About Us
Welcome to the Heritage Science Laboratory at the University of Ljubljana. The lab is based at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology and consists of a diverse group of researchers addressing interdisciplinary heritage science research questions. These often require cutting edge scientific skills and facilities, but also a highly collaborative approach to research. To read more about what shapes our research philosophy, consider this editorial by the Lab lead, professor Matija Strlič.
Our strengths are specifically in material and environmental science, as well as understanding the human angle of heritage. We develop instruments, methods and techniques to measure and monitor processes, materials, objects, collections, buildings or sites. We make these available to the research community through our publications or as research facilities themselves – we are actively involved in the development of the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science, including its node in Slovenia.
We work with diverse stakeholders, from conservators to the general public, and we collaborate with a significant number of institutions worldwide – see our research section.
Heritage science offers many rewards, and working with talented students and researchers is one of them. We teach various science and conservation courses at our university and elsewhere, but our door is widely open to collaboration with everyone. Do get in touch.
Meet the team
Professor Dr Matija Strlič FIIC FRSC
Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Professor of Heritage Science, and Lab Lead
Professor Dr Irena Kralj Cigić
Irena Kralj Cigić – SICRIS research profile
Professor of Analytical Chemistry
Professor Dr Mojca Ramšak
Mojca Ramšak – SICRIS research profile
Professor of Cultural and Social Anthropology
Dr Mitja Kolar, Associate Professor
Mitja Kolar is an Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Head of the Analytical Chemistry Department at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology. He graduated from the University of Ljubljana in 1996 and received his doctorate from the University of Maribor in 2000. He currently teaches courses on analytical chemistry and instrumental analysis, and other mandatory or elective courses for various study programmes (Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Technology, Technical Safety and Chemical Education). His main research areas are the development and application of analytical methods, especially sensors based on novel materials. Throgh the application of contemporary sensor metodologies and new analytical concepts, he takes part in the Heritage Science Laboratory team with more than 25 years of analytical experience.
Professor of Analytical Chemistry
Dr Romana Cerc Korošec
Professor of Inorganic Chemistry
Dr Abdelrazek Elnaggar, Senior Scientific Counsellor
Abdelrazek Elnaggar is Senior Scientific Counsellor at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and professor of Heritage Science at the Faculty of Archaeology of Ain Shams University (Egypt). His main research interests are the conservation material/process development, environmental assessment, conservation risk assessment, and management of heritage collections. He conducted research fellowships in different international heritage institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser at the Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (IESL- FORTH, Greece), and the Natural History Museum (London, UK). He worked within ICOM as a member of ICOM International Committee for Disaster Risk Management (DRMC), Secretary General of Egypt National Committee and Assistant Coordinator of ICOM-CC Leather Group. He has a track record of international bilateral projects with Italy, Germany, and France, and coordinated many international capacity building programs with UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOM, ICESCO and IFLA
Research Fellow
Dr Tjaša Rijavec, Faculty Assistant
Tjaša Rijavec was a PhD student of Chemical Sciences and is interested in modern material degradation to support the conservation of modern plastics. She focuses PVC degradation using non-invasive analytical techniques, such as determination of PVC dehydrochlorination by HCl trapping and emission of VOCs by TD-GC-MS. She will develop a damage function for PVC to model the state of degradation of museum objects and to help prevent further damage. Her Master Thesis in Analytical Chemistry focused on the determination of biogenic amines and investigation of their oxidative degradation. She participated in two student research projects in cooperation with industry. Her research was presented in oral and poster presentations at YISAC, Slovenian Chemistry Days and Cutting Edge. She is currently Student Representative in the Doctoral Studies Committee at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology.
Faculty Assistant
Dr Hend Mahgoub, Post-doctoral Researcher
Post-doctoral Researcher
Barbara Pia Jenič, Researcher
Barbara Pia Jenič is a theatre director and author, researching scents in theatre, art and cultural heritage. Between 1996 and 2004 she was an integral member of the Teatro de los Sentidos in Spain, where she designed scents for more than 300 iterations of four productions at major European theatre festivals. Since 2001, she has been the director of the Senzorium Institute in Slovenia, which studies sensorial language and the use of smells in performances, galleries, museums and cultural heritage projects. In 25 years she has designed scents for 60 different art projects in Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Mexico and Brazil. Barbara Pia holds an MA in Speech Forms from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) of the University of Ljubljana. In 2024, she received a Distinction for her artistic work at the AGRFT of the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, which is equivalent to a Doctorate in Arts. Her research work at HSLL is dedicated to audience engagement with olfactory poetics in museums, with the aim of a unified holistic experience.
Researcher
Lana Nastja Anžur, Doctoral Researcher
Lana Nastja Anžur is a PhD student at the University of Ljubljana. Her doctoral work is focused on economic evaluation methods and sustainability assessment of investments in cultural heritage. More broadly, her research interests include cultural heritage management, documentation and valorization, analysis of cultural and natural heritage interrelation for sustainable development goals and development of cultural heritage policies. She has worked in projects covering sustainable management of cultural heritage; public archeology; documentation and management of archaeological sites. Currently she is working on projects E-RIHS, Iperion; focusing on the development of European research infrastructure for heritage science and ARCHE; alliance for research on cultural heritage in Europe. She is aiming to connect her heritage research with global scale transfer of knowledge (especially in relation to developing countries); citizen science and monitoring of cultural heritage sites.
PhD Student
Randa Deraz, Doctoral Researcher
Randa Deraz is the first habilitated PhD researcher from heritage science background at Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). Her research work is in the scope of the EU Horizon Europe GreenArt project focusing on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of packing boxes of paper-based collections in order to promote a green approach to preventive conservation of cultural heritage. Randa obtained a master’s degree in heritage science in conservation science (2021) from Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (Egypt). Her master’s research interest was graphene oxide -coated glazing for display of papyrus in museums. Randa worked as a conservation scientist for rare books at Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt) as well as a researcher at the Rock Engineering Lab, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University (Egypt).
PhD Student
Ibrahim Elrefaey, Researcher
Ibrahim Elrefaey, a researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Analytical Chemistry, focuses on his PhD research using cutting-edge spectroscopic techniques such as XPS and SIMS to study the degradation of historical silk. With a background in cultural heritage documentation, he has contributed to various digitisation projects, including historical buildings, pharaonic sarcophagi, photographs and manuscripts. His expertise includes 3D laser scanning, photogrammetry, imaging, spectral imaging and colorimetry. Ibrahim’s passion lies in the study of the degradation of fibrous materials, multidisciplinary investigations and the application of advanced analytical methods to the study of dyes, binders, contaminants, and specialized digitisation projects in both 2D and 3D environments.
PhD Student
Emma Paolin, Doctoral Researcher
Emma Paolin is a researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. She received her Masters Degree in Science for the conservation-restoration of cultural heritage at the University of Bologna, with a thesis project focused on Raman spectroscopy of synthetic pigments.
PhD Student
Špela Pok, Doctoral Researcher
Špela Pok is a researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology (University of Ljubljana). She obtained her Masters Degree in Chemistry, where she worked in the field of environmental analytics.
PhD Student
Associated Members
Dr Klara Retko
Klara Retko, BSc. in Chemistry, obtained PhD in 2018 at Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. Her research focuses on the optimisation of the Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for the characterisation of organic colourants present on cultural heritage objects. She started to work at Research Institute of ZVKDS (IPCHS) in 2013 and gained her expertise in the field of heritage science for the study of different cultural heritage materials (inorganic, organic) and their degradation products using different spectroscopic methods such as SERS, infrared and conventional Raman spectroscopy. Her knowledge on vibrational spectroscopy was also expanded during research at foreign institutions (CNR-ISTM, CSIC).
Klara Retko – SICRIS research profile
Research Associate
Dr Polonca Ropret
Dr. Polonca Ropret received her PhD in chemistry at the Faculty for Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana, where she is employed part-time. She is the expert Head of the Research Institute at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (IPCHS) and Research Collaborator at the Museum Conservation Institute, Smithsonian Institution. She also developed strong collaboration with the department of Scientific Research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She led or collaborated in 9 national and 6 EU funded projects related to heritage science research, with the total funding of more than €75M. Her main research interest is in the application of Raman spectroscopy in heritage science, and she is a member of the Scientific Committee of RAA (Raman Spectroscopy in Art and Archaeology) Conference Series. She is also the National Coordinator of E-RIHS Slovenia (European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science Slovenia).
Research Associate
Dr Jasna Malešič
Jasna Malešič is a heritage science researcher at the National and university library and partly at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. Her research focusses on the studies of paper degradation and its stabilization by chemical treatments. She obtained her PhD from the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology in 2005. From 2005 until 2017, she was the head of Conservation and Preservation Department of the Library and in 2017, she has joined the Research department of the Library. She is the author of several publications on the subject of preservation/conservation of library materials.
Research Associate
Dr Karla Oder
Dr Karla Oder, ethnologist and historian, is a museum counsellor at the Carinthian Regional Museum, where she is responsible for the preservation and research of industrial heritage. Her research focuses on economic history, labour culture and the lives of workers. She has studied the work and life of miners in the coal mine in Leše and the lead and zinc mine in Mežica, focusing on iron workers, their labour and production processes, working conditions and life in domestic and public spaces. Her research forms the basis for the museum’s interpretation of the industrial heritage. In the museum complex “Stara železarna” in Ravne, Carinthia, she is the author of the permanent museum installation “Mati fabrika – Železarna Ravne” and “400 years of steel production in Mežiška dolina.” She has also developed approaches to the interpretation of the preserved technical heritage and the presentation of iron and steel production processes. Through her work, she connects the iron and steel industry with people and institutions in Central Europe.
Karla Oder – SICRIS research profile
Research Associate
