Sanja Popovic Pantic

Biography

Dr. Sanja Popović Pantić is an economist with the title of Senior Research Associate. She is the Head of the of the Science and Technology Policy Research Center at the Mihajlo Pupin Institute. Her scientific career began in 1996 when she joined the Institute as a Ministry of Science scholarship holder and was employed there a year later. Before engaging in scientific work, she worked in the private sector in marketing. Her areas of expertise include entrepreneurship, research and development, and innovation management in enterprises. She earned her Master's degree in 2005 from the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade, with a thesis on the application of new technologies in marketing. She completed her Ph.D. at the same faculty in 2013, defending a dissertation on women's entrepreneurship.
Dr. Popović Pantić also works as a consultant on European projects related to the development of entrepreneurship and innovation in Serbia and is the leading national consultant for the development of women's entrepreneurship. Since 2015, she has been the head of the Women's Entrepreneurship Group within the European Enterprise Network, a project that the Mihajlo Pupin Institute has been implementing since 2009. Additionally, she leads two more projects within the European Horizon Europe program, one project under the Erasmus Plus program, and one project within the ADRION program, in which the Mihajlo Pupin Institute is a partner.
In 2012, she received two significant awards for her work. The economic magazine Magazin Biznis awarded her the "Planeta Biznis" Award for her substantial contribution to the development of entrepreneurship in Serbia. She is also the recipient of the prestigious award from the International Alliance for Women, based in Washington, placing her among 100 selected individuals (both men and women) globally recognized each year for their outstanding contributions to women's economic empowerment. Additionally, she has received several domestic accolades, such as the "Kapetan Miša Anastasijević" Charter, the Danube Flower Award, recognition from the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development in 2007, and the regional "Creators for Centuries" Award.
She is the author of several books on women's entrepreneurship research, including the scientific monograph "Two Decades of Women's Entrepreneurship in Serbia." She has authored/co-authored scientific papers published in domestic and international journals indexed in Scopus/WoS, as well as chapters in books by renowned publishers like Routledge, Taylor/Francis, and McMillian.
Dr. Popović Pantić is the founder and president of the Association of Business Women of Serbia, a renowned association of women entrepreneurs with over twenty-five years of tradition. She successfully combines research and consulting work with practical knowledge and activities in the development of women's entrepreneurship, dedicating her voluntary efforts to transitioning it from a social to a developmental category.






Work Experience

Ongoing- 1997 FULL TIME EMPLOYEE IN INSTITUE MIHAJLO PUPIN

Ongoing-January 2023 Head of Science and Technology Policy Research Centre, Institute “Mihajlo Pupin” (IMP), coordination of scientific-research and innovation projects

Ongoing – September 2024 Project manager, ADRION project “Carousel”, Creating a maRketplace fOr Up-cycled productS sEcond Life. IPA Adrion (2024 - 2027)


Ongoing – January 2023 Project manager of Horizon Europe project “ Policy Answers” (Research&Innovation POLICY making, implementation ANd Support in the WEsteRn BalkanS) is a Coordination and Support Action funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe programme. In this project my specific tasks are: Coordinator of the Capacity building working package and coordination of the task of setting up the Western Balkan Regional innovation Academy.

Ongoing-December 2022 Project manager of Erasmus plus REFEM project, dedicated to the research of women entrepreneurship


Ongoing – August 2023 Project manager of Horizon Europe project Streaming girls and women into STEAM education, innovation and research ST(R)E(A)M IT on behalf of IMP as one of the partner


Ongoing - April 2021 Senior Research Associate, Institute “Mihajlo Pupin”, Science & Technology Policy Research Center, Volgina 15, 11 000 Belgrade. Dealing with the research & development activities including smart specialization strategy of Serbia, innovation management in SMEs, female entrepreneurship

Ongoing- 2015 Chair of the Enterprise Europe Network Sector Group Women’s Entrepreneurship, European Innovation and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), Covent Garden Building, Place Charles Rogier, 16, B-1210, Brussels. Coordination of the activities aimed to support women entrepreneurs within EEN through finding matching partners, access to finance, acces to innovation services, join existing entrepreneurship networks etc


Ongoing – 2015 Project manager of the Enterprise Europe Network p