National Institute of the Republic of Serbia
ὅδε οἶκος, ὦ ἑταῖρε, μνημεῖον ἐστιν ζωῶν τῶν σοφῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν
The study of mathematical logic was initiated in the mid-sixties by a group of mathematicians and philosophers. The work was continued in the Mathematical Institute in the form of a seminar established by professor Slaviša B. Prešić in 1970. That seminar has been continuously active since that. During several decades it has been the fastest growing group, attracting a large number of graduate students, some of which now hold positions at institutions all over the world.
The seminar consists of distinguished and senior logicians as well as a number of graduate students. All are encouraged to give lectures of general interest and talk about their own original results. There are frequent discussions about the logical foundations of mathematics and philosophy, the numerous connections of logic with ordinary mathematics and computer science, the role of logic in teaching mathematics, etc. Attention is paid to all the main areas of logic: model theory, proof theory, set theory and recursion theory. Postgraduate students are expected to give expository lectures on some advanced topics as a part of their studies, while Ph.D. candidates are expected to present their results in series of talks. Also, occasionally there are short courses. Visiting logicians from abroad are most welcome. In former Yugoslavia the seminar had close relations for years with the fellow logicians from Zagreb. More recently, members of the seminar have become co-founders and co-directors of the conference Logic and Applications (LAP) which is held every year in the Inter-University Centre (Dubrovnik, Croatia). The seminar founded the Society for Pure and Applied Logic. The first president of the Society was dr Aleksandar Kron, professor of Logic at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, whose ideas and efforts played an essential role in the forming the society. The Society is currently not active.
The paper which presents a brief historical overview of research in the area of mathematical logic and applications in Serbia until 1995, published in the book Logic in Central and Eastern Europe History, Science and Discourse (University Press of America, 2012) can be found here. A special issue of the journal Review of the National Center for Digitization published in 2012 gives a broader overview of activities in the field of mathematical logic in Serbia can be found here. Another overview on the history of mathematical logic in Serbia is given in the article Tadija Pejović and the Logical Branch of Mihailo Petrović Alas’ Successors (published in the book Mihailo Petrović Alas: Life, Work, Times, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2019) can be found here.
