Hi, stargazers! Welcome to my webpage!
I am an astrophysicist, author and science communicator.
I work as Assistant Professor (Principal Research Lead) at the Astrophysics Division of NCBJ in Warsaw, where I lead a collaborative project involving several international institutes, mostly from Canada, USA, France and Italy. My research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies, from the earliest epochs after the Big Bang to the present. To explore these processes, I combine observational data from large ground- and space-based telescopes with simulations. I was awarded a prestigious grant "SONATA", funded by the NCN, for the project "Dusty Giants" for which I serve as PI. The project explores the formation and destruction of cosmic dust and gas in galaxy evolution.
I hold a PhD in Astrophysics and Cosmology from Aix-Marseille University, France. My doctoral research was primarily conducted at the Laboratory of Astrophysics Marseille (LAM), where I was an OCEVU doctoral fellow working with Prof. Véronique Buat on Herschel extragalactic surveys of dusty galaxies. Before that, I studied at the University of Novi Sad in my native Serbia and at Leiden University in the Netherlands. After completing my doctorate, I was a visiting fellow at the Dunlap Institute in Toronto and a postdoctoral fellow at SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies), in Trieste, Italy, where I held a research grant in astrophysics.
Alongside my academic research, I am professionally active in writing, science journalism, and science communication. My columns and essays have appeared in various popular science outlets, most regularly in the magazine Elementi, supported by the Centre for the promotion of science. In addition to my scientific writing, I write poetry and short fiction. My poetry work has appeared in several anthologies, including signalism, an international neo-avant-garde literal movement. As a scientist, published author and science communicator, I am dedicated to bridging the gap between science and society. My passion is in using astronomy for creating different tools in order to generate community-building and to improve science education within the diverse communities (e.g., in Western Balkans).
I developed and taught a masterclass "Effective science communication" which I teach to international researchers at different career stages and from diverse backgrounds across both the natural and social sciences. Whenever my research schedule allows, I also volunteer in my home country as an associate lecturer at the International Science Station "Petnica", one of the oldest independent organisations for extracurricular science education in Europe.