The Institute for Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is a unique research institution in Serbia, distinguished by its focus on the long-term processes shaping the Balkans, from prehistory to the modern era (https://www.balkaninstitut.com/eng/). It employs a multidisciplinary approach, drawing from history, art history, archaeology, ethnology, anthropology, literary history, and linguistics. The Institute’s research is organised into five thematic axes and is involved in a variety of national and international research projects.
The Institute was established at the initiative of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1934.
It also has an active publishing programme, including the Special Editions Series and the multidisciplinary journal Balcanica (https://balcanica.rs/index.php/journal).
Two members from the Institute are active in the PROMETHEUS project. We’re happy to introduce Dragana Nikolić and Danilo Savić
Dragana Nikolić (née Grbić) is a senior research associate at the Institute for Balkan Studies-SASA. She is the project director for one of the Institute’s five research themes, “The Balkans in Prehistory and Antiquity: Interdisciplinary Research,” and is a principal investigator in the digital epigraphy project. Since 2018, she has also been a member of the Institute’s Management Board. Her research interests include ancient history and epigraphy, with a particular focus on the epigraphic and historical studies of the Central and Western Balkans. Nikolić is a regular contributor to L’Année Épigraphique. In the PROMETHEUS project, she acts as the coordinator for the Institute for Balkan Studies-SASA.
Danilo Savić is a research assistant at the Institute for Balkan Studies SASA. He has a BA in Classics from the University of Belgrade and a Master’s degree in Indo-European Linguistics from the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He is currently enrolled in the joint PhD programme («cotutelle») at the École Pratique des Hautes Études and the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. He is working on a PhD thesis on «Contacts entre les langues de l’Italie et des Balkans pendant l’antiquité: le cas du messapien et des vestiges linguistiques de l’Illyricum» (Language contacts between Italy and the Balkans in antiquity: the Case of Messapic and the Linguistic Relicts of Illyricum) under the mentorship of Emmanuel Dupraz and Academician Aleksandar Loma. His research interests are the ancient languages of the Balkans, Messapic, and Italic languages. In the PROMETHEUS project, he is a member of the communication and dissemination team.