Chemistry teacher training

Chemistry teacher training aimed at improving the quality of chemistry teaching in secondary schools, within the Erasmus+ project ChemTeach (101129417-ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CB-VET), was held in the period from April 8 to 12, 2024 in Bratislava ( Slovakia) and Pardubice (Czech Republic). The courses were attended by Professor Saša Zeljković from the Faculty of Science and Mathematics and chemistry teachers from the Gymnasium, Medical, and Technological Schools in Banja Luka.

During the visit to the High School of Chemistry from Bratislava (Stredná odborná škola chemická, Bratislava), the teachers visited the laboratories and attended professional subject classes. The topics of lectures and workshops included professional education and training in EU countries, teaching and evaluation using digital tools, and extracurricular professional activities as a form of professional development. The visit was also an opportunity to talk with students participating in chemistry competitions and with students doing professional practice. The hosts paid special attention to the presentation of their promotional activities, and Erasmus+ projects were highlighted as an important part of professional education.

At the Higher Secondary School of Chemistry in the Czech city of Pardubice (Střední průmyslova škola chemická Pardubice), emphasis is placed on the application of digital tools in the teaching of chemistry and laboratory work. The focus of the presentations and discussions was on methods that can be used to promote chemistry and attract future students.

Author of the text: Prof. Dr. Saša Zeljković
Photos: Prof. Dr. Saša Zeljković

Chemistry Department at the final conference of the Agriplast project

The team of the Chemistry Department participated in the final conference of the project "Agricultural Residues and Plastic Waste Materials as a Sustainable Source of Alternative Fuels and Valuable Chemicals" (AGRIPLAST), which was held from April 8 to 10 in Sombor. This project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), deals with the chemical characterization and valorization of agricultural and plastic waste, according to the principles of the circular economy.
At the conference that brought together researchers from Serbia, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia, Prof. Milica Balaban held an invited lecture entitled "Microplastics as a carrier of pollutants in the environment". Also, in the part of the conference that was dedicated to the elaboration of possibilities for continuing the activity, Sanja Pržulj, senior teaching assistant and Dejana Savić, teaching assistant, presented the situation and perspectives in the Republika Srpska on the topic of plastic waste and waste from the food industry.

Welcome to the NANOPOL

Welcome to the

University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Innovation Centre Banja Luka cordially invite you to this year edition of the NanoPol 2024, international conference dedicated to:

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Nanomaterials and Polymers

Applied Chemistry for Sustainable Development

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Conference is open to the domestic and international scientific/professional community and students of all three cycles of study in chemistry, technology and material sciences in general. It aims at drawing attention to the new developments in polymer and nanomaterials and environmental aspects of these materials, their production, processing, recycling and environmental safety issues related.

Date: June 13-14, 2024

Place: Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Venue: Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics,

Mladena Stojanovića str. 2, 78000 Banja Luka (MAIN AMPHITHEATHER)

Working language: ENGLISH

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Plenary speakers

NANOmaterials section

Prof dr Matteo

GUIDOTTI

Italy

CNR SCITEC,

Milano

Prof dr Dragana

TOMAŠEVIĆ PILIPOVIĆ

Serbia

University of Novi Sad,

Novi Sad

Prof dr Radovan

KUKOBAT,

Bosnia and Herzegovina

University of Banja Luka,

Banja Luka

POLymers section

Dr Eyad

KHALAF

Egypt

Science & Technology Centre of Excellence, Cairo

Prof dr Anita

GROZDANOVA

North Macedonia

Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje

Prof dr Miroslav

HUSKIĆ

Slovenia

Faculty of Polymer Technology, Slovenj Gradec

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Submission/registration instructions:

ORAL PRESENTATIONS are assured through two sections of plenary speakers dedicated to the NANOmaterials and POLYmers

POSTER PRESENTATIONS are open for submissions and encouraged for the competition in BEST POSTER design and most innovative scientific idea presented through the poster. Up to 10 posters will be accepted per each of two sections (NANOmaterials and POLYmers) and the poster size is defined to 91.4cm x 121.9cm.

Poster abstracts accepted until: May 13, 2024 (4PM CET DEADLINE) ABSTRACT TEMPLATE HERE

Book of abstracts will be assigned an ISBN number and published at the UNIBL open data repository „Sova“: https ://sova.unibl.org/en/homepage /

Attendance (+/- abstract) registration open until: June 05, 2024 (4PM CET DEADLINE)

REGISTRATION FORM HERE

Abstracts (+/-) registration for attendance to be submitted to: nanopol@pmf.unibl.org

PROGRAMME HERE

Event is open for the added-value sponsorship of promo-gadgets for attendees and are wellcoming the promotional stands for industry, projects and environmental or research NGOs related to the subjects of the Conference.

Conference participation is free of charge and fully supported by European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) Raw Materials project „DeepGreenInno“ and by co-funding contract to this project, protocol number 19.032/966-66/23 from the Ministry for Scientific-Research Development and Higher Education of Republic of Srpska.

Seminar “New Approach to Porous Oxide Synthesis” at the Chemistry Department

The seminar “New Approach to Porous Oxide Synthesis” (supported by the COST Action Netpore 20126 project) was held on February 12, 2024, at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Banja Luka.

During the seminar, lectures were delivered by Prof. Dr. Milica Balaban, Prof. Dr. Dijana Jelić, and the coordinator of this project, Prof. Dr. Saša Zeljković. Presentations on the latest results in applying the solvent-deficient method and kinetics of parallel chemical reactions were followed by discussions and plans for future research.

This project is supported by the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of the Republic of Srpska.

Chemistry students visited leading instrumental laboratories

In January 2024, the students of the fourth year of the Chemistry Department visited three leading instrumental laboratories in the Republic of Srpska. They visited the Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Srpska, the Clinical Institute for Nuclear Medicine and Thyroid Diseases of the University Clinical Center (Hot lab) and the Forensic Laboratory of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Banja Luka.

During the visits, the students were able to get acquainted with the application of instrumental chemical methods for the analysis of items of general use, radiopharmaceuticals and psychoactive substances. For this purpose, the contemporary instrumental methods are used, such as liquid and gas chromatography, atomic absorption spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and other methods that the students could see on the spot. Such events are really important for the professional development of chemistry students, because they have the opportunity to see the theoretical knowledge in action.

Chemistry student won first place at the 16th international scientific conference “students encountering science”

Chemistry student Aleksej Vučić won first place at the 16^th International Scientific Conference “StES-Students Encountering Science”. His paper titled “Identification and monitoring of the migration of oil polluting substance on the example of sediments from the city zone of Banja Luka ” was one of the 21 papers in the field of natural sciences.

The 16^th StES jubilee, held from November 23 to 25, 2023, was organized by the Student Parliament of the University of Banja Luka, attracting students from all three study cycles across the entire region. The award-winning research was conducted under the mentorship of Professor Ivan Samelak.

PROFESSORS AND ASSOCIATES FROM THE CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT AWARDED FOR SCIENTIFIC RESULTS IN 2022

Professors and associates from the Chemistry Department achieved notable scientific results in 2022 and therefore were awarded by the University of Banja Luka at the Science Conference held on November 10, 2023.

In the category of awards related to the publishing in an indexed scientific journals, prof. dr Saša Zeljković and prof. dr. Dijana Jelić were awarded. Prof. Saša Zeljković, published a paper in Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews journal with an impact factor of 6.60.

For the participation in international scientific research projects, prof. dr Suzana Gotovac Atlagić, prof. Milica Balaban, Sanja Pržulj, M.Sc., and Dejana Savić, ma were awarded for the RIS-RESTORE project: Evaluation of Red Mud Tailings in the ESEE region.

More information about this event can be found at https://www.unibl.org/sr/vesti/2023/11/odrzana-konferencija-nauke-univerziteta-u-banjoj-luci.

Prof. Dr. Dijana Jelić Elected to the Position of Full Professor

The Senate of the University of Banja Luka (UNIBL), at its 97^th session on September 21, 2023, has made the decision to appoint Prof. Dr. Dijana Jelić to the position of full professor.

Professor Dijana Jelić has gained a reputation as a leading expert in the field of Physical Chemistry. Her scientific portfolio includes numerous research papers, publications, and projects. During her tenure as an associate professor, she published 28 scientific papers, of which 17 were indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) and SCOPUS citation databases. Fourteen papers were published in high-impact international scientific journals (WoS), and three in international journals of significance (SCOPUS). The citation count of her papers according to Google Scholar citation database is 463, with an h-index of 10.

Dr. Dijana Jelić has received two postdoctoral research positions in the field of drug delivery systems. She was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar Fellowship recipient at the University of Birmingham (Alabama, USA) during the 2018/2019 academic year, and currently, she is a Matsumae International Foundation fellow at the National Institute for Materials in Tsukuba, Japan.

Since her last appointment, Prof. Dr. Dijana Jelić has authored two university textbooks and has been involved in the implementation of four projects.

The appointment to the position of full professor is not only a recognition of outstanding academic abilities but also a responsibility towards the teaching staff, students, and the entire academic community.

The Chemistry study program congratulates Prof. Dr. Dijana Jelić on her appointment and looks forward to her future contributions to the academic world and our institution.

Professor Nuno Maulide elected as a visiting professor

Professor Nuno Maulide, a full professor in the field of organic chemistry at the University of Vienna, was elected as a visiting professor at the 95^th session of the Senate of the University of Banja Luka, upon the proposal of the Teaching-Scientific Council of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Professor Maulide is a regular member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the leader of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Entropy-Oriented Drug Design. In addition, in 2018, he was named Austrian Scientist of the Year by the Austrian Club of Educational and Scientific Journalists. He is the recipient of the Ignaz L. Lieben and Tetrahedron Young Investigator awards. Professor Maulide has authored over 175 scientific publications and two books, with his works cited more than 8300 times in the Google Scholar citation database.

Professor Maulide is the first selected visiting professor in the Chemistry Study Program and a leading global scientist in the field of chemical sciences. His presence will inspire both professors and students in the Chemistry Study Program to strive for the highest standards in the study of chemistry. This collaboration will undoubtedly contribute to the quality of education and scientific work at our faculty and represents a continuation of the activities outlined in the Research Plan of the Chemistry Department

Chemistry of Volcanoes

In cooperation with prof. Dr. Elvir Babajić from the University of Tuzla, during the summer months we worked on the history of the formation of deposits and occurrences of clay in our country, which are related to volcanic activity.

This creative and scientific story begins in Bratunac, at the Zagoni kaolin deposite, where lithological varieties of kaolin and kaolinized dacites, as well as unusual samples reminiscent of bauxite, were sampled. The samples will be the subject of further research by the RIS BRIEFCASE consortium in which we are a partner. In the meantime, our team is working on an educational “briefcase” that contains more stories about volcanoes that, millions of years ago, defined the mineral wealth of Bosnia and Herzegovina with their eruptions.

By the way, the appearance of volcanoes was frequent during the formation of both oceanic and continental Earth’s crust. Volcanic activity has many aspects related to chemical sciences. The sensor-measured chemical composition of gases released by inactive volcanoes, especially the ratio of the amount of CO₂/SO₂, helps in predicting future eruptions. Today, these analyzes are even done using light drones (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-21935-5). On the other hand, the collision of lava with sea water can also lead to the creation of clouds of hydrochloric acid vapor, which carries a great risk for human, animal and plant life. There is also a positive influence of volcanoes on the appearance of life on Earth. Thanks to volcanic activity, a large amount of water was released from the interior of the planet, and water is the basis of life processes. Also, one of the results of eruptions is the scattering of pyroclastic material (Greek: pyros-fire, clastos-grain) in a wide area around the center of the eruption, and depending on the chemical composition of the lava itself, the ash can be very rich in minerals that nourish the soil.

In addition to the examination of specific minerals, the focus of our research is also the geopolymerization reaction of kaolin. Mineral substances such as kaolin were formed as a result of volcanic eruptions. Volcanic deposits are abundant near active and inactive volcanoes, and today large areas of the lithosphere are rich in minerals that were formed during this process. The deposits are formed by the cooling of magma during explosive volcanic eruptions. The interest in the use of minerals that were formed due to volcanic activity, in geopolymers, is due to their high content of silicon dioxide and aluminum oxide, which form the basis for the synthesis of geopolymers. Our goal is to examine the composition of kaolin originating from our country, as well as its potential in application, with a focus on “3D” printing of construction objects. This modern and innovative approach to the construction of buildings could greatly help reduce the negative impact of man on the planet in the decades to come. In the next few months, as part of the RIS BRIEFCASE project, Marija Stojaković, our young researcher, will work on this topic.