Her work often sparks surprise and curiosity. As she says, science still feels mysterious and beautiful to many people, but its real value lies in answers to practical questions. What exactly is being done, where can it be applied, can world-class science really be done here?
From one problem to a whole network of applications
When people talk about a career in science, they often imagine a straight line, from studies to the laboratory, from topic to topic, neatly arranged. Reality is more like good chemistry, one result leads to another, and curiosity takes a shortcut where no one expected it.
Maja was initially surprised by how useful scientific results in one area can be in another. She began in a group investigating a concrete medical problem, the mechanism behind the formation of kidney stones. But the experimental knowledge and understanding of how the inorganic minerals that stones are made of form, led the research toward developing new materials for bone regeneration. A logical step followed toward nanomaterials and their applications in biomedicine and technology, and, ultimately, toward collaborations with colleagues studying the impact of nanomaterials on the environment.
The thread connecting all of these studies is simple, materials that work outside the laboratory. In one sentence, Maja explains her field like this, “We develop new, more effective, and more environmentally friendly materials for use in medicine, technology, and environmental protection.”
The STOP project, when a material becomes a public health measure
Today, one of her key research stories is linked to the EU Horizon project Surface Transfer of Pathogens, STOP. The project brings together 15 partners from 10 European countries, and its goal is to reduce the transfer of microorganisms between people via frequently touched surfaces in public transport, hospitals, and nursing homes.
In practice, this means developing next-generation antimicrobial materials and coatings that can be easily applied to different surfaces, while at the same time reducing the need for conventional disinfectants and lowering the risk of microbial resistance.
Photocatalysis in everyday life, titanium dioxide “works under light”
Within STOP, the group from the Laboratory for Biocolloids and Surface Chemistry is developing coatings made of a polymer matrix into which photocatalytic nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, TiO₂, are embedded, a material that can destroy microorganisms under light.
It sounds technically demanding, but the idea is surprisingly intuitive, instead of treating surfaces every day, often several times, with chemical agents, the surfaces become active on their own under appropriate light. “The research involves close collaboration with project partners in the physical-chemical, mechanical, and biological characterisation of the coatings we are developing. This has enabled us to gain new knowledge and develop new research directions,” said Maja.
Social impact, fewer infections, lower costs, less, or perhaps more, chemistry?
The motivation for this kind of research, grounded in the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic, is very real-life, we need effective and practical ways to interrupt different routes of transmission of harmful microorganisms, including transmission via frequently touched surfaces.
Fewer infections also means lower costs for the healthcare system. Indirectly, a reduced need for conventional disinfectants can contribute to environmental protection. And new materials can also help reduce the risk of microorganisms developing resistance.
What remains after the project?
The story of Dr Maja Dutour Sikirić shows that science holds many surprises and unexpected destinations. The path from studying kidney stones to high-tech coatings that destroy viruses is proof that genuine curiosity knows no disciplinary boundaries, and always opens new doors behind which, sometimes, deep expertise meets an entirely ordinary, human touch.
