The University of Ljubljana has selected new representatives of the EUTOPIA Young leaders Academy (YLA)
Date of publication:
University of Ljubljana has selected new representatives for the EUTOPIA Young Leaders Academy –asst. prof. dr. Davor Kržišnik from the Biotechnical Faculty University of Ljubljana and dr. Ross Jansen-van Vuuren from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology University of Ljubljana.
The YLA is aimed at 2-12 years post-doc researchers and are employed at one of the EUTOPIA partner universities. Members of the YLA are appointed for a period of two years.
The YLA members form a community of promising and independent research leaders at a EUTOPIA level. Their role includes promoting and spreading European values and the vision of an alliance that advocates an integrated academic environment. By participating in the programme, the YLAs will:
- develop their leadership skills in the field of research through a specific training programme,
- participate in interdisciplinary exchanges and networking with other members of the academy and the wider EUTOPIA research community;
- launch research collaboration within EUTOPIA;
- contribute to the development of learning communities for students, act as ambassadors for EUTOPIA.
Dr. Davor Kržišnik from the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana is an expert in wood science and technology with extensive pedagogical and research experience. He lectures at the Department of Wood Science and Technology, study programme of Biotechnology and at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design. His areas of expertise include biotechnology and the preservation of works of art. He has published more than 30 original scientific articles in leading journals for wood research and has received the Ron Cockroft Award from the International Research Group on Wood Protection.
Dr. Ross Jansen-van Vuuren holds a EUTOPIA Science and Innovation Fellowship at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. Although he grew up in Zimbabwe, he moved to Australia in 2008 and received a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2012, where he focused on the synthesis of organic semiconductor materials for organic electronics. After that, as a postdoctoral researcher, he synthesized poly(dendrimers) for OLED applications (also at UQ), CO2-switchable materials and deuterated pharmaceutical compounds (Queen’s University, Canada). His outstanding academic achievements in Australia and Canada ultimately led to the successful EUTOPIA SIF proposal (more sustainable approaches to the preparation of deuterated compounds) and his move to Slovenia (2021). Among his many achievements, he was recently awarded a 3-year research grant by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) to continue his work with developing immobilized catalysts (for isotope labelling) to be employed in flow chemistry systems.