Nikoleta Valaka

My name is Nikoleta Valaka and since October 2024 I am a PhD student in the BioGlue-Centre enrolled at the Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, SLU. I am a part of a team at WP2 and working on a project called "New methods for in situ analysis of curing reactions of bio-adhesives".

My research is going to focus on developing a new method for in situ analysis of curing reactions of bio-based adhesives that could be used for optimum adhesive formulations and applications. Also, another part will be to elucidate chemical reactions and physical changes that take place in the bio-adhesive bonds during curing on reduced sample size and their relation with real systems.

• Diploma of Engineering & Integrated MSc in Materials Science - Department of Materials, Science & Engineering, University of Ioannina, Greece (2017-2023)
• Diploma thesis in Medicinal Chemistry - Title "Synthesis of the Gemcitabine linked with a Valine-Citrulline dipeptide bridge as part of the design of targeted conjugates of anticancer agents" (2021-2022)
• 6-month Internship through Erasmus+ placement program - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Uppsala University, Sweden - Title "Development of high-strength and translucent ZrO2-Al2O3 glass ceramics (GCs) with a focus on the effect of Mg, Y & La doping (225ppm & 450ppm) to different compositions of Zr-Al materials" (2023-2024)

Main supervisor : Prof. Stergios Adamopoulos

Assistant supervisors: Researcher Rafail Papadakis, Prof. Gulaim Seisenbaeva, Researcher Adrien Letoffe