The SEENET-MTP Balkan Workshop BW2018 – Field Theory and the Early Universe, was held from 10-14 of June 2018, in Niš, Serbia.
The Workshop represents a resumption of a series of schools and workshops initiated by the BW2003 Workshop. A total of 50 participants attended the BW2018, with around 30 lectures being held.
The scientific part of the Workshop included recent developments in Beyond the Standard Cosmological Model(s) and related fields. This presented an excellent opportunity to gather the leading experts from South-East, Central and Eastern Europe, EU, USA, to discuss open problems and perspectives in the main scientific areas of the Workshop.
The educational and organizational part included discussions related to regional and inter-regional cooperation in Science and Education. A series of round tables were organized, with a few invited lecturers and moderators from CEI, UNESCO, European Physical Society (EPS), Balkan Physical Union (BPU), CERN and ICTP. The round-table discussions were focused on actions promoting and strengthening research, education and capacity-building in physics in natural sciences with an emphasis on South Eastern Europe, in a European and worldwide framework.
A meeting of the Scientific-Advisory Committee of the SEENET-MTP Network was held during the Workshop. It was announced that the ICTP will join the current bilateral agreement between CERN and the SEENET-MTP, and financially support the next three-year cycle of the PhD Training Program, for the period 2019-2022.
A part of the Workshop was dedicated to the regional celebration of the 50 years of the EPS, as well as to the marking of the 15 years of the SEENET-MTP Network’s existence. For their great contribution to the development of the Network, Awards of Merit have been presented to Prof. Loriano Bonora and the EPS.
The Workshop was coorganized by the SEENET-MTP Office and the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Niš, Serbia, as well as the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Craiova, Romania. The event was organized in collaboration and with support by the University of Niš, CEI, EPS and the national ministry of science.
