06
Jun
AWARDS CEREMONY MIROSLAV ZEI AWARDS AND ACCOLADES NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGY
The ceremony was held on Wednesday, 9 November 2016, at the Biology Centre, at Večna pota 111 in Ljubljana. The guests heard speeches by former president Dr Danilo Türk and the director of the NIB, Prof Tamara Lah Turnšek, who focused on the issue of the management of water as humanity’s most vital resource, and the research into ecology and the protection of water and the environment being conducted at the NIB.
The 2016 Miroslav Zei award for outstanding achievements in the NIB’s field was presented to Dr Meta Virant-Doberlet..
A notable feature of the remarkably successful science career of Dr Virant-Doberlet, a science advisor at the NIB, has been her intensive international work, which began with an early stint abroad, where she spent lengthy periods participating in research programmes at elite scientific institutions. Dr Virant-Doberlet is at the very top of globally recognised researchers into insect communication and behaviour. Evidence of her status came in the form of the lnsect Drummer Lifetime Achievement Award, which she received last year. The supreme quality of Dr Virant-Doberlet’s research work over the last five years has been reflected in 24 original scientific papers in prestigious journals, and four chapters in internationally published monographs.
The 2016 Miroslav Zei award for outstanding achievements in the NIB’s field was also presented to Prof Kristina Sepčić.
Prof. Sepčić is a Full Professor at the Department of Biology of the University of Ljubljana’s Biotechnical Faculty, whose principal field of research are natural compounds and their biological role. In this field of almost unlimited possibilities, her three main research foci are the aegerolysin family of fungal proteins, natural products from marine organisms, and nanomaterial-protein interactions. Her research has always been oriented towards potential biotechnological and biomedical applications, to which her co-authorship of an international patent bears testimony. Over the last five years Prof. Sepčić has succeeded in creating a rich body of scientific work, consisting of 47 original and review scientific papers, one professional paper, and two contributions in scientific monographs.
The award for outstanding doctoral thesis in the NIB’s field was presented to Dr Urška Verbovšek.
Dr Verbovšek received the award for her outstanding doctoral thesis entitled Cathepsin K as a potential tumour marker in glioblastoma multiforme, which talks about a potential marker for glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of primary brain tumour in humans. The research has yielded so many interesting results that Dr Verbovšek has co-authored seven scientific papers, one of which was rated A in SICRIS, and was published in a journal with a high impact factor of 9,955. The papers have been cited 11 times.
Dr Martina Jaklič
Dr Katja Klun
Dr Katja Kološa
Dr Valentina Pitacco
Dr Živa Ramšak
Dr Lucija Raspor Dall’Olio
Dr Tjaša Stare
Dr Urška Verbovšek
