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| V I C E - R E C T O R S |
UKiM has 4 vice-rectors for teaching, science, international cooperation and finance, investments and development. The vice-rectors’ rights, duties and responsibilities are stipulated by UKiM Statute.
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| VICE RECTOR FOR TEACHING |
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Prof. Dr Sonja Topuzovska
Prof. Dr Sonja Topuzovska was born on February 22nd, 1965 in Skopje, where she completed primary and secondary education. She enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje in the academic 1983/84, and finished the undergraduate studies in February 1989 with an average grade of 9.73. The same 1989, she enrolled the second cycle studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje. Since January 1991, she has been employed at the Institute of Biochemistry, at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje. She completed the second cycle studies with an average grade of 10 and defended her master's thesis in June 1997. In December 2002, she defended the doctoral thesis.
Prof. Dr. Sonja Topuzovska has been actively involved in carrying out theoretical and practical teaching activities in the following subjects: Medical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Clinical Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje since 1993, first as an assistant, since 2003 as an assistant professor, since 2008 as an associate professor, while since 2013 as a full professor.
In the period 2006 - 2009, she was appointed ECTS coordinator for the students in the first and second year of studies in Medicine, while from 2005 to 2010 she was a coordinator for the subject of biochemistry for students from the Faculty of Dentistry. With the introduction of the ECT system, she has been actively participating in the teaching of the following subjects: Medical Chemistry, Biochemistry 1 and Biochemistry 2 and clinical biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Faculty of Dentistry, Clinical Biochemistry at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, as well as Biochemistry and Diagnostic Methods for the three-year professional studies at the Faculty of Medicine. Since the academic year 2011/12, she has been involved in the teaching of doctoral studies within the School of Doctoral Studies at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, in the field of basic medicine, for the subject Methods and characteristics of basic research, and from the academic year 2021/22 she has been also organizing the subject Methods in scientific and research work.
Prof. Topuzovska is the author of two textbooks and 7 study aids for students.
She was the mentor of 4 doctors of science and of three doctoral students in progress, as well as mentor of 27 diploma theses. She is the mentor of two specialist theses and of several residents in medical biochemistry. She is a member of 32 committees for the defense of diploma theses, as well as evaluation and defense of several master's theses and doctoral dissertations. She has reviewed 5 university textbooks and 4 teaching aids.
Prof. Sonja Topuzovska organizes, coordinates and participates in the scientific and research activity of the Department of Medical and Experimental Biochemistry, resulting in over 150 scientific papers, published in national and international scientific journals and presented at congresses in the country and abroad.
She participated as a researcher in two international projects and was the head of a national scientific project. Prof. Topuzovska is a participant in 8 national scientific projects.
In 1988 she realized a professional stay in the scientific and research laboratory at the South West Foundation for Biomedical Research laboratory, San Antonio, Texas, USA, and in 1994 she was at the central clinical laboratory at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, England.
Prof. Dr. Sonja Topuzovska is a member of the Macedonian Medical Association, the Medical Chamber of Macedonia, the Association of Doctors Specialists in Medical Biochemistry of Macedonia, the Association of the Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation (BCLF) and the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC). She is the vice-president of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Association at FEBS.
Prof. Sonja Topuzovska is a member of the editorial board of the scientific journal of the Faculty of Medicine - Academic Medical Journal and a reviewer of several scientific papers in national journals: Physioacta and Prilozi, as well as of scientific papers in international journals: Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis and QJM: An International Journal of Medicine. She is the editor of the translation of the book: General, Organic and Biochemistry by Catherine Denniston, Joseph Topping and Robert Carrett.
A significant part of the work of Prof. Sonja Topuzovska represents the professional laboratory activities at the Institute of Biochemistry. She finished specialization in medical biochemistry in 1995.
Her interest is focused on electrophoretic methods for the separation of biomolecules, and so did her professional and scientific education. This resulted in the introduction of 2 new methods: the method for electrophoretic separation and quantification of creatine kinase isoenzymes, as well as the techniques for spilling gradient gels for separation of LDL and HDL subclasses.
Prof. Topuzovska was awarded a certificate of merit in healthcare by the Macedonian Medical Society in 2003, a Diploma of Achievements from the Macedonian Medical Society in 2008 and the highest recognition for achieved results in the profession, health and work – the Trifun Panovski Charter from the Macedonian Medical Society in 2019.
She was a member of the Commission for taking the professional exam for an expert in the field of biochemistry at the Ministry of Justice of R. Macedonia and the Commission under the Ministry of Health for determining the conditions in health institutions for obtaining authorization for the education of trainees.
In the period April 2009 - September 2016, Prof. Dr. Sonja Topuzovska performed the function of Vice dean for teaching and was a member of the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Medicine. In the period from 2008 until today, she has been a member and president of several committees and bodies of the Faculty of Medicine, namely: Ethics Committee for Human Research, Scientific Board, chair of the Teaching Board, Personnel Board and Commission for Competition of Enrollment of Students, as well as many others committees and bodies of the Faculty, while also participating in drafting the acts of the Faculty of Medicine.
In the period from 2009 to 2013, Dr Sonja Topuzovska was a member of the Finance Commission at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, and from 2009 until today she has been a member of the Professional Council for Doctoral Studies at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. From 2014 to 2016, she was the president of the Self-Evaluation Commission of UKIM.
In the period from 2016 to 2023, she was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje for two terms. In the period of seven years, she contributed to the significant development and promotion of the teaching, research, health and application activities of the Faculty. 9 new study programs have been accredited, a new journal (Academic Medical Journal) has been established, 34 scientific research projects have been financed and implemented, 32 of which are ongoing, the agreed fee with the Health Insurance Fund has been significantly increased and more new health services have been introduced. Modern equipment for the laboratories was purchased, investments were made in the expansion of the working and laboratory space (3000 m2) and the conditions for the employees were improved.
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| VICE RECTOR FOR SCIENCE |
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Prof. Dr. Valentina Gecevska (v.gecevska@ukim.edu.mk)
Dr. Valentina Gecevska was born on September 9th, 1965, in Skopje.
She enrolled at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, in the academic year 1984/85, and finished the undergraduate studies in 1989. In the academic year 1990/1991, she enrolled the postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, at the Institute of Production Engineering, and at the beginning of 1995, she obtained the title: Master of Mechanical Sciences. She defended the doctoral dissertation at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in 2002, thus acquiring the academic title: Doctor of Technical Sciences.
She has been employed at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering since 1990, where she has been continuously selected for all teaching-scientific positions. In March 2012, with the first election and in February 2017, with re-election, Prof. Gecevska acquired the title: full professor in the field of Production Engineering, Technologies, Systems and Industrial Engineering and Management, at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, at the Institute for Production Engineering and Management.
Her research interest is in the areas of Development of New Products, Intelligent Manufacturing Processes, CIM, PLM, Lean Manufacturing, Mass Customization, Industry 4.0, Innovation and Technology Management, Smart Manufacturing Technologies and Data Management, Circular Economy and Sustainable Development. As a professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, she has been actively involved in carrying out the activities in subject programs of the three study cycles, she is mentor of more than 200 diploma theses, of more than 80 master's theses, member of more than 20 committees for evaluation and defense of doctoral theses and mentor of 4 candidates.
In the period from 2004 to 2008, she held the position of Vice-Dean for Science, International Cooperation and Development at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and managed six committees of the Faculty's Teaching and Scientific Council and the Dean’s Office. In the period 2016-2020, she was a member of UKIM’s University Senate, a representative from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and was appointed a member of the University’s Science Commission. In the period from 2020 to 2023, she held the position: Vice-Rector for Science at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.
She is the head of WEBLAB - Distance Learning Center - a project unit at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which she founded in 2007 in cooperation with the Technical University of Turin. Since October 2008, she has been the head of the Laboratory for Computer Integrated Manufacturing Center, at the Institute of Production Engineering and Management of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Since March 2011, the year of its foundation, she is the head of the Center for Development and Management of Product Lifecycle - a project unit at MFS, which she founded in cooperation with the Technical University of Turin and the University of Maribor.
Since 2010, Prof. Gecevska has been the founder and head of the study program for Product Life Cycle Management, in the second cycle of studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, a joint program of four universities from the region (UKIM, University of Novi Sad, University of Zagreb and University of Split), developed on the basis of a double degree with the Technical University of Turin.
In 2006, as Vice-Dean, she worked in the team that launched the first interdisciplinary study program in Environmental Engineering, according to ECTS, with a double degree with the University of Florence, a first cycle study program managed by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
She was appointed a visiting professor for second cycle courses at the Faculty of Technical Sciences at the University of Novi Sad and at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maribor.
In the extracurricular activities, she participates in commissions and working groups in the preparation of reports, strategies, action plans related to strategic documents, among which: Law on Product Safety - transposition with the European Directive (2007), member of the Working Group of the World Bank for Western Balkan Regional Strategy for Research and Development towards Innovation (2011-2013), National Strategy for Industrial Policy (2018), National Roadmap for Circular Economy (in progress), Strategy for National Development (in progress).
Prof. Gecevska is a member of several national and international associations and committees, which are of professional and social interest, the following being significant, which support scientific and research activities: invited member of the European Academy of Industrial Management (EAIM) (since 2022), Society of Mechanical Engineers (SME) (since 1995), Board of the European Engineering Professional Network (EPN Consulting, UK) (since 2008), Bord of the OpenAIRE (since 2021), Board of the European PLM Association for Scientific, Academic and Industrial Cooperation (PLM InNET, Italy ) (since 2011), the Working Group on Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Product Development, of the Technical Committee on Information Technology Applications, the International Federation for Data Processing (IFIP) (since 2009), the European Virtual Laboratory for Enterprise Interoperability (InterIP-Vlab , Belgium) (since 2009), ICT Expert Association of MASIT (since 2005), member of the Board of Directors of Metamorphisis (2005-2015). In the period from 2018 to 2023, she has been a member of the academic board of the Confucius Institute at UKIM, promoting scientific and research collaborations with academic institutions in China. She has been one of the initiators and since 2021, a member of the Council of the Center for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, which unites the Macedonian scientific diaspora, offering opportunities for scientific and international cooperation with UKIM, as well as affiliation with UKIM.
In her professional career, Dr. Gecevska has published over two hundred peer-reviewed and printed scientific papers in the proceedings of international congresses, conferences and symposiums. She is the author of over 60 scientific papers published in international scientific journals, 23 of which have an impact factor, in publications indexed in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database.
Prof. Gecevska is the editor of 7 scientific monographs published abroad, by the University of Maribor, Slovenia and the Technical University of Turin, Italy and author or co-author of 30 chapters in scientific monographs.
In the period 2004-2010, she was the editor of the scientific journal - Mechanical Engineering, published by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which, during that period was promoted from proceeding to an international scientific journal, keeping the international indexation with the previous continuity of 35 years.
She is an active member of the editorial boards of four international scientific journals from foreign publishers, two journals indexed in the Web of Science database of Clarivate Analytics and two in the SCOPUS database of Elsevier.
In her career, Prof. Gecevska has participated as a member or president of a scientific or program board at numerous international scientific conferences with peer-reviewed proceedings.
She is a permanent reviewer of renowned international scientific journals, most of them with WoS impact factor (for publishers Taylor&Francis, Elsevier, IEEE, etc.). She is a reviewer of scientific papers for proceedings of international conferences, for international and national publications, as well as a reviewer of eight textbooks for higher education and four for secondary education.
As an evaluator of project applications, prof. Gecevska participates in evaluation boards of several international project programs and institutions that support research programs (FP7, Horizon 2020, EIT Manufacturing, Estonian Science Foundation (ETF), INCO, COST, Bureau of German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), EC Executive Agency for Innovation (EAI)).
She has realized more than 40 study stays abroad (doctoral research at Oregon State University, USA; postdoctoral studies at the Technical University of Turin, Italy; specialization for Japanese industrial policy and production management at the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Sapporo, Japan; PhD nostrification program at the University of Maribor and the Ministry of Science and Technology of Slovenia; specializations at the universities of Vienna, Eindhoven, Turin, Prague, Bratislava, Ljubljana, study stays in the countries of the region, as well as in Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, China, etc).
Prof. Gecevska was the head/participant in more than 30 international research and development projects from various donor programs (FP6, FP7, CIP, Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, Life, EIT HEI, EIT Manufacturing, COST, IPA, ADA, CEI, WB, UNDP) .
She was the head/participant in more than 20 international projects from educational programs (TEMPUS, CEEPUS, Erasmus+).
Prof. Gecevska was the head/ participant in more than 50 projects for technology transfer, R&D, development and innovation in companies, supported by international (GTZ, EAR, GFA, WB, UNDP) and domestic programs.
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| VICE RECTOR FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION |
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Prof. Dr Aleksandar Skeparovski (a.skeparovski@ukim.edu.mk)
Prof. Dr Aleksandar Skeparovski was born on April 21st, 1971 in Shibenik, Republic of Croatia. He completed primary and secondary education in Skopje.
Prof. Skeparovski finished undergraduate studies in Applied Physics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje in 1998, where he also finished the postgraduate studies Condensed Matter Physics in 2005.
In 2007, he submitted a doctoral dissertation with the title "Electrical and dielectric properties of ultra-thin films of Ta2O5:Ti" and defended it in 2011 at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, thus acquiring the academic title: Doctor of Physical Sciences.
Prof. Skeparovski has been employed at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics since 1999. He started his professional career as a professional associate, and has been continuously selected for all associate and teaching-scientific positions, including the final election as a full professor in 2021.
He has been actively involved in carrying out the teaching activity of all three cycles of studies in the field of Physics. In the first cycle, undergraduate studies, he teaches the subjects: Mechanics and Solid State Physics, while in the second cycle, master studies, and the third cycle, doctoral studies, for which he is also an accredited mentor, he teaches several specialized courses in the field of Condensed Matter Physics.
Within his teaching-scientific activity, Prof. Dr Skeparovski has realized around 15 study and research stays at universities and scientific institutions in France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and others. He has collaborated with researchers from several countries, and has a long-term, intensive collaboration with one research group from the Institute of Solid State Physics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and other from the Department of Physics at the University of York, England. He is a member of the Research Center for Environment and Materials at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Main area of scientific interest of Prof. Aleksandar Skeparovski are the thin insulating films for application in microelectronics, including the methods of obtaining them, the experimental techniques for the characterization of the electrical properties and the modeling of the transport processes. His area of interest also includes: thin films that possess magnetic properties, as well as organic conductors.
He participated in 10 national and international scientific and research projects and as a plenary or invited lecturer, Prof. Skeparovski took part in more than 25 scientific gatherings (conferences, workshops, schools, etc.). He has published about 30 scientific and 10 professional papers.
Prof. Skeparovski has been an active member of the Society of Physicists of the Republic of Macedonia since 1999, where he performed several functions such as: treasurer of the Society, member of the Management Board, president of the Commission for the preparation of tasks for physics competitions.
He also participated in a series of activities related to the popularization of physics, as well as in the preparation of our students for the international physics Olympiads.
In the period from 2011 to 2015, he was the coordinator of the six study programs at the Institute of Physics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. He participated in the work of various commissions and working groups, including the UKIM Self-Evaluation Commission. In September 2016, he was elected head of the Institute of Physics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and in October 2020, he was re-elected for the same position. Starting from February 2021, he held the position of dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. He remained at this position until his appointment as Vice-Rector for International Relations at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje in October 2023.
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| VICE RECTOR FOR FINANCE, INVESTMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT |
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Prof. Dr Lazo Pendovski (l.pendovski@ukim.edu.mk)
Prof. Dr. Lazo Pendovski was born in 1975 in Skopje.
He enrolled the undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Skopje in the academic 1994/1995 and finished the studies in 2001.
In 2005, he was employed as a junior assistant at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Skopje, within Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, and since then, he has been continuously promoted to all associate and teaching-scientific positions, when finally in 2021 he was promoted to the title full professor, in the field of veterinary medicine.
He completed the master studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje in 2007 and obtained the scientific degree: Master of Medical Sciences.
He finished the doctoral studies at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Skopje in 2011 when he obtained the scientific degree Doctor of Sciences in the field of veterinary medicine.
He held the position of Vice Dean for Teaching at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Skopje in the period 2013-2017 (two elections).
In 2017, the rector of UKIM appointed Prof. Pendovski to be acting dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Skopje, and later that year he was elected Dean by the Teaching and Scientific Council of the Faculty. In 2021, he was re-elected as dean for a second term and held the position until his election as vice-rector.
In addition to the teaching activity of the undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Skopje, he has been involved in the teaching process at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food at UKIM and is a professor and accredited mentor of the doctoral studies in Veterinary Medicine and Food Safety at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Skopje.
In 2004, he was the organizer of the International Seminar on Plastination realized in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Macedonia and the Ministry of Education of Austria. At the 12th International Conference on Plastination in Spain, in 2004, he won the first prize for the best scientific paper, and at the 8th International Conference on Plastination in 2005, he was elected secretary general of the meeting. In 2007, in Murcia (Spain), he completed the 7th postgraduate course on tissue plastination with polyester-P40.
Prof. Pendovski participated in a large number of international events and as an invited lecturer, he received several recognitions for his special contribution to the scientific committees of numerous professional-scientific gatherings with international participation (conferences, congresses, symposiums, etc.).
He is the beneficiary of several grants for education and research such as COST-scholarship for a scientific visit at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Zagreb, CEEPUS- a one-month scholarship at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna (Austria), a scholarship from the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia for research stay at the Veterinary Faculty in Zagreb, scientific stay of 10 months at the Veterinary Faculty in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from the "Erasmus Mundus" program.
Prof. Pendovski actively managed/participated in the realization of 23 scientific projects from different programs (Tempus Joint European Project (JEP), COST, SEE-ERA-NETs, NATO program, FP7 and FP6-program, Erasmus+, FAO, etc.) in cooperation with foreign universities and international institutions.
Prof. Dr. Lazo Pendovski has published more than 114 scientific and professional papers in journals with international boards, journals with an impact factor and abstracts in the country and abroad and is the author/co-author of 7 books/teaching aids in the field of morphology of animals, embryo technology and animal welfare. He is the editor of 10 books of abstracts from annual conferences and 2 monographs for the Faculty.
Since 2013, he has been the editor in chief of the international scientific journal "Macedonian Veterinary Review", which is indexed in the most prestigious scientific databases of journals in the world and in Clarivate Analytics - Web of Science has an impact factor (IF=0.4).
He is also a member of the international editorial boards of the scientific journals: Veterinary Journal of Ankara University, Meat Technology, Veterinary Journal of Republic of Srpska и Archives of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Lazo Pendovski is actively involved in the work of numerous commissions, among which he is a member of the Sector Commission for Agriculture and Fisheries at the National Board for the Macedonian Framework of Qualifications at the Ministry of Education and Science, a member of the working body for reviewing projects submitted to the Commission for culture and sports at UKIM, member of the Board for the selection of UKIM scientists who show top results in research and scientific activities, member of the Council for Doctoral Studies at UKIM, member of the working group for chapter 12, (Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy) for negotiations on the accession of the Republic of Macedonia in the EU, President of the Board for Trust and Cooperation with the Public (2013-2017), member of the Program Committee for the European Program for Research and Innovation Horizon Europe at the level of the Ministry of Education and Science (2021) responsible for the program Capacities in research, etc.
In 2021, Prof. Dr. Lazo Pendovski received a special recognition as dean, "the best in the agribusiness" for the development of educational-research facilities and laboratories according to ISO 17025 standard at the traditional 88th international fair for agriculture held in the Republic of Serbia, co-organized by the partner country Czech Republic, in the presence of a large number of economic entities, food producers, scientific research centers, agencies and higher education institutions in the field of agriculture and veterinary medicine.
Since 2023, he has been elected as an honorary member of the Academy of Veterinary Medicine (AVM) at the Serbian Veterinary Society in the Republic of Serbia.
Areas of research, scientific and professional interest of prof. Lazo Pendovski are functional morphology of animals with special reference to gene expression of factors that influence muscle growth in animals.
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