Hybrid Learning Experience jointly organized by BioExcel and supported by Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy & Faculty of Physics, DISCOVERER Supercomputer and National Competence Centres in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, this hydrid workshop will offer participants the chance to engage both on-site and online. The workshop will focus on the use of BioExcel core codes such as GROMACS, HADDOCK and PMX with a strong emphasis on hands-on practical sessions and guidance from leading experts in the field.
When & Where: May 21–22, 2025 | Sofia University, Bulgaria & Online
Apply by: April 15, 2025
Don’t miss out and boost your research skills! More info and registration: [link]
We are thrilled to share highlights from the successful presentation of the AI-AGE project at the 29th IT Conference, held from February 19-22, 2025, in Žabljak, Montenegro. Our team had the opportunity to present the project’s advancements and engage with a vibrant community of experts and stakeholders over three dynamic days.
🔬 Wednesday – Project Results Fair: The AI-AGE team showcased the project’s core achievements during the Project Trade Fair and Dissemination of Results. Attendees explored how AI-AGE is pushing the boundaries in identifying novel, non-invasive biomarkers of aging using artificial intelligence. The session allowed for meaningful exchanges with other project teams and stakeholders, sparking discussions on future collaborations and applications of AI in medicine.
AI-AGE project was presented at the IT 2025 spectial session dedicated to dissemination of project results
🎤 Thursday – Expert Presentation: Mr. Dejan Babić delivered an insightful presentation detailing his research and contributions to the AI-AGE project. His talk covered the technical intricacies of using deep learning for retinal image segmentation, a key part of AI-AGE’s mission to discover aging biomarkers. The session attracted considerable interest, leading to valuable feedback and new ideas for further research.
Mr. Dejan Babic giving a presentation on AI-AGE at the EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE workshop for young researchers
💡 Friday – Panel Discussion: Prof. Nataša Popović joined the distinguished panel “ICT Future from the Present”, where she shared perspectives on the evolving role of AI in healthcare and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Her insights emphasized how projects like AI-AGE are not only advancing scientific research but also paving the way for practical healthcare solutions.
prof. Natasa Popovic taking part in the panel discussion on the last day of the conference
We are grateful to the organizers of IT 2025 for providing a platform to share our work and to all participants for their engaging questions and support. The AI-AGE team looks forward to building on this momentum as we continue our mission to revolutionize aging research.
On 19 Feb at the IEEE IT2025 Conference in Žabljak, the AI-AGE project will be presented during the Project Trade Fair. AI-AGE leverages artificial intelligence to identify novel, non-invasive biomarkers of aging, aiming to enhance early diagnostics and personalized healthcare. By integrating cutting-edge AI techniques with biomedical research, the project is paving the way for more accurate and accessible aging assessments. Join us to explore how AI is transforming the future of healthcare and longevity research! 🌍💡
The University of Donja Gorica hosted the highly anticipated HPC/AI Workshop and Student Conference on Saturday, December 21st. This event served as a key platform to highlight the outcomes of the HPC4S3ME IPA project and the AIFusion training program supported by the Innovation Fund of Montenegro. Both projects were developed within the framework of EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE, with support from the NCC Montenegro team. The events showcased significant advancements in high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) in Montenegro.
AI-AGE team members took part in mentoring students throughout the preparetion for the conference. The conference resulted in a Book of abstracts published on 30 December 2024. Read more at: link.
HPC/AI Workshop and Student Conference took place on 21 December 2024 at the UDGOver 50 attendees at the conference, mainly students and young researchers
This FFplus open call for the development of generative AI models (“innovation studies“) )addresses the needs of SMEs and Start-ups proficient in generative AI and HPC for large-to extreme-scale computing resources. The strategic objective is to facilitate and strengthen the technological development of European SMEs in the area of generative AI. The participating SMEs and Start-ups will be supported in enhancing their innovation potential by leveraging new generative AI models, such as Large Language Models (LLMs), building on their existing expertise, application domain, business model and potential for expansion. Link: https://www.ffplus-project.eu/en/open-call/innovation-studies/
Open Call for Innovation Studies
This announcement is the first call for proposals to address the uptake of HPC by SMEs in order to solve specific business challenges of SMEs that have had no prior use of, or experience with, HPC services. The resulting sub-projects will perform “business experiments” (also referred to just as experiments) that should demonstrate to the broader European SME ecosystem that HPC uptake solves business challenges and leads to positive business impact through the use and deployment of HPC-based computational methods. Thus, their key outputs are success stories that promote, communicate, and disseminate the business impact of HPC uptake to the SME ecosystem. Link: https://www.ffplus-project.eu/en/open-call/business-experiments/
Open Call for Business ExperiomentsClick on image to learn more about FFPlus
Prof. Adzic-Zecevic and prof. Popofic at the EAsDEC conference
Researchers from the AI-AGE team participate in the he 34th EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR DIABETIC EYE COMPLICATIONS (EAsDEC) Meeting, which was hosted in the city of Milan, Italy. Initial research results from the AI-AGE project were presented in a form of a poster by prof. N Popovic and prof. A. Adzic Zecevic. The conference took place from 30 May to 1 June. More information can be found here.
Click on image to download the poster
ABSTRACT – Introduction / study design: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is associated with changes in retinal microvascular complexity measured by fractal dimension (Df). Expression of micro RNAs (miRs), -146a and -101 is also affected by T2D, but the studies investigating these miRs in context of microvascular changes in T2D are scarce. Since hypertension (HTN) and Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) frequently coexist in patients with T2D, in the present cross-sectional observational prospective study, participants were divided in two groups – healthy (H, n=8), and with chronic disease (D, n=20, suffering from T2D, HTN and/or AD). The purpose: Study explores association between changes of retinal microvascular Df and expression levels of circulating miR-146a and miR-101 in patients with T2D. The influence of HTN and AD on this association is also investigated. Methods: Retinal fundus images were captured by using a non-mydriatic, hand-held MIIS-HORUS scope DES200. The optic disc-centered images were manually segmented, binarized, cropped to 350-pixel radius, and Df was determined by using ImageJ 1.53q. MiRs were isolated from plasma, quantified by qRT-PCR and normalized to expression levels of miR-361-5p. SPSS Statistics 29.0.1.0., t-test and ANCOVA were used to compare the two groups. P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Age was not different between the 2 groups (Hvs.D mean age±SE=63.6±2.9 vs.68.5±1.8, p=0.17). Df and miR-101 expression were decreased in the group D (Hvs.D mean: Df±SE=1.36±0.01 vs.1.32±0.01, p=0.016; miR-101±SE=1.68±0.32 vs.0.83±0.22, p=0.041). Eight participants in the group D had T2D (1-moderate, and 7-no diabetic retinopathy). All participants with T2D had HTN, and 5 of them also had AD. Next, we used HTN and AD as covariates to account for effects of these comorbidities, and to determine effects of T2D. This analysis showed: in addition to decreased Df and miR-101 expression, T2D was associated with increased expression of miR-146a (Hvs.D mean miR-146a±SE=0.58±0.29 vs.1.69±0.17, p=0.018). Conclusions: fa Changes in Df and in expression of miR-101 are non-specific, and can be caused by T2D and concurrent comorbidities. Increased expression of miR-146a might be a part of the unique expression pattern of the circulatory miRNAs associated with T2D.
The poster presentation session was an opportunity to exchange thoughts with other researchers
In April 2024, a delegation from the University of Donja Gorica (UDG) participated in the ASU-Cintana Presidents’ Summit in Tempe, Arizona. The summit, hosted by Arizona State University (ASU) and Cintana Education, brought together university leaders, researchers, and industry experts to discuss global academic collaborations, innovation in higher education, and the role of AI-driven digital transformation.
ASU Charter
Key Takeaways from the Summit
The event featured distinguished speakers, including Michael Crow (President, ASU), Julia Rosen (VP of Global Academic Initiatives, ASU), and Elizabeth Reilley (Executive Director, AI Acceleration, ASU). Discussions centered on emerging AI and ML applications in education, research, and healthcare, highlighting the need for interdisciplinary approaches to solve global challenges.
For UDG, this summit was an opportunity to strengthen ties with ASU and explore collaborative initiatives in AI-driven medical research, aligning with ongoing projects like AI-AGE. This project focuses on leveraging AI/ML techniques for medical applications, particularly in biomarker discovery and aging-related research.
The theme of the meeting was AI and Education, and AI everywhere…
AI-AGE and the Future of AI in Medicine
The AI-AGE project, which investigates deep learning for analyzing retinal images to identify biomarkers of aging, directly benefits from insights gained at the summit. ASU’s AI Acceleration initiatives and global partnerships set a benchmark for developing AI-driven solutions that are scalable and impactful in healthcare and medical diagnostics.
Meeting with President Michael Crow
Through its participation in the ASU-Cintana network, UDG is positioning itself at the forefront of AI research in medicine, ensuring that its work in computer vision, deep learning, and medical data analysis contributes to the global conversation on AI for healthcare transformation.
Looking Ahead
The collaboration between UDG, ASU, and Cintana opens doors for joint research, academic exchanges, and industry-driven AI applications. One of the first steps in collaboration is creation of dual degrees between UDG and ASU. One of the first steps will be the creation of dual degree programs between the Faculty for information systems and techologies and ASU, which is the key for advancing the FIST/UDG as institution. As AI-AGE advances, UDG remains committed to pioneering innovative AI solutions for medicine, leveraging global partnerships to ensure impactful research and real-world applications.
A very successful two-day workshop for students and industry took place on April 22nd and 23rd 2023, on which young researches from AI-AGE gave presentation. The workshop was organized in the context of the training project called “Competency Training for IoT and AI – InnovateYourFuture” supported by ANSO – Alliance of International Science Organizations, China. The organization is done in collaboration with EuroCC Montenegro and Montenegrin AI Association. During the event, UDG also presented AI-AGE project, as well as some of other projects currently implemented at UDG.
Mr Dejan Babic gave presentation on ML/AI in medicine
ANSO InnovateYourFuture Workshop on 22-23 April 2023Ms Zoja Scekic discussed data preparation for AI/ML application
AI-AGE project was presented at the 28th IEEE IT2024 Conference that took place 21-24 Feb 2024 in Zabljak, Montenegro. The presentation took place in a poster section dedicated to project presentations. We had a chance to talk to conference attendees, our colleauges from Montenegro and abroad. Also, the next day we had a large group of students participating in the EuroCC Workshop on HPC and Industry Applications, where we had a chance to discuss the project posters and take their attention to AI-AGE and other projects presented at the conference.
During the poster section for project presentationsThe poster section took place on 21 Feb 2024, hotel Gorske OciDuring the workshop on 22 Geb 2024AI-AGE poster
Ai-AGE team members had the opportunity to visit Shanghai and attend the 2024 World Digital Education Conference, organized by the Ministry of Education of China and UNESCO. The event gathered over 900 participants, including more than 400 international representatives from around 80 countries.
WDEC2024 was ogranised by UNESCO and the Ministry of Education of China
🔹 Key Themes of the Conference:
Digital and Smart Education – presentation of results and proposed frameworks and strategies (China, UNESCO, OECD).
Formation of the World Digital Education Alliance (WDEA) – an alliance inviting education ministers from various countries to join.
Global Opening of China’s Digital Education Platform – www.csmartedu.cn as a potential global resource for online education.
📌 Organization & Key Takeaways: The conference was well-organized, primarily structured around presentations with limited opportunities for discussion and interaction. Key speakers included representatives from China, UNESCO, and OECD, along with a few presentations based on experiences from other countries.
The main theme of the event was AI and Education
💡 Key Insights:
Significant progress has been made in digital education, but challenges and obstacles remain.
There is a strong global interest in collaboration and partnerships in this field.
China’s initiatives in education could have a global impact, especially through the newly opened online learning platform.
Attending this conference was a valuable experience, reinforcing the idea that digitalization in education is an unstoppable process—the real question now is how we will shape and implement it on a global scale. 🚀🌍
