The Team

Professor Dr Matija Strlič FIIC FRSC

Matija Strlič is Professor of Analytical Chemistry at University of Ljubljana and Professor of Heritage Science at University College London, and the Lab lead. His main research interests are the development of heritage science infrastructure, including instrumentation and methodology, as well as modelling of heritage materials, environments, values and decision making. He has published more than 160 peer-reviewed papers and is Editorial Board Member of Heritage Science, Polymer Degradation and Stability and Studies in Conservation. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and of the International Institute for Conservation. His track record includes more than 50 national (Slovenia and UK) and international (EU and bilateral) projects, with total funding of more that €63M for heritage science. He regularly reviews proposals for the EU and 15+ national funding bodies and has worked on the development of Strategic Research Agendas for several national and international funding and policy making bodies. In 2015, he received the Ambassador of Science of the Republic of Slovenia Award for the outstanding achievements in science and international collaboration. In his free time you will find him in his garden.

Matija Strlič Bibliography, Matija’s CV


Dr Irena Kralj Cigić, Associate Professor

Irena Kralj Cigić is Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, where she also obtained her PhD in Chemistry. She lectures on classical and instrumental analytical chemistry, food analysis, and characterisation and stabilisation of cultural heritage materials. She is also involved in teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University, where she teaches natural sciences in the frame of the conservation/restoration programme.
Her main research interest is analytical chemistry, where she focuses on separation techniques, mainly gas and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. She is interested in diverse topics related to cultural heritage materials, representing complex matrices, where sample preparation is a crucial segment of analysis. She is currently a Co-I on the EU H2020 “Active & intelligent PAckaging materials and display cases as a tool for preventive conservation of Cultural HEritage” and member of the Editorial Board of the journal Heritage Science.

Irena Kralj Cigić Bibliography


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.

Mitja Kolar Bibliography


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).

Polona Ropret Bibliography


Dr Ida Kraševec

Ida Kraševec has a PhD in Chemical Sciences from University of Ljubljana (2019) and works as a post-doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology.
Her research interests include heritage science and environmental chemistry, currently she is focusing on the development of an affordable and reliable method for determination of a selection of indoor gaseous pollutants in museum, gallery, archival indoor environments. The pollutants are known to promote the degradation of valuable heritage objects. She is also developing methods for characterization of cardboard enclosures, used for object storage. In her free time, she likes to search for hidden waterfalls all over the world.

Ida Kraševec Bibliography


Dr Jernej Markelj

Jernej Markelj is Faculty Assistant in Analytical Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Tehnology, University of Ljubljana.
He teaches analytical laboratory courses for students in the first and the second cycle study programmes. In his PhD, he studied secondary organic aerosol formation mechanisms through practical and theoretical studies. He used liquid and gas chromatography (GC-MS and LC-MS/MS) extensively, analysing organic compounds in atmospheric particles, as well as on the development of QSAR/QSPR models for physico-chemical properties of interest, e.g. OH radical reaction rates and hygroscopicity. He is interested in data analysis in heritage science, using various unsupervised and supervised methods, e.g. PCA, cluster analysis, factor analysis, SVMs, PLS etc. I addition to research, he works with talented secondary school students interested in chemistry, in the frame of diverse projects (Analytical chemistry workshop at the Summer school of Chemical Science, Scientific Committee of EUSO 2018, International Chemical Olympiad).​

Jernej Markelj Bibliography


Tjaša Rijavec, Doctoral Researcher

Tjaša Rijavec is a first year PhD student of Chemical Sciences at University of Ljubljana.
She 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.

Tjaša Rijavec Bibliography


Kristina Hribar, Laboratory Manager

Kristina Hribar is Graduate of Chemical Technology at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. She has broad research background in analytical chemistry and provides assistance with experimental work at the Heritage Science Laboratory Ljubljana.
She provides administrative support for the Laboratory and is responsible for heritage science promotion and social media, as well as supports events organized by the Laboratory. In her free time she helps on her family farm, and loves the mountains around her village.


Team Bibliography