Uroš Novak

Who are you?

Dr. Uroš Novak is the BioApp Project Co-ordinator at the National Institute of Chemistry in Slovenia. The National Institute of Chemistry is an internationally recognised research organisation in the field of chemistry and related sciences, and is one of the leading Slovenian organisations for graduate-level education and training.

Uroš co-ordinates the Institute’s engagement with the Pioneers into Practice programme, which started through the offer of four placements to Pioneers across the Institute’s departments to tackle key science challenges in 2018. The placements were developed specifically to suit the Pioneers’ skills and knowledge.

Pioneers is as a win-win scenario for both the Institute and for the Pioneers to collaborate, share experiences and develop new ideas. The Pioneers working at the Institute were very motivated and enthusiastic.

Why did you consider becoming a host?

The Institute is involved in a wide range of collaboration and networking opportunities with industry and other European countries. This includes a transregional project with partners from Slovenia and Italy, funded through the EU Cohesion funds for the transfer of technological bio polymers from the research sector to the market.

The Institute recognised the Pioneers programme as an opportunity to access the skills and expertise of Pioneers from different fields and to increase its involvement in further collaborative activities with other European partners. It was also an opportunity to raise its international profile.

What did the Pioneers work on?

The Pioneers placed at the Institute came from different backgrounds and offered specific knowledge. Within the Department of Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering, Uroš took on two Pioneers to work on different elements of a specific project, including problem solving for zero-waste materials and undertaking experimentation on catalysis design, modelling work and measuring results. Their work contributed to the Institute’s BioApp Project, which is the development of a bio-based material that provides an alternative to plastic food packaging.

Uroš feels that the Institute benefitted from successful and rewarding placement work as they worked closely with the Pioneers to match their skills to the challenge they worked on.

What happens next?

Through connections with the Pioneers programme, the Institute has now taken on a PhD student for a year to work on biopolymers to develop the utilisation of BioApp for food, cosmetics and bio-medical applications. Building on the work of the Pioneers, the Institute plans to take the prototypes that have been developed to market.

The Institute’s work through the Pioneers programme has started a much closer working relationship with Climate-KIC and is now participating in ClimateLaunchpad and Accelerator programmes as part of its drive to increase its reach. It plans to grow its involvement in the Pioneers programme as it has seen how it has created many new networking opportunities.

Uroš recommends becoming a host to a Pioneer as it opens up new relationships through networking and new opportunities for collaboration. As a result of the Institute’s experience as a host, they are now actively encouraging students to take the opportunity to engage in future Pioneer programme activities and have received interest from potential students from across the globe.