Category: news

At the international scientific and professional conference “Students encountering science ” the work of chemistry students Marija Stojaković, Dragana Ubiparip, and Dragan Gvozdenović, entitled “SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND CATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF ZnFe2O4 NANOCOMPOSITE” won first place in a competition of 40 papers in the field of natural science.

The jubilee 15th StES held on 17-19. in November 2022, organized by the Student Parliament of the University of Banja Luka, and this year it gathered students from all three study cycles from the entire region.

The winning work was done under the mentorship of professor Saša Zeljković and Sanja Pržulj, senior assistant, while students Teodora Tomović under the mentorship of professor Dijana Jelić, and Adriana Modrušan under the mentorship of professor assistant Ivan Samelak, presented the results of their research, as well as master students, Ljupka Railić and Slađana Ćeteković, under the mentorship of prof. Dr. Biljana Kukavica and Prof. Dr. Biljane Davidović-Plavšić.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://stes.unibl.org/en/

In the course of the previous months, the RIS RESTORE project facilitated numerous activities on the dissemination of the obtained experimental results of students from Chemistry Department, as well as the very idea of ​​the project – valorization of red mud, tailings resulting from bauxite processing. Our team’s innovative ideas on transforming the hematite component of this secondary material into magnetic types of iron oxides were presented at several conferences and events.

Prof. Dr. Suzana Gotovac Atlagić together with B.Sc. Eng. Dragan Dragojlović, team leader of the industrial partner “Alumina” d.o.o. presented part of the results orally at the 9th International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Corfu, Greece.

Sunčica Sukur, a researcher on the project, together with Dajana Cvijić, our student whose graduate thesis was supported by the project funds, presented at the prestigious international conference JUNIOR EUROMAT 2022, of the Federation of European Materials Societies. Dajana’s participation was also co-financed by the support of the city of Gradiška and KP “Vodovod” Gradiška, where Dajana found employment as a chemical analyst.

Also, right before the beginning of the academic year, a summer school was held for graduate students, as well as students of the second and third cycles at the company “Alumina” d.o.o. in which our students Marija Stojaković and Ana Marković participated, together with 16 other students from Slovenia, Serbia, Greece and Austria. The educational material that our team prepared for the students and exhibited at this three-day event was co-financed from the funds of project 19.032/966-20/21 of the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society.

The combination of support from European funds, domestic industry, as well as from the local and republican levels, improved the scientific and research work of students in this project in the past 3 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links:

http://ris-restore.zag.si/

https://corfu2022.uest.gr/

https://junioreuromat.org/

https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/mnk

As in previous years, this year the teachers and associates from the Department of Chemistry achieved remarkable results and were awarded by the University of Banja Luka for the achieved international results in scientific research for the year 2021.

At the Conference of Awarded Teachers and Associates, held on November 11, 2022, prof. dr. Dijana Jelić was awarded. During 2021 prof. Jelić published three papers in indexed scientific journals of the highest category with a total impact factor of 16.25, which represents the highest total factor that has been reported so far in this competition. 

During the presentation, Professor Jelić presented her works, as well as guidelines and advices to young colleagues for easier publication of scientific works. In addition to Professor Jelić, awards were also received this year by prof. dr. Biljana Davidović-Plavšić for scientific work in a journal with an impact factor of 2.66 and prof. dr. Suzana Gotovac-Atlagić for work in a journal with an impact factor of 2.32.

On this occasion, the first authors of the papers were awarded, and the overall scientific productivity of the Chemistry Department is significantly higher, with a total of 16 papers published in high-quality indexed scientific journals in 2021. In the category of awarded international projects, prof. Dr. Suzana Gotovac received the award for coordination, and prof. Milica Balaban, Ph.D., Sanja Pržulj, M.Sc., and Dejana Savić, M.A., for participating in the implementation of the project.

As a part of the RM@Schools 4.0 project, the VII European RM@Schools Conference was successfully held in Bologna at the ISOF Institute. Students from 19 European countries aged 10-19 participated in the conference and this event, as in previous years, aimed to promote natural sciences and material technologies in schools, explaining the value of primary and secondary raw materials.

The importance of these topics is reflected in the contribution to the development of new professional careers in the material exploitation chain. Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the project is implemented by our study program, was presented by the students of two high schools (Catholic School Center and Richmond Park College) through a creative video and two poster presentations. The students devoted all their presentations to the potential of domestic resources, namely pyrophyllite from Konjic and zinc from Srebrenica, for the development of nanotechnologies.

Also, their exhibition of the collection of domestic minerals was very noticeable, and the importance of the existence of such resources for the development of the chemical industry was highlighted. In addition to having the opportunity to learn about science trends in other countries, this was an opportunity for the participants to make new acquaintances with young people from all over Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links:

https://rmschools.isof.cnr.it/

Welcome to ISOF

https://rps.edu.ba/en/

Chemistry hidden by ancient volcanoes

The support of domestic ministries continues with the participation of SP CHEMISTRY in the RM@Schools 4.0 project. The Ministry of Education and Culture recommended that primary and secondary schools in the Republic of Srpska use the opportunities of this international project in chemistry lessons. In addition, the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society financially supported additional teacher education, gift packages of accessories for chemistry cabinets, as well as student educational trips.

The SP CHEMISTRY project team strives to include students from smaller towns in Republika Srpska in this program as much as possible, and this time the school “Veljko Čubrilović” from Lopare was a participant. The link was created thanks to our alumni Marijana Terzić, a graduate chemist, who worked as a chemistry teacher at this school.

The mountain Ozren was chosen as the theme of this educational trip. With the help of geologists from the Faculty of Mining-Geology-Civil engineering, University of Tuzla, prof. Dr. Elvir Babajić, assoc.prof.dr Alisa Babajić and Ljiljana Tankosić, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Mining, University of Banja Luka, the students were introduced to the processes that took place at the current location of the surface mine of peridotite (magmantic rocs) on this mountain.

They were able to learn how over hundreds of millions of years ago, the underwater  volcanism  has generated the rocs which were then tectonically moved to the surface. Exploitation of  perodotite (magmatic rocs) is ongoing for the construction purposes (concrete and alsphalt), said Prof. Dr. Bojana Grujić, expert of the University of Banja Luka in the field of civil engineering. In recent years, the use of serpentinite for CO₂ binding has been intensively studied, which is based on the recovery potential of this material, which releases a considerable amount of CO₂ during processing.

In addition, there are additional opportunities for chemical research at Ozren, especially due to the presence of magnesite, a mineral that is applicable in the industry of food additives (such as Mg supplements), the industry of glass, ceramics, and also its application as a binder for technologies of refractory materials,  even those in nuclear reactors.

The students showed interest in the presented topics, field work, especially at the site of the semi-precious opal stone, where a small competition was held in search of attractive specimens that they then took to their school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links:

https://rmschools.isof.cnr.it/

https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/mnk

https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/mpk

The best student of the Faculty of Science and Mathematics for the academic year 2021/22 a year and the winner of the “Gold Badge with the image of Nikola Tesla” of the University of Banja Luka is Teodora Tomović, the graduate chemist.

She graduated in September 2022, with BSc. thesis “Development and characteristics of nanohybrid materials as drug carriers” mentoring by prof. dr. Dijana Jelić and achieved an average grade of 9.90. It should be mentioned that in addition to the outstanding results achieved during her studies, Teodora participated in the realization of several student scientific works, as well as the event “Biocamp 2022” organized by the company “Novartis”.

The aim of the camp was to gather the best students from all over the world in the field of natural, economic and technical sciences and introduce them to the way of working of “Novartis”, and face everyday problems in the industry with a special emphasis on current problems related to the so-called “CAR T-cell therapy“. Within this event, Teodora and her team developed the alpha version of the application called “CAR-T with me” and received the “Professional in development” award.

The scientific productivity of the Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Banja Luka is increasing year by year. This year, a paper with a record impact factor of 19.924 was published in the prestigious journal Advanced Functional Materials. Since 2010, a total of 59 papers have been published in journals indexed on the Web of Science platform. In 2021 alone, 16 works were published, and in addition to the number of works, the impact factors of the journals in which the mentioned publications were published (Journal Impact Factor) increased significantly over time. The complete list of papers is available here.

The number of WoS publications at the Department of Chemistry from 2010 to 2022.

It should be noted that the number of publications in 2022 is not final, because currently, a large number of works by our colleagues are in various stages of the review and publication process. It is particularly important to point out that eight teachers and four teaching assistants are employed at the Department of Chemistry who, in modest conditions, in addition to published works, achieve significant results in cooperation with industry, as well as in the implementation of national and international projects.

The programs of the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society of the Republic of Srpska, and the University of Banja Luka are a great support in efforts to increase the number of papers in reference journals from year to year.

Study program chemistry successfully organized an international educational camp within the project “Raw Materials in Schools” (RM@schools 4.0), which brings together 20 partner institutions from Europe.

The camp was opened on August 30, 2022 by the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republika Srpska, Natalija Trivić, PhD, because this Ministry is the support institution of the project. Project promotes scientific and applied aspects of chemistry and technology of natural raw materials, especially ores, in primary and secondary schools.

The Ministry issued an universal permit for the promotion of the project and the training of teaching staff in all primary and secondary schools in the Republic of Srpska. The project is mostly financed from the fund of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology, while the gift packages of equipment for chemistry classrooms are financed through the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology Development, Higher Education and Information Society.

Professors and students from Italy, Hungary, Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the camp. On the first day, oral and poster presentations were organized, and on the second day, the participants visited EFT Stanari and the factory “Omorika reciklaža” in Doboj.

In the thermal power plant, they learned about the possibilities for minimizing chemical pollution in this type of industry, as well as the extraordinary practice of soil reclamation that is carried out in the mine.

The “Omorika Recyclaža” factory, which deals with the mechanical recycling of used polyethylene terephthalate, especially PET bottles, also presented its new line for the processing of waste polypropylene (PP).

This method of recycling, in which the other participating countries already have good experience, is particularly important considering that PP waste accumulates in the region as a result of the use of this packaging material for packing dairy products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links:

https://rmschools.isof.cnr.it/

https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/mpk/

https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/mnk/

http://www.eft-stanari.net/

https://reciklaza.ba/sr/

https://arh3.rtrs.tv/arhiva/2022/08/30/tvclip053976.mp4

https://youtu.be/KFNPraxQEfw

https://ba.n1info.com/vijesti/bih-proizvodi-vise-struje-nego-sto-treba-cinka-ima-vise-od-rusije-ali/

As part of the Erasmus+ KA107 exchange, a competition was announced for the stay of academic staff at
Slovak Technical University (STU) in Bratislava.
Admission institution: Slovak Technical University
Country: Slovakia
Number of scholarships available: 3
Duration of exchange: 5 working days (+ 2 travel days)
Exchange realization period: the exchange must be realized in the winter semester 2022/23. years
Who can apply: Academic staff of the Chemistry and Mathematics Study Program
Faculty of the University of Banja Luka
Scholarship amount:

Daily stipend in the amount of 165 euros (for living expenses),
Travel expenses up to 180 euros in total,
Visa, residence permit and insurance are not covered by this scholarship, and it is
the scholarship holder is obliged to bear these expenses himself (a visa is not required for a stay of up to 3 months in Slovakia).

LINKS:
• about the University:
https://www.stuba.sk/english.html?page_id=132
https://www.fchpt.stuba.sk/
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:
For the competition, it is necessary to submit:
1. CV in EUROPASS format with bibliography
http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/documents/curriculum-vitae/templates-instructions
2. Proposal of the Exchange Agreement with a detailed exchange plan (see below for details
mentioned links and contact the academic mobility coordinator of the parent organization
units)
Teaching: https://eurep.auth.gr/en/staff/international/teaching/general_information
Training: https://eurep.auth.gr/en/staff/international/training/general_information
3. Letter of invitation, which is optional, but gives priority to the candidate over other candidates.
APPLICATION:
All required documentation is submitted to the Academic Coordinator for International Exchange
students and staff SP CHEMISTRY prof. Dr. Dijani Jelić, by mail, e-mail, or in person.
The coordinator will submit all applications to the commission, which will within 5 days after the competition closes
make a decision on the nomination.
For any additional questions, you can contact the email address erasmus@pmf.unibl.org

The deadline for submitting documentation is 08/05/2022. until 12:00 p.m.
NOTE: The exchange must be carried out in compliance with all epidemiological measures that are in place
in force in the country of the receiving institution. In case of deterioration of the epidemiological situation in the country
reception, there is a possibility that the exchange may be cancelled.
SELECTION PROCEDURE:
1. The selection of candidates is carried out in accordance with the Rules on the work of the Commission and the criteria for
implementation of the candidate selection procedure for the exchange of outgoing students and staff within the framework
of the Erasmus+ KA107 program.
2. Approved applications will be sent to the partner EU university as nominations.
3. The EU university decides on the final selection of candidates.