"Collaboration is the driving force in the research environment"

From a young age, Filip Markovic has enjoyed learning about the natural sciences. Today, he holds a postdoctoral position at Mälardalen University in the internationally prominent research specialisation Embedded Systems, a subfield of Computer Science. He enjoys his work immensely.

"MDU is a place where I enjoy a lot of research freedom and have friendly and supportive colleagues. I am constantly evolving and learning new things all the time, which is fantastic”, says Filip Markovic.

Filip has worked at MDU for six years and started his career at the University as a doctoral student. In 2020 he defended his doctoral thesis in the field of Computer Science with specialization in Software Engineering. The main topic of his thesis was Real-time Computing and thereafter he got his postdoc position in the same area.

Increased knowledge through collaboration

Filip highlights the University's main focus on collaboration, with colleagues in both the research world and industry, as the key to gaining new knowledge.

"Collaboration is the driving force in the research environment. Almost everyone in the School, to which I belong, collaborates either with industrial partners or colleagues from other universities. Both nationally and internationally. This is how we broaden our reasoning and understanding of scientific and industrial problems. This is also how we usually develop new research domains and knowledge," says Filip Markovic.

Mälardalen University has since its inception, worked closely with companies and the public sector. Today, the University collaborates with global industrial companies such as ABB, Hitachi Energy, Volvo Construction Equipment and Alstom.

The collaboration efforts also extend to colleagues in research and disciplinary domains at other universities. As the highlighted in the external evaluation of the University's research highlighted, it seems that the well-developed international networks and the close collaborations are one of the success factors for the research domain. Similarly, the flexible organisation and the open and welcoming atmosphere mean that collaboration between the research specialisations at the University are good.

New methods make it more efficient

Filip is currently involved in a research project called PARIS. The goal of the PARIS project is to investigate the use of probability theory to improve a specific type of computer system, as well as improve the ability to analyse the behaviour of complex computer systems.

"My task in the research project is to identify problems and propose solutions to these problems. Often the problems have already been identified, whereby we try to find new ways to solve them using various mathematical and technical methods. It's really interesting," says Filip Markovic.

Contribution to society

Research always has a goal to contribute to developing society or to improve knowledge and understanding of the world. Filip gives an example where they have streamlined the probability calculations used to analyse the behaviour in a computer system.

"One of the problems with the previously used calculations was that they would take too long to complete. Even for a ‘simple’ setup, the problem would be intractable. What we did in our article published in 2021, at the Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems, is that we showed how this problem can be solved in a much more efficient way. So instead of years, it suddenly takes just a few minutes to solve the problem, on the same computer." says Filip Markovic.

International workplace

Filip's colleagues include a variety of nationalities. Filip himself is originally from Montenegro.

"MDU is an international University with people coming from all different corners of the world. It is extremely interesting to get new perspectives about life, from cultures that may be very different from your own. In this kind of environment, you get insights and reflections on your principles and culturally inherited opinions," says Filip Markovic.

Today Filip lives in Västerås, where one of the University’s campuses is located. Västerås is Sweden´s seventh largest city and is located on Lake Mälaren near Stockholm.

“Västerås is a peaceful place and has a lot of nice walking areas. Many of those walking routes are in the forests, which I enjoy a lot. Also, the lakes are beautiful. If you want more activity or culture, you can easily get to Stockholm, which is just an hour away,” says Filip Markovic.

Filip is only at the beginning of his academic career path but has found his passion in research, where he will always progress. Furthermore, in a workplace that not only encourages cooperation and new perspectives but has also created the conditions for it.