Committee on Education, Science, Culture and Sports held the 69th thematic meeting within the working visit to the Institute of Marine Biology, Maritime Faculty and closed swimming-pool “Nikša Bućin” in Kotor. The visit was organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Science of Montenegro.  The working visit was carried out with the aim of analysing the state and development of the certain fields from the responsibility of the Committee on Education, Science, Culture and Sports.

Within the first item of the agenda, members of the Committee visited the swimming-pool “Nikša Bućin”, afterwards the first part of the meeting was held in trophy hall of the water polo club “Primorac”.  Member of the Parliament of Montenegro and member of the Committee Mr Andrija Popović introduced the initiative for visiting the swimming-pool “Nikša Bućin” in Kotor, at the meeting of 14 March 2016, and the Committee unanimously supported the initiative.

Aside from members of the Committee, the meeting was also attended by the following: Mr Dragan Samardžić, Director of the water polo club “Primorac” from Kotor, Mr Dejan Adžić, Director of the swimming-pool “Nikša Bućin”, Mr Antun Milošević, Chair of the Management Board  of the Water Polo Academy “Cattaro” from Kotor, Mr Ivo Magud, Director of the Directorate for Planning and Development of Kotor, Mr Mirko Vičević, Advisor for sport in the Municipality of Kotor, Mr Vedran Milošević, Sports Director of the water polo club “Primorac”, Mr Ivan Bulatović, member of the Management Board of the Water Polo and Swimming Association of Montenegro, Ms Olga Radulović, Head of the expert team of the Water Polo and Swimming Association of Montenegro, who monitors the reconstruction of the swimming-pool in Nikšić, Mr Igor Vušurović, Acting Director of the Administration for Youth and Sports of Montenegro and Ms Smiljana Prelević, Secretary of the Ministry of Science, Ms Vesna Maraš, President of the Council for Scientific and Research Activities and media representatives.

During the discussion, they pointed out the bad condition of this sport object, which created world champions in the most awarded Montenegrin sport, as well as the need for determining main tasks and accelerating the works at the pool reconstruction.  The Committee learned that during this month a tender will be issued for selecting a contractor. They also discussed the planned funds and possibility of performing the works on the pool reconstruction in several phases.

Chairperson of the Committee Ms Branka Tanasijević stressed that the Committee would use its function prescribed by the Rules of Procedure, and become involved in monitoring the implementation of the reconstruction works, and that a meeting will be held again at the swimming-pool “Nikša Bućin“ in a three month period. She thanked to the host for hospitality, saying that a good result may always be achieved by joint energy.

The second item of the agenda was held in the premises of the Maritime Faculty, in the presence of Ms Sanja Vlahović, Minister of Science in the Government of Montenegro, Ms Vesna Maraš, President of the Council for Scientific and Research Activities, Ms Smiljana Prelević, Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Dean of the Faculty Mr Danilo Nikolić with his associates.

Member of the Committee learned about the organisation of the Faculty and possibilities it provided for the students, particularly with regard to practical education and the fact that the Faculty was focused on scientific and research framework.

Minister Vlahović said that the Maritime Faculty of Kotor was scientific and research institution which completely met the challenges of the international labour market.

Dean of the Faculty Mr Danilo Nikolić informed members of the Committee about the fact that the Committee succeeded to procure valuable equipment, such as ship simulators, through participation in a number of international projects. He added that students and teachers had an opportunity to obtain knowledge competitive within European scientific and research framework by participating in projects.

Upon the visit to the Maritime Faculty, the Committee held the third item of the meeting in the Institute of Marine Biology. Director of the Institute Mr Mirko Đurović, with his associated, informed members of the Committee about numerous capacities of the Institute. The meeting was attended by Ms Sanja Vlahović, Minister of Science in the Government of Montenegro and Ms Smiljana Prelević, Secretary of the Ministry of Science. Members of the Committee learned that the building, where the Institute was placed, was a cultural monument, reconstructed and adapted for the needs of the Institute.  In addition, the Institute boasts its prestigious staff capacity, bearing in mind the fact that it has among its employees 12 PhDs and eight PhD students, while average age of employees is 35.6. Since its foundation, the Institute has implemented over 120 projects.  That is the reason for being called “a lighthouse of scientific thought at the University of Montenegro”.  Also, the Institute is a partner to the first Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics (BIO-ICT), being a three year programme of research financed by the Ministry of Science, through credits of the World Bank (INVO project).

Members of the Committee learned that the Institute was currently working on several innovative products that would be interesting for commercialisation and which would present a tie between the science and economy.

At the end, Minister of Science Ms Sanja Vlahović stressed that the Maritime Faculty and Institute of Marine Biology in Kotor were two successful scientific and research institutions, adding that they already were  a part of the European research area, and the institutions of which the University of Montenegro was proud.

The Chairperson of the Committee proposed that these two units of the University of Montenegro present their work at some of the future Committee meetings, in the Parliament of Montenegro, and thanked to the hosts and Ministry of Science for organising the visit.