The winners of the 7th Serbian Physics Olympiad received awards for their accomplishments in physics on May 19 at the NIS Business Centre in Novi Sad. The Physicist Association of Serbia, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and NIS organised the Serbian Physics Olympiad. In cooperation with the Academy of Art, NIS hosted the competition for the first time within its Energy of Knowledge project. NIS supported this prestigious competition in order to support the development of natural sciences, which are the key for the progress of the company and the country as a whole. The Olympiad participants included 21 best-ranked students from the state competition. Other students from Serbia, Montenegro and Republika Srpska were guests at the event. The Serbian Physics Olympiad was a two-day event. Day One included experiments, and Day Two theoretical questions. The Competition Committee of the Physicist Association of Serbia, the Physics Institute and the Faculty of Physics in Belgrade prepared the devices for experiments and theoretical questions. The winners of the 7th Serbian Physics Olympiad are: 1. Milan Krstajić 2. Ivan Stošić 3. Ilija Burić 4. Uroš Ristivojević 5. Ivan Tanasijević They will represent Serbia at the 44th International Physics Olympiad in Copenhagen in July. At the end of April, NIS and the Physicist Association of Serbia signed the annex to the Memorandum of Cooperation, regulating the support to Association's activities and the support to the Serbian team attending the International Physics Olympiad. On behalf of the Physicist Association of Serbia, Professor Ivan Dojčinović, PhD, and Professor Aleksandar Krmpot, PhD, presented diplomas to the winners. Dmitry Fomenko, Deputy CEO and the Director of Organisational Affairs, delivered special awards and said: "We were honoured to host the Serbian Physics Olympiad for the first time this year. In this manner, the best physicists symbolically join the best company in Serbia. NIS will continue to support the best physicists of today and the best engineers of tomorrow. There is no innovation without good experts, as there is no business development without progress." Within its Knowledge Olympiad programme, NIS also helped the organisation of mathematics competitions, and the Russian language competition is in the preparation phase. Participants from all three competitions will attend NIS Campus in Bečići, Montenegro in August, and receive lectures from renowned Serbian and the Russian Federation lecturers. The Energy of Knowledge, NIS programme supporting this competition, envisages various types of cooperation with universities and other scientific institutions. Through its Energy of Knowledge project, the company wants to support the best and the most talented young individuals and employ them not only in Serbia, but in the region and across Europe, as well. The project includes refurnishing of labs and classrooms, donations to technical faculties and high schools across Serbia, which will help students integrate practice into theory. In 2012, the budget for this programme was more than 35 million Serbian dinars. Most of the funding was allocated to Petnica Science Centre, universities in Belgrade and Novi Sad, NIS Opportunity and internship programmes.
