The University of Niš Faculty of Science and Mathematics (), also known as the Niš Faculty of Science and Mathematics, is one of the educational institutions of the

University of Niš The University of Niš () is a public university in Serbia. It was founded in 1965. As of the 2018-19 school year, it consists of 13 faculties with 1,492 academic staff and around 20,500 students. It has a university library "Nikola Tesla"; th ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

History

Today's ''Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics'', as an institution of the

, began its life within the Faculty of

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

. Established in 1971, the Faculty of

initially comprised several departments, three of which were Department of

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, Department of

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, and Department of

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. It is these three departments that constituted the core which would later expand into Niš University's Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics. The Faculty was officially founded by Decision of the

Government of the Republic of Serbia The government of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Governme ...

on 20 September 1999. By the same Decision it was determined that the Faculty would have five departments: Department of

, Department of

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

, and Department of

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

with

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

. At present, the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics employs over 200 teaching and research staff. Since its establishment, more than 4,000 students have earned a bachelor's degree, and over 150 students have acquired a doctoral degree in the field of

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

Organizational structure

All educational and research activities at the Faculty are realized through its departments and

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which science, scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as s ...

, Center for Advanced Study in Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and IT Center. At present, the Faculty consists of ''six'' departments: Department of

, Department of

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

, Department of

and

, and Department of

. Research activities are realized in the laboratories, computer classrooms, and Center for Advanced Study in Natural and Mathematical Sciences. The Center itself comprises eight divisions: Division of Mathematics, Division of Computer Science, Division of Theoretical Physics, Division of Experimental and Applied Physics, Division of Chemistry, Division of Biology and Ecology, Division of Geography, and Division of Environmental Protection. The Office of the SEENET-MTP Network and the Botanical Garden are also part of the Centre.

Educational activity

The Faculty educates future teachers of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

, physics, chemistry, biology, and geography for work in primary and secondary schools; research scientists for work at universities, research institutes and other scientific institutions; professionals for work in the government institutions, public sector enterprises, insurance agencies, banks and other financial organizations, ICT companies, travel agencies, tourism organizations, etc. The Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics offers 20 accredited academic programs at all levels of university education. The first level academic studies (undergraduate studies of three years in duration) are organized through the study programs in mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, and geography. The second level academic studies (master studies of two years in duration) are organized through the following academic programs: * Mathematics (modules: General Mathematics, Mathematical Models in Physics, Probability, Statistics, and Financial Mathematics), * Computer Science (modules: Software Development, Information Management), * Physics (modules: General Physics, Applied Physics, Physics and Informatics), * Chemistry (modules: Research and Development, Teacher of Chemistry), * Applied Chemistry (modules: Applied Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry), * Biology, * Ecology and Nature Conservation, * Geography, and * Tourism At the third level academic studies, the Faculty offers five academic programs which lead to the following academic titles: * PhD in Mathematical Sciences, * PhD in Computer Science, * PhD in Physical Sciences, * PhD in Chemical Sciences, and * PhD in Biological Sciences, * PhD School of Mathematics

Scientific research

Improvement and continuous modernization of the existing study programs are governed by the scientific development and new demands placed before the job profiles that students are trained for at the Faculty. The academic staff pursues research, is engaged in various projects, and cooperates with the industry; they organize seminars and workshops for the academic staff with experts from abroad or from industry as lecturers. The Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics makes it possible for research methods and research findings to be integrated into the academic programs of doctoral studies. The Faculty is currently involved in a total of 46 national and international projects that span across fundamental research, technological development, integrated study, and interdisciplinary research. Over 80% academic staff participate in the realization of the national research projects. The Faculty is also involved in a number of

TEMPUS The TEMPUS (Trans-European Mobility Programme for University Studies) is a program that encouraged higher education institutions in the EU Member States and partner countries to engage in structured cooperation through the establishment of "c ...

and FP projects. The academic stuff at the Faculty takes part in scientific conferences and professional symposia in the country and abroad. The Faculty itself has organized a number of significant scientific meetings.

International cooperation

The Faculty is active in cooperation with universities, institutes and other faculties in the country and abroad. The following are some of the international partners that the Faculty has established cooperation with in several areas: * International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Trieste, Italy, * Institutes MAX PLANCK Munich, UNESCO Paris and UNESCO-BRESCE Venice as partners in Southeastern European Network in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics (SEENET-MTP), * Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, St. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia, * Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, * Centro de edafologia y biologia aplicada del segura (CEBAS-CSIC), Campus Universitario de Espinardo, Murcia, Spain, * National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA-SPO), Montpellier, France, * School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin, Ireland, * Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway, * Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Tokushima, Japan, * University "Marie et Pierre Curie", Paris, France, and * School of Science, University of Greenwich.

Publishing activity

To a considerable extent, the publishing activity at the Faculty goes hand in hand with the scientific research conducted by the academic staff. The Faculty publishes the academic journal Filomat (IF 0.753) which features articles in the fields of

and

. In the same area, two more journals are published,

Functional Analysis Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (for example, Inner product space#Definition, inner product, Norm (mathematics ...

Approximation An approximation is anything that is intentionally similar but not exactly equal to something else. Etymology and usage The word ''approximation'' is derived from Latin ''approximatus'', from ''proximus'' meaning ''very near'' and the prefix ...

and

Computation A computation is any type of arithmetic or non-arithmetic calculation that is well-defined. Common examples of computation are mathematical equation solving and the execution of computer algorithms. Mechanical or electronic devices (or, hist ...

(FAAC) and Matematika i informatika, whereas the journal Biologica Nyssana is devoted to research in biology. The academic staff at the Faculty also takes part in the publishing of the two series of the journal Facta Universitatis –

and

Technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

and

Informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems. According to the Association for Computing Machinery, ACM Europe Council and Informatics Europe, informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which the centra ...

. For the purpose of fostering the educational process, 146 textbooks, workbooks, and monographs authored by the Faculty's academic staff have been published. The Faculty Library contains textbooks, professional and scientific literature and reference books that are used for all study programs at the Faculty. The Library owns 36,043 bibliographic units primarily in the area of natural and mathematical sciences.

References

{{authority control 1999 establishments in Serbia University of Niš