This year the Center for the Promotion of the Science of the Republic of Serbia and the Program "Start Up For Science" have supported the citizen science project Obtectus Finders. The main goal of the Obtectus Finders is to analyze the genetic variability of natural populations of seed beetles, which go by the scientific name Acanthoscelides obtectus. To accomplish this aim we want to partner with the public in order to collect beetles from a large number of different locations. The involvement of volunteers in collecting beetles will help us uncover the distribution of this pest insect at broad geographic scales and understand their population genetic structure.

At the “Belt and Road” International Symposium of Science and Technology Innovation held on September 25-27, 2019 in Shanghai, China, the Pan-Balkan Alliance of Natural Products and Drug Discovery Associations (PANDA) was formally established.