Dr Anna Sandak is the Deputy Director for Science and head of the Materials Department at InnoRenew CoE in Slovenia has PhD in Wood Science and M.Sc. in Biology. She is also an associate professor at the University of Primorska, where she teaches and supervises students in the master’s and PhD study programs and serves as a Management Board member of the New European Bauhaus Academy Pioneer Hub. In her 17-year scientific career, she has contributed to over 30 scientific projects (11 as the main investigator). Three of her post-docs were granted MSCA (101023389-BIO4CARE, 101067636-MULTI-WOOD, and 101105772-MICRO-INSERT). In 2022 Dr Sandak was awarded the ERC consolidator grant for the project ARCHI-SKIN (101044468-ERC-2021-COG), which aims to push the boundaries of traditional materials toward the development of engineered living materials. Her research on probiotic architecture is ongoing through the REMEDY project, recently funded by the European Innovation Council under the Pathfinder call.

Özlem BOZDOĞAN BALÇIK was born in Erzurum in 1989. She completed her primary and high school education in Erzurum. In 2007, she enrolled in Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest Industry Engineering. She graduated in 2011 with a bachelor's degree and in 2015 with a master's degree. In 2024, he graduated from Karadeniz Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Forest Industry Engineering, PhD program in Forest Industry Machinery and Management. In 2020, he was appointed as a research assistant in the same department.

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