ABOUT THE INSTITUTE

The Institute of Social Sciences (https://idn.org.rs/en/homepage/), Belgrade, Serbia

(ISS) was established on July 10, 1957. Since 2022, ISS has been accredited as a scientific
institution of national significance and has been included in the World Bank and
European Commission program, through which it develops capacities and resources
with the aim of becoming a center of regional excellence in science. The Institute
consists of six scientific research centers (Center for Demographic Research, Center for
Politicological Research and Public Opinion, Center for Economic Research, Center for
Legal Research, Center for Sociological and Anthropological Research, and Center for
Philosophy) with a staff of 76 scientists, including 27 in the highest scientific positions,
and 20 doctoral candidates.
The Institute is governed by the Administrative Board, which includes representatives of
the founders and scientists from ISS. Since 2022, it has also established an International
Advisory Board, with the participation of distinguished scientists from the European
academic community (https://idn.org.rs/transformacija-instituta/). The Scientific
Council, consisting of all researchers elected to scientific positions, oversees scientific
policy, while the Director is responsible for implementing this policy and managing ISS's
operations. The Institute has a Professional Service with 10 experts of various
administrative profiles.
The Institute coordinates with several regional scientific networks: Western Balkan ESS
Network (https://idn.org.rs/en/homepage/); Gender and Politics Research Network in
SEE (https://idn.org.rs/en/gender-and-politics-research-network-in-south-east-
europe-genpolsee/), with a notable activity being the Academic Network for
Cooperation in SEE (), bringing together scientific institutes, the academic community,
civil society organizations, and individuals advocating for the protection of human
rights, dialogue, and consistent equality of individuals and groups. In collaboration with
the Council of Europe, the Academic Network organized an International Scientific
Conference in December 2023 dedicated to multiculturalism policies in Europe, issuing
an Appeal for ending conflicts and ensuring dignified living conditions to international
organizations and the public ().
Apart from scientific achievements that have established the Institute as a prominent
center of scientific excellence in SEE, it has also been recognized as a gathering place for
free-minded individuals consistently fighting for human rights. In the 1960s, one of the
first critiques of authoritarian socialism was written at the Institute. Later, the ideas of
PRAXIS philosophy were developed as the basis for the democratic transformation of
socialism, and the first discussions on political pluralism were initiated, contributing to
contemporary parliamentary life in Serbia and the region. In current conditions, the
Institute develops programs and activities dedicated to studying and applying human
rights, as well as developing methodologies for monitoring their realization in public
policies. The Institute is an official partner of the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) in
Serbia and regularly reports on the state of human rights.
The Institute has been publishing the journal " Population” () since 1963 and is a leader
and partner in numerous national, regional, and international projects focused on
various areas and goals. A special value for which ISS is recognized in the scientific
community is its empirical research, including the longitudinal study - European Social
Survey and the National Representative Internet Panel, enabling reliable and fast public
opinion research.

ABOUT THE TEAM MEMBERS

1. Goran Bašić earned his doctorate in political anthropology and, in various

scientific and social roles, has significantly contributed to changes in the theory
and policies of multiculturalism, as well as to a better understanding among
people of different ethnic backgrounds. He currently serves as the Director of the
Institute of Social Sciences in Belgrade and coordinates the Academic Network
for Cooperation in Southeastern Europe. Previously active in the civil sector, he is
the founder and former leader of the Center for Ethnicity Research. Bašić has
been a member of the Advisory Committee for the Framework Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities at the Council of Europe, and for a long time, he
led the Committee for Human and Minority Rights at the Serbian Academy of
Sciences and Arts. He taught courses on "Multiculturalism Policies" and "Human
Rights in Europe" at the Faculty of Legal and Political Studies, University of
"Singidunum" in Novi Sad. Lastly, he served as the Deputy Ombudsman,
responsible for human rights. He has authored 12 books and over 100 scientific
papers.
2. Irena Ristić is a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences in Belgrade. She
obtained her PhD in South-Eastern European history at the University of
Regensburg and her research in history focuses on the dynamics of state and
nation building processes both in the 19th-century Serbia and the post-Yugoslav
states, with a special interest in the origins of anti-west/anti-EU sentiments
within the political elite. Within political science she deals with the EU
enlargement and the internal and external obstacles. She had longer visiting
stays in Vienna (IWM), Regensburg (IOS) and Florence (EUI). She published on
the impact of international criminal tribunals on institutions/institutional
reforms and public opinion in the post Yugoslav states (Bachmann, K., Kemp, G.,
Ristić, Irena et al. 2019. “Like dust before the wind, or, the winds of change? The
influence of International Criminal Tribunals on narratives and media frames.”
International Journal of Transitional Justice, 13 (2), July 2019, 368-386;
Bachmann, K., Kemp, G., Ristić, I. (eds.). 2019. International Criminal Tribunals as
Agents of Domestic Change – The Impact on Institutional Reform, Peter Lang,
Berlin and Bachmann, K., Ristić, I., Kemp, G.(eds.). 2019. International Criminal
Tribunals as Actors of Domestic Change – The Impact on Media Coverage, Peter
 Lang, Berlin). Further she edited a thematic volume on the challenges of the
political left in contemporary Europe (Ristić, Irena ed. 2021. Resetting the Left in
Europe: Challenges, Attempts and Obstacles, Institute of Social Sciences,
Belgrade) and dealt with the rapprochement of the former Yugoslav republics
(Ristić, Irena. 2011. Guest editor Sü dosteuropa, Defragmenting Yugoslavia, Jg.59
(2011), Heft 3.).
3. Ivana Stjelja is an associate at the Institute of Social Sciences in Belgrade. She
obtained BA in International Law and MA degree in Administrative Law at the
Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade. She defended PhD thesis in 2023 at the
Faculty of Law, Union University and conducted part of her doctoral research at
the Freie Universitä t Berlin. Areas of her interest and research are human and
minority rights, anti-discrimination law and environmental law, in particular
right to a healthy environment as a human right and environmental rights of
vulnerable groups. She coordinated the implementation of numerous research
projects on human and minority rights and published several papers in scientific
journals, such as: I. Stjelja (2022) Environmental Justice for Minorities - a
Comparative Perspective in: Anthropology, 22(3) and G. Basic, I. Stjelja (2021)
Discrimination of Roma Identity in Serbia in: Pravni zapisi. Ivana also
participated in several domestic and international scientific conferences on
human and minority rights.