Research

The research project “Seismic Initiative for the Safety and Monitoring of Primary Schools” completed

Realizovan naučnoistraživački projekat „Seizmička inicijativa za sigurnost i monitoring osnovnih škola“
Thursday, January 15, 2026 - 16:07

The University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Civil Engineering successfully completed the research project “Seismic Initiative for the Safety and Monitoring of Primary Schools,” the first of its kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

The project was carried out under the Public Call for co-financing scientific-research, artistic-research, and research-development projects and programs from the Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2024. The project was led by the University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Civil Engineering, with the project team headed by Prof. Dr. Naida Ademović, Dipl. Eng. Civ., a prominent scientist in the field of earthquake engineering.

 

All planned project activities were successfully completed during 2025, within a productive and intensive collaboration among UNSA – Faculty of Civil Engineering, UNSA – Faculty of Architecture, the International University of Sarajevo, and partner institutions from Croatia: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek and the company GEOPREM d.o.o., Osijek.

 

The project enabled an assessment of the seismic vulnerability of primary schools in Sarajevo Canton, with special attention to buildings from the Austro-Hungarian period, through the creation of a digital seismic database, laser scanning of a representative building, and detailed nonlinear analysis. Schools with varying degrees of vulnerability were identified, which allows planning targeted strengthening measures to reduce the risk from future earthquakes. The project also made a scientific contribution by providing new insights into the seismic resilience of school buildings, and it provides a basis for decision-making in the short and medium term aimed at minimizing loss of life and economic damage.

 

One result of the project is a published original research article: “Typological and Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Elementary Schools in Sarajevo Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina” in the International Journal of Architectural Heritage (Web of Science JCR‑Q2), which achieved international dissemination of the project’s scientific results. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15583058.2025.2611138?src=

 

This represents only the beginning of further research in this field.

 

The University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Civil Engineering expresses sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth of Sarajevo Canton for financing this important project.

 

Through this project we aim to improve the seismic safety of school buildings, protect students, preserve the community, and lay the groundwork for future research and the application of scientific findings in earthquake risk prevention and mitigation.