Djordje Minic, a professor in the Department of Physics, recently won the Marko Jarić prize for 2021.

Awarded with support from the Institute of Physics of Belgrade, the Jarić prize honors an individual or group of scientists for extraordinary scientific achievements in physics. The competition is open both to physicists from Serbia and the diaspora, and to scholars in other fields who conduct research in physics.

Minic was recognized for his outstanding contribution to the development of string theory and quantum gravity. He received the award during a virtual ceremony on March 17.

The prize has been dubbed ‘the Serbian Nobel Prize’ in domestic media according to the Prof. Dr Marko V. Jarić Foundation which has presented the award annually since 1998. The award is designed to preserve the memory of the life and work of Serbian-American physicist Marko Jarić, who died in 1997. Jarić was most famous for his research on quasi-crystals, and authoring and editing four influential books.

Minic joined the Virginia Tech community in 2001. He previously earned his diploma degree in electrical engineering, a five-year degree which includes a thesis, from the University of Belgrade in 1988, and a doctorate in theoretical physics, concentrating on string theory and quantum field theory in 1993 from the University of Texas at Austin.

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