Scientist

Education:

• 2003-2007: Gimnazija Jože Plečnik Ljubljana, average grade 5.0/5.0,  34/34 points in the Matura exam
• 2007-2012: undergraduate study of Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana, average grade 9.8/10
• 2012:  university diploma (MSc equivalent) work in the field of theoretical Physical Chemistry, entitled “Lastnosti vode v poroznih materialih po modelu Mercedes-Benz”; marked 10/10 for the thesis as well as the defence
• 2012-2016: doctoral study in the field of Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies at the Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School and working as a young researcher at the Advanced Materials department of the Jožef Stefan Institute
• 2017: completed and successfully defended doctoral thesis entitled “New antibacterial nanomaterials based on gallium, gold and hydroxypatite”

Other:

• 2012: member of the faculty’s scientific team on the »Tehnologijada« in Umag.
• 2014, 2015: attended the Young researchers’ day in Ljubljana with poster
• 2016: attended the Young researchers’ day with an oral presentation
• 2014 and 2015: attended the International conference on materials and technologies in Portorož with oral presentations
• 2014: attended the 26th Annual Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials in Liverpool with a poster.
• Mario Kurtjak’s researchgate profile

Journal Articles

M. Kurtjak and T. Urbič, “Water in the presence of inert Lennard-Jones obstacles,” Molecular Physics, vol. 112, no. 8, pp. 1132–1148, 2014. ISSN 0026-8976. READ, doi: 10.1080/00268976.2013.836608

M. Kurtjak and T. Urbič, “A simple water model in the presence of inert Lennard-Jones obstacles II: The hydrophobic effect,” Molecular Physics, vol. 113, no. 7, pp. 727–738, 2015. ISSN 0026-8976. READ, doi: 10.1080/00268976.2014.973919

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, A. Krajnc, L. Kramer, B. Turk, and D. Suvorov, “Designing Ga(III)-containing hydroxyapatite with antibacterial activity,” RSC Advances, vol. 6, no. 114, pp. 112 839–112 852, 2016. ISSN 2046-2069.  READ, doi: 10.1039/C6RA23424K

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, L. Kramer, and D. Suvorov, “Biocompatible nano-gallium/ hydroxyapatite nanocomposite with antimicrobial activity,” Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, vol. 27, no. 11, p. 170, 2016. doi: 10.1007/s10856-016-5777-3

V. Žunič, M. Kurtjak, and D. Suvorov, “Bifunctional bridging linker-assisted synthesis and characterization of TiO2/Au nanocomposites,” Journal of Nanoparticle Research, vol. 18, no. 11, p. 336, 2016.  ISSN 1388-0764, doi: 10.1007/s11051-016-3420-3

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, and D. Suvorov, “Antibacterial nanocomposite of functionalized nanogold and gallium-doped hydroxyapatite,” Materials Letters, vol. 193, pp. 126– 129, 2017. ISSN 0167-577X, doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2017.01.092.

Conference Papers

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, and D. Suvorov, “Ga(III)-containing nanocomposite based on functionalized Au and hydroxyapatite,” in Program and abstract book, 8th Young Researchers’ Day, (Ljubljana), V. Žunič, N. Aničić, T. Sever, M. Kurtjak, S. Jovanović, and D. Klement, Eds., Ljubljana (Slovenia): Jožef Stefan Institute, Feb. 2014, p. 46.

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, and D. Suvorov, “New materials with antibacterial action of functionalized Au nanoparticles and Ga3+ ions,” in Final programme, 26th Annual Conference of European Society for Biomaterials, Liverpool, Aug. 2014, P–90.

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, and D. Suvorov, “Gallium nanoparticles on hydroxyapatite,” in Program and book of abstracts, 22nd International Conference on Materials and Technology, (Portorož (Slovenia)), M. Godec, Č. Donik, I. Paulin, A. Kocijan, Institute of Metals and Technology, National Institute of Chemistry, and Jožef Stefan Institute, Eds., Ljubljana: Institute of Metals and Technology, Oct. 2014, p. 136.

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, and D. Suvorov, “Antibacterial protection of hydroxyapatite with Ga3+ ions and functionalized Au nanoparticles,” in 9th Young researchers’ day, program and abstract book, (Ljubljana), N. Kavčič, M. Orehek, K. Pegan, and A. Taler- Verčič, Eds., Ljubljana: Jožef Stefan Institute, Apr. 2015, p. 43.

E. Begu, M. Horvat, Š. Kunej, M. Kurtjak, “Preparation and characterization of gold coated silica and alumina for Hg(0) measurements,” in: ICMGP 2015 Korea, 12th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, Jeju, Korea, Jun. 2015, p. 300.

S. Jovanović, M. Kurtjak, M. Spreitzer, D. Suvorov, “Synthesis and characterization of cobalt ferrite nanospheres,” in: Program and the book of abstracts, 3CSCS-2015, 3rdConference of the Serbian Ceramic Society, Belgrade, Serbia, B. Matović, Ed., Belgrade: Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Jun. 2015, p. 113.

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, and D. Suvorov, “Gallium-based antibacterial protection of hydroxyapatite,” in Program and book of abstracts, 23rd International Conference on Materials and Technology, (Portorož (Slovenia)), M. Godec, Č. Donik, I. Paulin, A. Kocijan, Institute of Metals and Technology, National Institute of Chemistry, and Jožef Stefan Institute, Eds., Ljubljana: Institute of Metals and Technology, Sep. 2015, p. 151.

S. Jovanović, M. Kurtjak, K. Kumrić, D. Suvorov, and M. Spreitzer, “Cobalt ferrite nanosphere as a potential magnetic adsorbent of heavy inos,” in Programme and the book of abstracts, Fourteenth Young Researchers Conference Materials Sciences and Engineering, (Belgrade (Serbia)), S. Marković, Ed., Belgrade: Institute of Technical Sciences of SASA, Dec. 2015, p. 46.

M. Kurtjak, M. Vukomanović, and D. Suvorov, “Doping of hydroxyapatite with Ga(III) ions for antibacterial protection,” in 10th Young researchers’ day, program and abstract book, (Ljubljana (Slovenia)), S. Prpar Mihevc, M. Prunk, and J. Pungerčar, Eds., Ljubljana: Jožef Stefan Institute, Mar. 2016, p. 12.

M. Vukomanović, V. Žunič, M. Kurtjak, N. Aničić, and D. Suvorov, “Novel platforms for de- signing antimicrobial biomaterials,” in Programme and the book of abstracts, Eighteenth Annual Conference YUCOMAT 2016, (Herceg Novi (Montenegro)), D. Uskoković and V. Radmilović, Eds., Belgrade (Serbia): Materials Research Society of Serbia, Aug. 2016, p. 29.