prof. dr. sc. Valerije Vrček

Profile

Valerije Vrček is a full professor and a head of the Department of Organic Chemistry. He teaches graduate courses Organic Chemistry and NMR Spectroscopy. His scientific interests include reaction mechanisms, computational chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and the chemical fate of pharmaceuticals in the environment.

Education:

• 1999. Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry; University of Zagreb, Postgraduate study, academic title: Ph.D. in Chemistry
• 1995. Faculty of Sciences; University of Zagreb, Postgraduate study, academic title: M. Sc. in Chemistry
• 1992. Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry; University of Zagreb, Graduate study of Medicinal Biochemistry, academic title: B. Sc. in Medicinal Biochemistry

Work experience:

• 2012 – today: full professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry; University of Zagreb
• 2006 – 2012: accociate professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry; University of Zagreb
• 2002 – 2006: assistant professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry; University of Zagreb
• 1995 – 2002: asisstent at the Department of Organic Chemistry Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry; University of Zagreb
• 1992 – 1995: research assistant in Laboratory for supramolecular and nucleosude chemistry at the Institute „Ruđer Bošković“

Visiting positions:

• 1991. Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA (3 months)
• 1997. Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany (6 months)
• 2000. Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany (12 months)
• 2001-2004. Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany (in total 7 months)
• 2004. Yale University, New Haven, USA (1 month)
• 2005-2007. Institut Max-Planck, Mülheim a/d Ruhr, Germany (in total 5 months).
• 2008-2013. Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, München, Germany (in total 3 months)
• 2015. University of A Coruna, Galicia, Spain (2 weeks)
• 2019. Technische Universitaet Chemnitz, Germany (2 weeks)

Projects:

Associate on projects:

1. Analogs of nucleotides, peptides and molecular receptors (MZT, 107188, 1991-1995),
2. Mechanism of steroid compounds formation (MZT, 006151, 1996-2002),
3. Carbocation intermediates in biosynthesis of steroids and triterpenes (MZOŠ, 0006451, 2002-2007),
4. New technology of leather tanning (MZOŠ, 3006, 2003-2004),
5. Biomimetic Rearrangements in Carbocations (NSF, 0120505, 2001-2007)
6. Stability scale of carbocations, their structures and biomimetic rearrangements (MZOŠ, 006-0982933-2963, 2007-2011),
7. Isotopic Perturbation of Methyl Rotation in Carbocations (NSF, 0809780, 2008-2011),
8. European Bioethics in Action, EUROBIOACT, (HRZZ, 2014- )
9. In-silico assisted design of substrates for CO2 capture during catalytic formation of carbonates and carbamates (Croatian Science
   Foundation-IP-2019-04-8846)

Principal investigator::

• Computational Life Sciences on Open Shell Intermediates (AvH Research Group Linkage Programme, 2011-2014)
• Quantum chemical design, preparation and biological activity of organometallilc derivatives of nucleobases (Croatian Science Foundation, 2017-2021; http://orden.pharma.hr/Home.html)

• Redox properties of metalocenoil-substituted nucleobases: Electrochemistry and computational study (bilateral project Germany(DAAD)/Croatia(MZO), 2019-2021)

Awards and honours:

• 1992 Honored by Croatian Academy of Science and Culture for the student achievements in science.
• 1997 Honored by the Society of the University Lecturers for the scientific work in chemistry.
• 2000 Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship
• 2000 “Vladimir Prelog Award”, honored by Croatian Chemical Society and pharmaceutical company "Pliva".
• 2009 Awarded by the Ministry of Science of the Republic of Croatia for the excellence in scientific publication.

Memberships:

• Croatian Chemical Society, Alexander von Humboldt Alumni, Croatian Bioethical Society

Other:

• Personal web-pages: http://zok.pharma.hr/vv_eng.html
• Popular science blog: https://www.glas-koncila.hr/author/vvrcek/