The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Belgrade will host the national stage of the international student competition Global HackAtom 2026, which will take place in Belgrade on 27 and 28 May, organised by the Russian State Corporation Rosatom and the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between the Faculty’s management and senior representatives of Rosatom, held in Belgrade on Friday, April 24.
The Russian delegation included Anton Shargin, Deputy Director General of Rosatom International for Commercial Cooperation; Sergey Margelov, Deputy Director of Rosatom Central Europe, headquartered in Hungary; Ignat Belousov, Head of Human Resources and University Relations at Rosatom; and Marija Deurić, Director of Rosatom’s Representative Office in Serbia. The delegation was received by the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Prof. Dr Vladimir Popović.
Welcoming the guests, Professor Popović expressed his satisfaction that the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade had been recognised as a reliable partner in the organisation and host of this important international student competition. The meeting was also attended by Prof. Dr Dragoslava Stojiljković, Vice-Dean for Research, and Prof. Dr Živana Jakovljević, Vice-Dean for Education.
Cooperation between the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Rosatom has been continuous. Representatives of the corporation also visited the Faculty in November 2024, when they presented students and academic staff with the latest technological achievements in the field of nuclear energy, as well as nuclear education programmes in Russia. The visit was organised within the framework of the project “Ambassadors of Russian Nuclear Education”, one of Rosatom’s most significant educational programmes, implemented in more than 50 countries worldwide.
As part of this academic and scientific cooperation, doctoral candidate and junior researcher Miloš Lazarević took part earlier this year in the Third International Winter Technical School “Knowledge and Technologies of the Nuclear Industry in the Future”, held in Obninsk. At the conference “Knowledge and Technologies of the Nuclear Industry in the Future”, organised as part of the school, Miloš presented a project concept for small modular fusion reactors, for which he won first prize.
About the Global HackAtom Competition
HackAtom is an international competition focused on solving practical challenges in the field of nuclear energy. Since 2021, it has been held in more than 17 countries, with the participation of over 1,300 students worldwide.
The organisation of the national stage of Global HackAtom in Serbia forms part of the Global HackAtom 2026 project, aimed at bringing together talented students and enabling them to gain practical knowledge and develop professional skills in the field of nuclear energy.
The national stages of the competition are held over two days. On the first day, the competition rules are explained, followed by several short lectures from various areas of nuclear science delivered by leading professors from Russian universities. Teams are then presented with the task, and participants are given 24 hours to develop the best possible solutions to assigned problems in the field of nuclear energy.
The national winning team will have the opportunity to participate in the Global HackAtom Grand Final, to be held in Russia as part of the International Youth Festival in Yekaterinburg, from September 11 to 17, 2026, together with teams from 15 countries.
More detailed information about the competition can be found HERE.