes, microbes, plant defense priming, and barcoding, pointing to expertise in the molecular identification and functional characterization of agriculturally relevant microorganisms.
Both H2020 projects launched in 2018, so the early-vs-recent keyword split does not reflect a true chronological shift — it reflects two parallel research lines running simultaneously within the same faculty. The neuroscience line (ALS diagnostics, astrocytes, IgG screening) and the agroecology line (ecosystem services, biocontrol, pollinators) appear to represent different research groups within the faculty rather than a strategic pivot. If anything, the breadth signals a faculty comfortable operating across multiple unrelated biological disciplines simultaneously.
With no post-2018 H2020 projects in this dataset, the direction is unclear — but the presence of both a coordinator-led neuroscience project and a participation in a large multi-country agroecology RIA suggests the faculty is building capacity in two separate tracks rather than converging on a single specialization.
FBUB has demonstrated both leadership and partnership capacity: they coordinated AUTOIGG under MSCA-RISE, taking full responsibility for a mobility and research network, while also joining EcoStack as a partner in a larger RIA consortium. Their 29 unique partners across 15 countries from just 2 projects indicates they plug into large, geographically diverse consortia rather than working in small closed networks. This suggests they are comfortable with complex multi-actor collaborations and can take on project management responsibility when needed.
From 2 projects, FBUB has collaborated with 29 unique partners across 15 countries — an unusually broad network for such limited project volume, driven primarily by the staff-exchange structure of MSCA-RISE and the multi-national design of EcoStack. Their reach spans Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, consistent with a research institution actively seeking international mobility and knowledge exchange.
FBUB is rare among Serbian HES institutions in holding a coordinator role in H2020, which signals both administrative capacity and scientific credibility recognized by the European Commission. Their dual expertise — spanning clinical neuroscience diagnostics and field-scale agroecology — is uncommon for a single biology faculty and makes them a versatile partner for consortia that need biological expertise outside narrowly defined specializations. For partners building projects in the Western Balkans, FBUB also represents a geographically strategic node with established EU research connections.
