The Association of Institutes of Serbia was formed as a successor of the Permanent Conference of Scientific and Research Organizations on the 13th of April, 1990. The legal basis for the establishment was provided by the Article 4 of the Law on Scientific Research. The Memorandum of Incorporation was signed by 122 representatives of institutes and other R&D organizations.
Director of the Institute of Economic Sciences Prof. Dr. Tomislav Popović was elected for the first president of the Association. Prof. Popović led the Association in two terms.
Back then, the Association was actively enrolled in preparation of new Law on Scientific Research. The Association was consulting its members and publishing bulletin regarding revenue and budget allocations. The Association played a prominent role during the existence of the Republic Science Fund of Serbia, when the Association was actively cooperating with the Fund’s Council.
From the late 1999 to 2001 Vice President Dr. Miodrag Stojić from the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences chaired the Association.
After the election of Dr. Zoran Petrović from the Institute of Physics for President, the Association was working more and more actively on fulfilment of its legal and statutory goals and it was improving partnership relation with the ministry competent for science.
Vice President Dr. Bojan Radak from the Vinča Institute represented the Association from the middle of 2015, until Dr. Duško Blagojević from the Institute for Biological Research Siniša Stanković was elected for President at the beginning of 2016.