Team
Mentors
Budimir Đukičin
Geography, Ecology and Environmental Protection Mentor
Budimir Đukičin (Padej, 1948), graduated from the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Sciences in Novi Sad, earning a Bachelor of Science in Geography. In his career, he worked in a large number of schools in Kikinda, for the longest time at Dušan Vasiljev Grammar School, from which he retired. Đukičin has received numerous awards for his educational work and in 2000 he joined Mihajlo Pupin RTC from Pančevo, which makes him the symbolic founder of Dušan Vasiljev RTC. Today, Đukičin is probably the oldest mentor in the System of Regional Talent Centers of Serbia.
Zorana Rackov
French Language Mentor
Zorana Rackov was born in Kikinda in 1980, where she still lives and works today. She completed her studies in the French language and literature at the Department of Romance Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. She has worked at the Regional Talent Center since its inception as a French language mentor. She also works as a freelance literary translator from French into Serbian and is the recipient of the Swiss Chateau de Lavigny translation fellowship.
Marija Popović
Mathematics and Physics Mentor
Marija Popović (Zrenjanin, 1977) works as a physics and mathematics teacher at Sveti Sava Elementary School in Kikinda and as a mathematics teacher at Ivo Lola Ribar Elementary School in Novi Kozarci. In Dušan Vasiljev RTC, she works as a mentor in mathematics and physics.
Sanja Mrakić
Psychology Mentor
Sanja Mrakić was born in Kikinda in 1977, where she completed elementary school and high school. She graduated from the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. She has worked as a professional associate and a psychology teacher, and currently works as a psychology teacher in three high schools in Kikinda. She has been with Dušan Vasiljev RTC since its inception and her work includes mentoring, psychological support and the assessment of talented students’ abilities.
Dragana Francuski
History Mentor
Dragana Francuski was born in Kikinda in 1975, where she completed elementary school and high school. She graduated from the Department of History at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, earning a Bachelor of Arts in History. In the 2000–2001 school year, she started working as a history teacher at Dušan Vasiljev Grammar School, and since 2013, she has worked at Vuk Karadžić Elementary School as well. She has worked as a mentor in history at Dušan Vasiljev RTC since its inception.
Jasna Tomašev
Geography, Ecology and Environmental Protection Mentor
Jasna Tomašev (Mokrin, 1961), graduated from the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Sciences in Novi Sad, earning a Bachelor of Science in Geography. In her career, she worked in a large number of schools in Kikinda and she also spent one term as the principal of Dušan Vasiljev Grammar School. She has worked at Dušan Vasiljev RTC since its inception.
Jelena Mihajlović
Biology Mentor
Jelena Mihajlović (Kikinda, 1983) graduated from the Department of Biology and Ecology at the Faculty of Sciences in Novi Sad, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She works as a biology teacher at Feješ Klara Elementary School and Dušan Vasiljev Grammar School in Kikinda. She has worked as a mentor in biology at Dušan Vasiljev RTC since 2021.
Vera Karadžin
English Language Mentor
Vera Karadžin (Kikinda, 1981), completed her undergraduate studies at the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, in 2006. In 2009, she earned a Master’s degree in English Philology at the same department. Since 2016, she has held a CELTA certificate (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults). She has worked as an English language teacher at Žarko Zrenjanin Elementary School in Kikinda since the 2005–2006 school year. Since 2022, she has worked at Dušan Vasiljev RTC as an English language mentor.
Gordana Novaković
Serbian Language Mentor
Gordana Novaković (Kikinda, 1968), graduated from the Department of Serbo-Croatian Language and Yugoslav Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, earning a Bachelor of Arts. She has worked as a Serbian language and literature teacher at Bratstvo-jedinstvo Elementary School in Banatska Topola since 2000. Since 2009, she has worked at Dušan Vasiljev Grammar School first as a teacher and then as a librarian with a smaller part of the norm. In 2021, she started working at Dušan Vasiljev RTC as a Serbian language mentor.
Strahinja Mršić
Computing and Informatics Mentor
Strahinja Mršić (Novi Sad, 1999). He completed his undergraduate studies in computer science and automation at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad in 2021. In 2022, he completed his master's degree at Singidunum University in Belgrade. He has worked at Mihajlo Pupin Technical School in Kikinda as a teacher of the electrical engineering subject group since 2021. Since the 2024–2025 school year, he has worked at Dušan Vasiljev RTC as a mentor in computing and informatics.
Head, support, and administration
dr Srđan Srdić
Center Director and Literature Mentor
Srđan Srdić (Kikinda, 1977) has worked as the director of Dušan Vasiljev RTC since its inception and as a literature mentor for high school students. Before establishing Dušan Vasiljev RTC together with Jasna Tomašev, Budimir Đukičin, Sanja Mrakić and Dragana Francuski, he worked as a mentor for the needs of Mihajlo Pupin RTC from Pančevo (2007–2016).
Srdić graduated from the Department of General Literature at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, where he later earned his doctorate after defending the thesis titled Relationships between reality and fiction in the prose of Jonathan Swift.
He also works as a librarian, an editor, a literary critic and a creative writing teacher.
He has published five novels, two books of stories and one collection of essays. Srdić is the recipient of numerous literary awards and his books have been translated into about ten European languages.
Biljana Rujević
Head of Accounting Department
Biljana Rujević (Kikinda, 1978) graduated from the Higher School for Business Secretaries and Management in Sremski Karlovci. She has worked as the head of accounting at Dušan Vasiliev Grammar School since 2002. She has been the head of accounting at Dušan Vasiljev RTC since its inception.
Ana Horvat
Legal Officer
Ana Horvat (Kikinda, 1971) graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Novi Sad in 1996, earning a Bachelor of Laws degree. From 1997 to 1999, she worked as an intern at the Basic Court in Kikinda. She has work experience in legal affairs in the economy and outside the economy. She has worked as a school secretary at Dušan Vasiljev Grammar School in Kikinda since 2007. Since its inception, she has worked at the Regional Talent Center in legal and administrative roles.