Science Arena
What?
In the Science Arena you might find yourself developing advanced medications, ensuring the balance of the environment, introducing new nutritive compounds, playing around with the circadian clock, studying insect behavioral patterns or enhancing core processes which make the very substance of the surrounding world. In any case, the challenges you will face within the Science Arena are driven by real-world applications and designed by a group of mentors coming from different fields of research.
Who?
You can’t do it alone; you need a team. Preferably a multidisciplinary team coming from biology, chemistry, biophysics and biotechnology. You might be wondering now...saying...but there are so many different research fields, how do I choose the right people? No worries, the core competences will be defined by the mentoring team based on the upcoming tasks.
Why?
Because you want to experience what challenges will look like once you have finished your studies. You will get to work in a team of brilliant like minded people for four days and together provide a unique take on the topic. Finally, based on the results, you will get a unique opportunity to present your solution to the jury. That way, not only you can solve a problem, but you can communicate your solution to the field experts, coming from both academia and industry.
Download the results 2019
Download the assignment 2019
Download assignment 2018
Competences
Molecular modelling
Protein structures
Computational biology
Molecular mechanisms of drug action
Chemical synthesis and analysis of organic compounds
Pharmacokinetics
Cheminformatics
Teamwork
Presentation skills
Problem analysis
Mentors
Anja Barešić
Anja Barešić is a research associate at Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb. She obtained BSc in Molecular Biology in Zagreb, and PhD in Bioinformatics at UCL in London, where she investigated how mutations lead to changes in protein folding and stability, leading to human diseases - all we can get our hands on! Her research then shifted into the area of genomics (comparative and regulatory), which meant working on lots of messy big data "-omics" sets! Nowadays, she's looking into how studying evolution through statistics and computational biology can help us understand how diseases are inherited and emerge: the main issue being solving and presenting complex problems in a clear and simple way, often to scientists with completely different background knowledge.
Tana Tandarić
Tana Tandarić works as an assistant at the Ruđer Bošković Institute. Her research interests include application of computational chemistry and biochemistry methods in the study of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. In her doctoral dissertation she examines the mechanism of MAO B enzyme inhibition, a pivotal pharmacological target for the treatment of the aforementioned diseases. Additionally, she is the President of the Council of Assistants at the Ruđer Bošković Institute and she participates in numerous science popularizing activities.
Tedi Fućak
Tedi Fućak graduated in Biotechnology in medicine from the Department of Biotechnology, University of Rijeka, where he also volunteered and worked at the Laboratory for Behavioral Genetics and the Biomolecular Structure and Function Laboratory and as well for the Jadran Galenski Laboratory d.o.o. His main research interest is the computational study of molecular dynamics of ligands and proteins and the computational characterization of chemical compounds. He is currently working at Freyherr in Ljubljana, cannabidiol (CBD) and medical cannabis producing company, and as a research assistant in the R&D department in computer simulation and conducting cannabidiolic acid decarboxylation (CBDA) experiments with statistical processing and data presentation, writing scientific reports and optimization of the production process.
Zoe Jelić Matošević
Zoe Jelić Matosević is an assistant at the Department of Analytical Chemistry and the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Faculty of Science in Zagreb. She graduated in Molecular Biology in 2018 in the field of Computational Genomics. She continued her studies with enrollment in doctoral studies in Physical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, and her current field of study is computational biophysics with a focus on molecular dynamics simulations of proteins. She is experienced in science popularization, including the formation of a series of workshops on that topic and mentoring a team of students for IYNT 2019, while this year for the first time she is participating in STEM Games.
Višnja Stepanić
Višnja Stepanić got her degree 18 years ago and since then she has been working and studying in the fields of novel compounds with biological activities in the scientific fields of medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. The compounds she is mostly interested in are natural products and their derivatives, while among biological targets she prefers epigenetic ones. In this area she has published more than 25 articles and several book chapters. She has also participated in training and science popularization events. She is glad to participate in STEM Games 2020 to share her knowledge in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology as well as the experience of research in pharma industry and academic environment with interested and devoted students.
Pegi Pavletić
Pegi Pavletić is a student of PhD studies in the field of “Chemical and pharmaceutical sciences and biotechnology-pharmacy, dietetics and food science” at The University of Camerino in Italy. This is her third time in a row as a participant in the Science arena, this time as a mentor. Her team is trying to familiarize everyone with the natural sciences in a creative way, no matter the year of studies or interests, everyone can find a task in accordance with their interests. STEM Games is for her a unique opportunity to not only participate in popularization of science, but to learn new things from her colleagues in an interactive way, to meet new friends and co-workers and to also challenge herself for a constant improvement.