An astrophysicist who studies galaxy evolution. An electrical engineer who has helped design robots. An organic chemist who, during the pandemic, worked on COVID-19 drugs. An education researcher, a sociologist, several political scientists, economists, physicians, and medical researchers. They have all been elected to what may well be the brainiest parliament in the world, Science writes.
After a student-led opposition movement won in Serbia on 25 October, the group, named Student List – Students Are Winning, has 141 representatives in Serbia’s 250-member National Assembly. Dozens of them come from the academic world, and more than half have a Ph.D. or M.D.
Now, this group is tasked with forming a government and charting a new course for Serbia, after 13 years of populist authoritarian rule by Aleksandar Vučić, first as prime minister and later as president. Student List has promised to fight corruption and establish meritocracy, accountability, and the rule of law.
But with so many academics suddenly close to the center of power, Serbian researchers are also hoping for major changes in the country’s science and higher education landscape. During Vučić’s reign, academic freedom eroded, universities became highly politicized, and critics were sidelined. Student List has promised more academic autonomy, more stable science funding, and affordable education. It hopes to stop the country’s persistent brain drain.
"For our universities, this victory is decisive - it immediately halts the previous regime’s active dismantling of higher education", says Sofija Stefanović, a bioarchaeologist at the University of Belgrade.
"While the new government must first restore the rule of law and fight corruption, meaning the full recovery of our scientific sector will take time, change is clearly on the horizon".
"Better times lie ahead", adds Vladan Đokić, rector of the University of Belgrade.
The winning political movement emerged from countrywide student protests sparked by the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad train station in November 2024 that killed 16 people. Students blamed the tragedy on corruption in the public sector and demanded transparency and justice. But as their calls went unheeded, their protests grew stronger, drawing support from academics, teachers, and the wider public. By May 2025, they called for an early election and started to draft candidates.
Rather than stand themselves, the students pulled together a slate of trusted figures - not just academics, but also farmers, lawyers, artists, teachers, and a former basketball player. At the top of the numbered list of candidates is Ilija Srdanović, a cardiologist, but he is not the group’s official leader and his future role in politics is unclear. Although some of the elected academics could end up as full-time politicians, many may choose to keep their academic careers going; the Serbian parliament allows its members to have other jobs if they don’t present a conflict of interest.
Many of the new representatives have zero experience in politics. But their unparalleled professional expertise should be helpful in reforming Serbia, says molecular biologist Željko Popović of the University of Novi Sad (UNS).
Scientists hope the reforms will extend to academia. Vučić’s government has been accused of pressuring universities and academics to fall in line with its policies and appointing political allies to university governing bodies. Some academics deemed disloyal have lost their jobs.
"A university must be free to think, conduct research, and offer criticism, without fear of political repercussions", says Marija Lesjak, a chemist at UNS who was just elected to parliament.
One source of political pressure was a centralized financial management system that routes all transactions through the country’s treasury.
"That significantly limits the ability of faculties to manage their own funds and plan for their own development", Lesjak says.
Researchers also want to make science funding more meritocratic. Under Vučić, "Funds were frequently distributed based on political or personal connections rather than merit, which severely undermined the quality of scientific work", says Miodrag Krmar, a physicist at UNS who was a candidate for Student List.
Student List is promising fixes. Its platform includes more predictable funding, an independent Science Fund, an end to political meddling in research funding evaluations, and support for researchers working abroad who want to return to Serbia.
Now, the movement needs to choose a prime minister. A presidential election will also be held, likely by the end of the year. Vučić, who has served two terms as president and can’t run again, resigned in September, hoping to win the parliamentary election and become prime minister instead.
Popović warns that transforming the research sector in Serbia "will not be such an easy and quick process". But students have set an inspiring example, he says, showing academics and the rest of society that change is possible even when a national populist appears to have consolidated power.
And he hopes academics’ support for the 2-year revolt has changed the public’s view of scientists. Sometimes seen as elitist or a burden on society, university professors took to the streets alongside students, often standing as a physical barrier between them and the police, he says: "We showed that we are part of this society, with all our heart and soul, and that we are ready to do anything to defend our common values and our freedom".