Demian Kalebic is a chemist from Pula, Croatia with great interest in organic synthesis, chemistry of natural compounds, medicinal and supramolecular chemistry.
He obtained both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. During studies he did his research in synthesis and complexation-properties studies of siderophore analogs – natural iron chelating agents, ditopic receptors capable of binding both cations and anions as well as in synthesis of potentially bioactive compounds. In addition to that, he also participated in numerous science popularization projects and events, having an outreach from primary and high-school students to general public. He also worked at the R&D department of a pharmaceutical company as a student researcher for 2 years. In 2018, he participated in an Erasmus+ Traineeship program at KU Leuven, Belgium, at LOSA, the group of professor Wim Dehaen where he took part in a medicinal chemistry project, investigating the structure-activity relationship of piperidone-derived triazoles. The cultural diversity and hard-working environment, along with the friendly atmosphere present in the group drove him to a decision to apply for a doctorate researcher position in the same group.
Currently, he works at KU Leuven as a PhD student under supervision of prof. Wim Dehaen. He is the ESR5 of project SULTAN and the topic of his research is the design and synthesis of novel chelating surfactants derived from natural products or renewable starting materials. Apart from the synthesis, his research also involves the investigation of their potential for use in the recovery of valuable metals from aqueous leachates by ion flotation.
In his leisure time, he enjoys showing appreciation for various forms of art, including visual arts, performing arts and above all studying and playing music while constantly exploring the world.
Poster: Synthesis of Novel Chelating Surfactants for Ion Flotation
SULTAN_poster_ESR05_Demian_finalBlog posts:
SULTAN poster
SULTAN project poster
(Science) mining in Portugal
The 3rd Network Wide Event (NWE3) of SULTAN project not only allows early researchers and partners to exchange scientific ideas but also offer magnificent hands-on experiences at the same time: A brief travel into the past and gain useful knowledge for future sustainable mining
Sustainability & Sustainable Development – What Is It All About?
Sustainability and sustainable development are two very commonly used terms nowadays, up to a point that they have become somewhat of a buzzword. But what does it actually mean when something is sustainable, and what is sustainable development exactly?
A week in Freiberg… (SULTAN Network-Wide Event 2)
On the first day, the SULTAN colleagues reunited in Freiberg, almost 7 months after the kick-off meeting in Leuven, and were happy to greet each other again before the official meeting started.
Ion Flotation – a metal recovery technique
So far, ion flotation hasn’t been used successfully for the recovery of metals from leachates in the tailings reprocessing.
KU Leuven SOLVOMET visit
After SULTAN Kick-off meeting, ESRs were invited to visit the labs in the geology and chemistry buildings at KU Leuven. SOLVOMET visit Centre for Solvometallurgy (SOLVOMET) at KU Leuven Campus Arenberg III in the Leuven Chem&Tech building where dr. Nerea Rodriguez kindly greeted us and took us on a tour of the Centre, showing us …
KU Leuven GEO-INSTITUTE visit
From 11th to 13th February, the SULTAN program Kick-off meeting was held in Leuven, where all partners and early stage researchers (ESRs) had the opportunity to meet each other and share information about the different work packages and the state of the research. On the third day, the ESRs were invited to visit the labs …