Milan Šernek, PhD, Full Professor
Univerza v Ljubljani (University of Ljubljana, UL)
How did you arrive in your current position?
I fell in love with wood at an early age because my father was a carpenter and he knew how to get me excited about working with wood by either building me a wooden toy or impressing me with his woodworking skills. I was surprised and motivated at the same time because, despite my childhood, my father gave me a lot of freedom in using tools, dangerous machines and equipment. Later, I wanted to become a carpenter because I enjoyed working with wood outdoors, but I switched to wood science and technology where I could continue my education at the university level. During my studies at the Department of Wood Science and Technology (WS&T), Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, I became interested in teaching and research, so I steered my professional career in an academic direction.
As a young researcher at WS&T in Ljubljana, I was appointed as a visiting scientist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA, in 1997 - 1998. At that time, I was amazed by the American way of research and education, so in January 2000, I took the offered opportunity of a PhD study at "Virginia Tech" and graduated in April 2002. After that, I continued my career as an assistant at the WS&T in Ljubljana and since 2013 I am a full professor working and teaching in the field of wood adhesives, wood bonding and wood-based composites.
Which scientific question are you the most eager to answer?
The biggest scientific challenge for me in the last decade is how to continuously measure in situ the evolution of adhesive bond strength during the bonding of wood in a hot press. There are some approximate solutions, such as the automated bonding evaluation system (ABES), but an efficient solution to this challenge is still being sought.
What is the future of your research?
In recent years, I have focused on bio-based adhesives as part of several EU projects. This research area is very interesting and challenging to replace commercial formaldehyde-based adhesives. We have made significant progress in the development of wood adhesives from liquefied wood, lignin and tannin, so I will expand my research horizon in this direction.
Open Science, especially Open Data, is highly debated on various levels. What is your opinion?
I strongly support these directions in science because of this way the knowledge and data are available to the global scientific community, industry, and the general public.
How do you maintain your work-life balance?
This is a difficult task, because research activity and teaching require a lot of time, travel abroad and absence from home. Fortunately, I have a wife who supports me, and we manage to organize our professional and family lives successfully. Daily work puts a lot of stress on our shoulders, but I relieve it with joyful activities such as cooking and hiking. All in all, I am very satisfied with my academic career, but at the same time, I am happy to be in my woodworking shop from time to time to refresh my mind and body and revive memories from my childhood.
How difficult is it to have a carrier in science? How do you keep your motivation?
I love my job and consider it a mission. In my opinion, the most difficult part - but also the most inspiring - is at the beginning of the research career, because we enter unknown territory. Later, as we build our scientific network, establish local and global collaborations, and define our scientific field and priorities, we start to achieve results that meet our expectations.
My biggest motivation is the constant attempts to develop or even invent new materials or methods in wood science as well as the collaboration with other scientists and the opportunity to present our research results to the scientific community at conferences and congresses around the world.
How did you personally benefit from being a part of the ASFORCLIC consortium so far?
For me, the collaboration in the ASFORCLIC project is a continuation of the very successful earlier collaboration with Mendel University and other partners. We have built an effective research network and made many friendships. The biggest benefits that I get from the ASFORCLIC project are the knowledge exchange and research visits, as well as the joint publications.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N°952314.