At a recent meeting of the Council of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, an amendment to the public procurement plan was adopted, providing for the purchase of a humanoid robot. The funding will be provided by the Vojvodina government, while staff, professors and students say there are far more urgent investments needed at an institution where two professors recently lost their jobs due to alleged political unsuitability.

In 2026, the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad was left without two professors with decades of experience. While staff warn of a shortage of personnel needed for accreditation processes, a humanoid robot is soon set to arrive at the faculty building.

And perhaps that would be fine if the rest of the building were also in the 21st century, reports N1.

“Computers that barely function in terms of operating systems, air conditioners that do not work, a building that is the hottest in summer and the coldest in winter – and a host of other problems,” said Professor Dinko Gruhonjić.

Among those other problems is a leaking roof in the library.

“If it were up to me, I would invest in repairing the roof rather than in a humanoid robot. Whenever there is heavy rain, the roof leaks – we are talking about thousands of books getting rained on,” said librarian Miloš Petrović.

The request to amend the procurement plan to include the robot was submitted by Vice-Dean Ivana Ivanić of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, from the Department of Romanian Studies. The justification states an estimated value of 2.5 million dinars and lists what the robot is capable of. “The humanoid robot has programming capabilities, sensory perception, interaction and secondary development, which makes it suitable for teaching, laboratory work, and scientific experiments,” the justification states.

“There would be far more sense in faculties such as the Faculty of Technical Sciences or the Faculty of Sciences receiving something like this. Our faculty does not even have proper technical equipment, computers, internet, or even paper towels for drying hands,” said student Natalija.

In response to N1, the faculty dean’s office stated that the robot is being financed by the Vojvodina government and that the funds are specifically intended for such types of investment.

“The purchase of the robot is not planned from the Faculty of Philosophy’s regular own funds, nor is it a reallocation of resources intended for infrastructure issues. The faculty submitted an application to a public call for co-financing the purchase of equipment, issued by the Provincial Secretariat,” the dean’s office stated.

There is a clear link to China. The robot in question is a Chinese-made Unitree R1 EDU model. Although the estimated value of the procurement exceeds 20,000 euros, publicly available prices for the R1 model on the manufacturer’s website are up to three times lower. The exact model being ordered by the faculty does not have a publicly disclosed price.

“The final value of the potential purchase depends exclusively on the public procurement procedure, provided that the funds are ultimately approved… Unlike basic models, which are primarily intended to demonstrate robotics capabilities, the EDU version is adapted for educational and research environments,” the response to N1 stated.

(Nova.rs, 22.06.2026)

https://nova.rs/vesti/drustvo/sporna-investicija-na-filozofskom-fakultetu-u-novom-sadu-stize-humanoidni-robot-za-25-miliona-dinara-a-krov-biblioteka-i-dalje-prokisnjava/