Ivan completed a Bachelor in Economics at the University of Belgrade and became interested in economic development already during my first year of undergraduate studies. Growing up in one of the former Yugoslav countries, he was also interested in separatism.
This led him to pursue an MPhil and PhD in development studies, both at the University of Cambridge Centre of Development Studies, on a Gates Cambridge Trust scholarship. Ivan's PhD research was focused on the role that oligopolies play in creating and maintaining regional development disparities within countries, and the links between the disparities and separatism, with a case study of the United Kingdom and Scotland. He focused on the role of oligopolies in regional development and of class in separatism.
During his time in Cambridge, Ivan was heavily engaged with the Cambridge Society for Economic Pluralism, trying to make the curriculum in the economics department more pluralist. A survey they conducted and a report they wrote were among the things that influenced the department to introduce several new optional courses.
After his PhD, Ivan briefly taught economic geography at UCL and macroeconomics at City University London, before taking up a Research Associate job at the University of Sheffield Information School, working on the Regional Technology Foresight project. The project focused on identifying important future technologies for manufacturers in the Sheffield City Region and helping regional manufacturers adopt them. The work involved document reviews, interviews, report and article writing, and numerous organizational duties. As of mid-2020, the reports produced as part of the project are being used by the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield City Region LEP to provide evidence for funding bids and for ideas for local industrial policies.
Prior to coming to the UK to do his MPhil, Ivan worked as a junior economist in the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics, a think-tank in Belgrade, contributing mainly to its flagship publication, The Quarterly Monitor of Economics Trends and Policies in Serbia.
Currently, Ivan is working as a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham Business School on the Changing Lanes project, with Professor David Bailey as the Principal Investigator. The project focuses on researching the impacts of Brexit on the UK automotive industry, as well as on the technological shift to electric and driverless cars.