VISOKA TEHNICKA SKOLA STRUKOVNIH STUDIJA U ZRENJANINU

Their core work

Visoka Tehnička Škola (VTS Zrenjanin) is a vocational technical college in Zrenjanin, Serbia, focused on applied engineering and technology education. Within H2020, their participation centered entirely on science communication and public engagement — making research more visible, relatable, and accessible to broader audiences. Their projects explored how to present the human side of science, connect researchers across borders, and build public understanding of what scientists actually do. They contribute a practitioner's perspective on translating technical work into formats that engage non-specialist audiences.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest project (Friend2U, 2014) focused on personal storytelling — putting human faces on science and building cross-cultural friendships between researchers. By 2016-2018, the focus broadened from personal narratives to structured outreach: COOLandHOT tackled making labs and theories attractive to the public, while ReConNeCt emphasized hands-on experiences and local-to-global research connections. The trajectory shows a shift from soft, relationship-driven engagement toward more structured, network-oriented science communication.

Moving from storytelling about scientists toward building practical, hands-on connections between research communities and the public — useful for dissemination work packages in future consortia.

How they like to work

VTS Zrenjanin has always participated as a partner, never as coordinator, joining small-scale Coordination and Support Actions. With only 6 unique consortium partners across a single country, their network is narrow and suggests they work within a tight, recurring group rather than branching out widely. This points to an organization comfortable in a supporting role within established partnerships rather than one that independently builds large consortia.

A compact network of 6 partners concentrated in a single country, suggesting participation in regionally anchored consortia rather than pan-European networks. Their repeated engagement in similar project types indicates stable, trust-based partnerships within a small circle.

What sets them apart

As a vocational technical college in Serbia, VTS Zrenjanin brings a perspective often missing in EU research consortia: applied education institutions that bridge academic research and practical workforce training. Their consistent focus on science communication means they understand how to translate complex research into accessible formats. For consortia needing a Widening Countries partner with genuine experience in public engagement and dissemination activities, they offer a proven track record across three MSCA projects.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ReConNeCt
  Their most recent and highest-funded project (EUR 13,000), focusing on building local-to-global research connections through hands-on engagement — the most mature expression of their science communication work.
• COOLandHOT
  Creatively framed project combining lab experiences ('coolest of labs') with theoretical communication ('hottest of theories'), showing ability to package science outreach in an engaging way.