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6. December, 2011 - The Pregl Awards for exceptional doctoral theses in the field of chemistry and related sciences were awarded at the pre-New Year's reception of the National Institute of Chemistry. The winners are Dr Tina Ukmar and Dr Boštjan Erjavec from the National Institute of Chemistry and Dr Tilen Praper from the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana.

The recipients and a short substantiation:

Dr TinaUkmar received the Pregl Award for her doctoral thesis entitled "A Study of the Mechanisms of the Incorporation and Release of a Model Drug from Ordered Mesoporous Silicates" under the mentorship of Prof Dr Odon Planinšek from the Faculty of Pharmacy and under the co-mentorship of Doc Dr Gregor Mali from the National Institute of Chemistry. The doctoral thesis of Dr Tina Ukmar was dedicated to studying delivery systems for drugs based on mesoporous silicates, namely studying the incorporation and release of the model drug indomethacin from limited porous materials. Dr Tina Ukmar synthesized model systems, chose a methodology for the effective incorporation of the test substance into mesoporous silicate matrixes and later analysed the dynamics of releasing the compound. Based on the results of the study, she demonstrated that the diffusion and interaction of the active substance with the walls of the silicate framework affect the release of the active substance, which she also confirmed with experiments.

The thesis will make an important contribution towards a better understanding of the release of active substances from various inorganic and organic mesoporous delivery systems, which makes it suitable for implementation in clinical practice, enabling the targeted production of these substances.

Dr Boštjan Erjavec received the Pregl Award for his doctoral thesis entitled "Nanostructural Composites for High-Power Lithium-Ion Batteries", which he completed under the mentorship of Prof Dr Stane Pejovnik from the Faculty of chemistry and Chemical Technology and the co-mentorship of Prof Dr Miran Gaberšček from the Laboratory for Materials Electrochemistry of the National Institute of Chemistry.

In his doctoral thesis, Dr Boštjan Erjavec presented a new way of preparing nanostructural battery materials that prevents growth of basic nanoparticles and maintains the non-agglomerated forms of starting materials that additionally improves the ion wiring of active nanoparticles. This new way of preparing nanostructured battery materials is based on the synthesis of thin ceramic films that envelop the surface of the active particles. The new electrode composites prepared based on nanoparticles of titanium dioxide enable the effective incorporation and building of charge at high densities per unit of mass.

The results of the work of Dr Erjavec will significantly contribute towards the better planning and development of battery materials.

Dr Tilen Praper received the Pregl Award for his doctoral thesis entitled "A Model of the Functioning of the Transmembrane Pore of Human Perforin". The research work was carried out under the mentorship of Prof Dr Gregor Anderluh at the Department of Biology of the Biotechnical Faculty.

In this doctoral thesis, Dr Tilen Praper studied the molecular mechanism of the functioning of human perforin. The winner studied the electrophysiological and functional characteristics of the perforin pore on planar lipid membranes and cell-sized vesicles. He demonstrated the existence of two different populations of pores that enable the traversal of small and medium sized molecules. The winner confirmed a new and previously un-described property of perforin, namely the bending of the membranes. The results show that perforin can cause the formation of intussusceptions and the creation of intraluminal vesicles on cell-sized vesicles. He demonstrated that the process of invagination starts immediately after adding perforin to vesicles and that the created intraluminal vesicles are filled with the surrounding solution.

The results of the work of Dr Praper will significantly contribute towards a better understanding of the functioning of perforin pores in the destruction of cells that are infected with viruses and tumour cells.

A few highlights:

Opening the filling station for electric vehicles, which we built in cooperation with Petrol as our common partner in the Centre of Excellence for Low-Carbon Technologies association (CONOT).

General Manager Prof Dr Janko Jamnik presented the National Institute's achievements

Speaker of honour, Mr Mario Soos, permanent deputy of the German Ambassador and Head of the Economy Department at the Embassy, embassy councillor

President of ZS, Prof Dr Albin Pintar presented the Awards to everyone who received a doctoral title at the National Institute of Chemistry during the past period

The chairman of the commission for Pregl Awards, Dr Mojca Benčina, gave a report on the winners of the awards

Photo: Jernej Stare