The National Research Awards recognize and reflect the various facets of both research activity and scientific communication and dissemination initiatives, scientific patronage and public and private cooperation in R&I projects in Catalonia. The National Young Talent Research Award category aims to stimulate and recognize the efforts of young researchers in the Catalan research and innovation system who have contributed during their professional career to the advancement of a discipline scientific in any of its fields. Likewise, other aspects such as technology transfer and the social impact of their research will be assessed.

In the case of Dr. Jelena Radjenović, the award is given for her work in the Electron4water project for the development of low-cost graphene sponge nanostructured electrodes for water treatment. These new elements allow, for the first time, an electrochemical treatment of persistent, toxic and carcinogenic water pollutants, such as perfluorinated compounds, without producing toxic by-products typically observed in electrochemical treatments using commercial materials.

Biographical profile of Jelena Radjenović

Jelena Radjenović (Belgrade, Serbia, 1980) is an ICREA research professor and researcher at the Catalan Water Research Institute (ICRA) in Girona, where she has worked since November 2014. She holds a degree in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology from the University of Belgrade (2004) and a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Barcelona (2009) with distinction cum laude, having worked, from 2009 to 2014, at the prestigious Advanced Water Management Center (AWMC) from the University of Queensland (Australia). She is an expert in advanced chemical and electrochemical treatment of waste water, elimination of organic and inorganic pollutants, focusing on research at the interface of electrochemistry and nanotechnology.

Jelena Radjenovic is currently on a three-month sabbatical at the University of California, Berkeley. In collaboration with Professor David Sedlak , he is working on the development of electrochemical treatment systems based on graphene materials developed at ICRA, for water treatment applications. Professor Sedlak is director of the Berkeley Water Center, one of the leading water institutions in the United States, and co-director of ReNUWIt (Re-Inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure), the interdisciplinary center where the most influential universities in the United States in the field of water participate: UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Colorado School of Mines and New Mexico State University.