Dr. Iva Hafner Bratkovič received award for Mentor of the Year 2025
At the National Institute of Chemistry, we are delighted to congratulate Dr. Iva Hafner Bratkovič, who has received the Mentor of the Year 2025 award. The award, presented for the seventeenth time by the Young Academy Association, was awarded on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, at the School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana.
Dr. Iva Hafner Bratkovič was nominated for the prestigious title by her doctoral student, Dr. Elvira Boršić Mlinarič. In this year’s selection, the committee recognised her dedicated mentorship, professional excellence, and supportive role in the development of early-career researchers.
“I feel grateful to have excellent colleagues with whom we are uncovering the secrets of the immune system step by step. My sincere thanks to Elvira for the nomination, to everyone who contributed to the making of the video, and of course to Young Academy for this recognition,” said Dr. Iva Hafner Bratkovič upon receiving the award.
In addition to this year’s award recipient, the top five mentors of 2025 also included Dr. Tomaž Čater from the School of Economics and Business, Dr. Adriana Mezeg from the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Dr. Vita Poštuvan from the UP Andrej Marušič Institute, University of Primorska, and Dr. Matjaž Humar from the Jožef Stefan Institute and the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana.
The event was hosted by Suzana Perman, while Jana Šušteršič and her mentee, 13-year-old Dana Sagidullina, provided the musical programme.
At the National Institute of Chemistry, we are proud that this year’s Mentor of the Year award went to our colleague. The recognition confirms the importance of high-quality mentorship in the scientific research environment and highlights the role of mentors in shaping the next generations of researchers.
Foto: Dejan Udovc