Haris Pojskic, PhD: Culture of Dialogue is the Key of Success in Science
Professor Haris Pojskic from Linnaeus University in Sweden, participated at 16th scientific sports conference of CSA Academy in Dubrovnik, and that it was the opportunity to talk about his successful sports and scientific career he has started in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as cooperation with our professors, because there are hidden rudiments of our very successful conference.
-My whole life is based on the love for sport, especially towards basketball. I have played basketball since my tenth year, and my uncle was the Physical Education professor. I played for ‘’Celik’’ from Zenica, and young national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, after eighteenth, I decided to attend the Faculty for Physical education and sport in Tuzla, where I got the offer to stay there as assistant after four years and then my academic career began. One part of my life and career I spent in America by gaining the scholarship. Returning to Bosnia, finishing my PhD thesis, starts serious research career. We have recognized that there is a lack of good and quality journals and gatherings of people who work in sport and science, so we established the scientific journal and started with the conference which from local became international, which character got with the title ‘’Sport and Health’’. I made contacts with Stevo Popovic, the current Dean of the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education in Niksic in this period. We started to cooperate then, and probably that was the initial cap to start one very quality journal that is probably one of the best and the most renowned journals in the region. I must emphasize that this Conference was beyond what we were doing in Tuzla.it is definitely good that this Conference exists for people to improve, exchange their experiences and try to make something in the field of sports science , Pojskic says, the member of editorial board of Montenegrin Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (MJSSM).
Our interviewee got the scholarship of European Union four years ago, to do the post-doctorate at the project, at one of the universities in Sweden. He got, after that, various offers for jobs, and he accepted at Mid-Sweden University in the central part of Sweden, and he got engaged at the Institute for research in winter sports. He spent three years there, last year he changed the University, he moved to the southern parts of Sweden, and he works at Linnaeus University now.
Basketball shaped his life and all those questions related to science and researches resulting from playing and coaching career, because one part of his academic work is dedicated to coaching, he has led the university team ‘’Student’’ in Tuzla for four years,, which was the first university team, coming from third to first Bosnian league thanks to his successes.
University club ‘‘Student’‘ was nice and successful experience.
-Surely, it is a good combination, they worked well, we had the support of the Rector of the University and the entire structure and then we made one very good project, because students from all around Bosnia came to study, play and train in our club. We had players who studied, and whom we provide studying conditions, and at the same time they had good conditions for training, so we made good situations, that they eventually got their diplomas, degrees, and we had great good results as a club, Pojskic recalls.
He was trying to resolve problems through his academic-research career, as well as through PhD dissertation and scientific works , and one of the focuses were predictors of long range shooting accuracy in basketball.
-We succeed to create appropriate dynamic precision texts performed in the terms of fatigue and that showed that they are very good predicators of shooting accuracy during the season for shooting profile of the player, compared to some earlier texts used in the state of rest from stationary position. Tests we constructed are tests used in many cases, at different sports institutes and in journals, call on those our tests, and we are happy for that. Other cited us, publish our work and games, and so on. In addition to that, I was very interested at optimization of training, warm-up before and after the game, what are the best strategies for training. We worked a lot to find out what are the best types of stretching, what are the protocols how the athlete enter into the game well prepared, that will be less susceptible to injuries and so on. One part of works is published in the relation with preventive action on the balance and on the reduction of injuries in sport, so these things have marked the beginning of research career, professor Haris Pojskic speaks.
Although very young man, professor Haris Pojskic has the rich experience in pedagogical work, so we wanted to know how it looks like his comparison of Balkans and Swedish education system.
-In some things it is similar, but in others is a huge difference. This is the difference that starts from the very kindergarten, nursery and its role in the educational role in the educational system, that is visible in the academic system. The main difference is in the culture of speech and communication that they have made since childhood. All those exercises, educational, test questions, since childhood are focused that two men , three men, four children, five students cooperate on the same project, they are rely on each other and they exchange their experiences, they respect each other and when communicate. In the end, they succeed, they will make a building of 50 floors which will not crash, and we will maybe succeed to make the building of 70 floors, that will crash in the end. We worked very systematically at all levels, quality control exists at all levels, so the things that are not good, can not pass. Here, there are still bad things that may pass and many things are subject to corruption or nepotism, what is probably the disease of this area.
The difference in PhD studies between the former Yugoslavia and Sweden is important, and that is reflected in the fact that – PhD students may be those who have money to pay studies here, and in Sweden are rare those who are the best and who are privileged because of that in the status during doctoral studies.
-If we compare PhD studies, there is a huge competition that man get a chance to become the doctoral student, for one position apply more then 20-30 students and the person who won, is surely the best and has a salary in the following four years at doctoral studies as PhD student. Here, person must pay, if he has money, in order to become PhD student and factually studying those who have money, and not those who are the best. What is the essential difference is the culture of dialogue, where in Sweden they simply learn to respect and appreciate each other since childhood. That hierarchy relationship is reduced, is someone an assistant, Full professor or the Dean, everyone’s opinion is valued, and everyone’s idea is welcomed and that is the thing that brings results in the end, professor Haris Pojskic, from Linnaeus University in Sweden concludes.
Text: Miomir Maroš, PhD