A PhD position is available on the WearSense project, Wearable Optical Chemical Sensors for Multimodal Determination of Biomarkers, at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Croatia.

We are looking for a candidate with:

• MSc or equivalent qualification in chemistry, chemical engineering, material science/engineering biochemistry, or related science or engineering field
• Experience of practical work in a research laboratory
• Knowledge of UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopic and other material characterisation methods
• Interest in design and synthesis/fabrication of sensing (nano)materials
• Excellent communication skills in English and ability to work in a multidisciplinary team

The position is available on a fixed term contract of maximum duration 6 years.

Application Deadline 12 Oct 2025.

Application details at Euraxess jobs (in English) or here (in Croatian)

For informal enquiries please contact Prof Ivana Murkovic Steinberg ivana.murkovic@fkit.unizg.hr

The editors of Microchimica Acta select one outstanding article from each issue, to be featured throughout the year. Pleased to say our recent publication was Editor's choice for July 2025 

Our team member, Dr Deepak Joshy, participated in the 13th edition of ASCOS (Advanced Study Course on Optical Sensors) ASCOS 2025 held in León, Spain - a European initiative designed to foster education, collaboration, and dialogue among young researchers in the growing field of optical chemical sensors and biosensors. 

Deepak's team won the Project Group Work Competition, earning them free registration to Europtrode 2026 and a 400 CHF cash award.

Congratulations Deepak!

Pleased to share our latest WearSense project publication on biocompatible materials for wearable and reversible optical monitoring of epidermal pH: cellulose nanocrystals, microcellulose particles, transparent cellulose films and paper. The applicability is evaluated and a typical wearable use-case scenario is proposed.

Published in a special collection of Microchimica Acta dedicated to the memory of Professor Otto Samie Wolfbeis.
And again, a special thanks to my long time friend and research collaborator Gerhard Mohr of JOANNEUM RESEARCH MATERIALS for his expertise and enthusiasm in all things chemical, to Matthew Steinberg for all things electronical 😊, and also to Petar Kassal and Iva Žuvić of the University of Zagreb Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology.
The WearSense project is funded by Hrvatska zaklada za znanost (Croatian Science Foundation)

Iva Žuvić (center) recently joined the WearSense Team as a research and teaching assistant at the Faculty. Welcome Iva!

Postdoctoral researcher Dr Hüma Yilmaz (right) joined the project team for a 9 month research visit in September 2024.  Welcome Huma!

And the WearSense project team is excited to welcome Dr Deepak Joshy as a new post-doctoral researcher.  Deepak is a chemist with expertise in synthesis, characterisation and application of semiconductor nanoparticles. 

WearSense participated at at the  "Workshop on Internet of Bodies" held on April 29, 2025, in Zagreb, Croatia, at FER the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. Iva Žuvić presented WearSense project research Functionalised cellulose materials for continuous wearable optical monitoring of epidermal pH.

As a part of Croatia-China bilateral project activities Prof. Željka Lučev Vasić and Prof. Yueming Gao from Fuzhou University, China and collaborators visited WearSense lab at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at University of Zagreb and explored the world of chemically sensitive photonic materials for wearable applications.

Prof. Ivana Steinberg, leader of the WearSense project and Professor Hao Wan, Zhejiang University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, China, have been awarded a bilateral Croatian-Chinese scientific research project Robust flexible biosensing array and integrated system for multiparameter detection in biofluids and personalized chronic disease tracking.

Partner of the WearSense project Prof. Željka Lučev Vasić from UniZg Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) and Prof. Yueming Gao, Fuzhou University, China, were granted the bilateral Croatian-Chinese scientific research project Modeling and optimization of multi-coupling Intra-body communication for healthcare information.

The projects are linked to the HrZZ funded WearSense project as a source of core funding and will involve the exchange of researchers between the two groups and work on a common research topic for the period 2025 – 2026.

An invited talk and postor presentation by WearSense team at Japan-Croatia Joint Symposium on Chemical Engineering & Plasma Agriculture for Young Scientists Global Networking (JC-JSChEPA)

WearSense started collaboration with prof. Sanja Mahović-Poljaček from University of Zagreb Faculty of Graphic Arts on optically active sensing materials based on natural pigments and cellulose polymers.

First result of the collaboration is a publication in the journal Polymers, which deals with biocompatible pH-sensing films with bacterial nanocellulose, loaded with red cabbage anthocyanins designed for visually pH sensitive food packaging.  Interesting materials for wearable sensors as well!

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join the WearSense project team - Wearable Optical Chemical Sensors for Multimodal Determination of Biomarkers - at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology.

This position is offered on a fixed-term contract of 12 months duration, closing date for receipt of applications is July 5^th 2025.

For informal enquiries please contact Prof Ivana Murkovic Steinberg ivana.murkovic@fkit.unizg.hr

Pleased to have presented a keynote talk earlier this week at the NanoApp2024 conference (https://nanoapp.ios.si/) on our latest WearSense project results funded by Hrvatska zaklada za znanost (Croatian Science Foundation) – hosted in the timelessly beautiful Dominican Monastery in Ptuj, Slovenia.
A special big thanks to my long time friend and research collaborator Gerhard Mohr of JOANNEUM RESEARCH MATERIALS for his expertise and enthusiasm in all things chemical, and also to our younger team members  Iva Žuvić and Karlo Bubnjar of the University of Zagreb Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology.

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join the WearSense project team - Wearable Optical Chemical Sensors for Multimodal Determination of Biomarkers - at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology.

This position is offered on a fixed-term contract of 20 months duration, closing date for receipt of applications is July 4^th 2024.

For informal enquiries please contact Prof Ivana Murkovic Steinberg ivana.murkovic@fkit.unizg.hr

“Towards multimodal (bio)chemical sensing with wearable optoelectronics”

WearsSense team gave an invited seminar talk at the Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering (RCBE) at City, University of London  and presented current research on the development of optically sensitive materials and sensing schemes targetted at implementation on low-cost wearable devices.

We also introduced our new Croatian Science Foundation project and discussed collaboration modalities with Professor Panicos Kyriacou, Dr Meha Qassem and Dr James May. 

WearSense team presented at the Europt(r)ode conference 2024 in Birmingham:

Biocompatible nanofiber based ion-selective optodes: Towards reversible chemical sensors for wearables

Gerhard J. Mohr², Karlo Bubnjar¹, Svjetlana Krištafor¹ and Ivana Murković Steinberg¹

1) University of Zagreb, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Marulićev trg 19, HR-10000 Zagreb,  Croatia

2) Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH – Materials, Franz-Pichler-Straße 30, Weiz A-8160, Austria