University of Ljubljana Prešeren Award to Jona Novljan for his Master’s Thesis on RNA Dynamics
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As part of the University of Ljubljana Week, the Prešeren Awards for University of Ljubljana (UL) students were presented, recognizing outstanding achievements in the fields of science and the arts. Among the award recipients is also Jona Novljan, who received the award for his master’s thesis, in which he developed explainable machine-learning models for the joint analysis of biological data and identified important RNA sequence features linked to their regulation and condensation. The results have already been published in two of the most prestigious journals in the life sciences.
Jona Novljan completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biotechnology at the UL Biotechnical Faculty. He carried out his master’s research under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Miha Modic in the RNA Networks Laboratory at the National Institute of Chemistry, and under the co-supervision of Dr. Anob Chakrabarti (University College London).
At the ceremony, the keynote speaker Prof. Dr. Igor Švab from the UL Faculty of Medicine emphasized that research is not merely a technical process, but also a school of values that shapes researchers into well-rounded individuals. The UL Rector, Prof. Dr. Gregor Majdič, highlighted the importance of knowledge as a fundamental value that can guide us toward a future of humanism, progress, and well-being for all.
Warm congratulations to all award recipients, and to Jona Novljan on this outstanding achievement!
Foto: Nebojša Tejić, STA