Professor Božić: COVID 19 Shifted Science and Education Work to Home

The Covid 19 pandemic has certainly affected the global functioning of people around the world. Significant changes have been made in the sport and the field of sports sciences. Many of us have replaced sports fields, offices, labs and amphitheaters with working from our homes. In working conditions where we have a shortage of space, respect for all restrictions and increased childcare, since schools and kindergartens do not work, it is not easy to stay focused and productive.

The interview starts with these words by Assistant Professor, Predrag Bozic, PhD, on how a scientist, researcher and university teacher spends time today, in compliance with the COVID 19 anti-virus measures.

Bozic is part of editorial team of the International Montenegrin Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, which publishes papers from the International Conference of the Montenegrin Sports Academy, that gathers together about 200 scientists worldwide each year, and he is a teacher at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education of the University of Montenegro.

 UMNE: What does your working day look like during a global pandemic?

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR BOZIC: First of all, I would like to express my sincere remorse for all the victims of the pandemic caused by the Covid 19 virus and to thank all those who are fighting with their abilities against this vicious virus. However, I hope that we will soon solve this global problem jointly and that majority of us will learn lessons that will greatly help in our future lives.

However, with good organization of time, it is possible to fulfill most of the obligations under these conditions. In terms of my personal business responsibilities, most of my activities have shifted from fieldwork and lab work to writing programs and exercise plans for athletes, in all the limitations brought by the current pandemic.

UMNE: Is it possible to keep science in focus, given the respect of the anti-proliferation measures of COVID 19?

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR BOŽIĆ: A significant part of my working time is occupied with my work on data processing, writing professional and scientific papers from previous projects and research, preparing scientific projects for applying for various funds.

In this regard, great news for most of us is the fact that, as of recently, the University of Montenegro has provided Clarivate Analytics services to students, faculty and staff i.e. access to the world's largest scientific literature database - Web of Science. This service allows us to search for the most valuable information in the field of science that can be applied in our professional and scientific activities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the University of Montenegro, but also to all responsible persons who have been working for a number of years to make this service come true for us, especially to Mr. Stevo Popovic, PhD and Mr. Duško Bjelica, PhD.

UMNE: In addition, there are obligations to teach at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education of the University of Montenegro ...

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR BOZIC: At first, most of our obligations to students were done through the preparation, submission and placement of various presentations and materials on appropriate web platforms, but now we have organized ourselves to deliver lectures through different specialized video communication platforms. In doing so, we have been able to significantly improve student contact and to a large extent overcome the considerable scope of constraints that have become inevitable during a pandemic. I hope that in this way we will be able to successfully complete this student year without major consequences, that is, to enable students to transfer knowledge smoothly.

UMNE: You recently participated in an online video conference of the Montenegrin Sports Academy...

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR BOZIC: In a situation where many grand world events and scientific conferences are canceled, organizers of the 17-year science conference called "Sport, Physical Activity and Health: Contemporary Perspectives" have decided to step ahead of everyone and not allow this situation to be significantly affected to the conference. Huge merit of representatives of the Montenegrin Sports Academy, the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, as well as all associates gathered around the same idea, enabled the conference to be held smoothly through a special online video platform. The conference brought together a large number of world-renowned scientists from numerous countries around the world.

Although we were initially suspicious of entire implementation of the video conference, as preparations went on, we have been gaining more confidence in our capacity to successfully promote science this year. The ultimate result was greater than expected. The vast majority of participants were present during the conference, many great results of current research were presented, sincere and positive reactions of all participants were some of the immediately visible results. In addition, dozens of thousands of people viewed the video materials, which were subsequently uploaded to the site of the Montenegrin Sports Academy, in less than seven days.

This just proved all of us that we did the right thing. As one of the participants, I am quite proud of having been a regular participant in the past few years and part of this conference that has been achieving enviable results and setting standards in this part of Europe year after year.

UMNE: What is your experience in online communication with your colleagues in comparison to previous years?

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR BOZIC: Generally, we feel sorry for not being able to organize the conference in Dubrovnik and meet with colleagues and friends from all over the world, yet, online organization of the conference is a positive experience for all of us. Although this aspect of the conference resulted in less opportunities for communication, we had the opportunity to see a large number of interesting discussions on various scientific topics. In addition, we had the opportunity to move from one session to another in a very simple way, to easily ask questions on topics of interest to us, and to continue private communication through messages with interesting presenters without disturbing other participants.

On this occasion I would also like to point out the contribution of a very interesting and talented scientist from Turkey, named Selcuk Akpinar. For many years, Professor Akpinar has supported organization of the CSA Conference, and this time he also made a prominent and unique contribution by chairing many sessions, opening interesting discussions after presentations by participants. In addition, Professor Akpinar had an interesting presentation during which he presented newspapers in the field of assisted activities and horse-assisted therapy specifically designed for persons with special needs and having a significant impact on improving the quality of life.

UMNE: Can we also expect a scientific review of COVID 19 in the next issue of the CSA Conference?

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR BOZIC: COVID 19 is now heating topic in research, a large number of funds are already funding research into the fight against this virus, and I am quite sure that this phenomenon will catch the attention of a large number of scientists from all over the world. Given that our conference brings together a wide range of scholars covering a wide range of topics related to sports, physical activity and health, I suspect that at our next conference, a number of topics will just emerge that will explore the impact of COVID 19 in these areas.

UMNE: In your opinion, how important are these events to science?

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR BOZIC: Organizing scientific conferences is a very good opportunity to promote your research to a large number of people from all over the world, to easily form partnerships and friendships that further facilitate your activities in the domain you are developing. By attending conferences, we extend our own influence, reference and rating of the institutions we come from. Therefore, I can conclude that by organizing a regular annual conference, the Montenegrin Sports Academy has for many years continued to successfully bring together the elite of sports science in one place, allowing all participants a quality exchange of experience and knowledge.