Daria Wojtala is the finalist of Young Talent
In this year’s edition of the Young Talents competition, a young chemist from the University of Wrocław, Daria Wojtala, was nominated for the main prize in the scientific success category.
On May 20, 2024, during a ceremonial gala in the Aula Leopoldina, we met the winners in six categories of the competition’s eighth edition.
One of the distinguished young scientists is Daria Wojtala, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Wrocław in the Magnetic Materials Group. She conducts her research under the supervision of dr. hab. Urszula Komarnicka (supervisor), dr. inż. Sandra Kozieł (assistant supervisor), and the head of the team, prof. dr. hab. Alina Bieńko.
Ms. Daria has completed research internships in Italy at the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences at the University of Padua, as well as at the University of Ferrara, and among others, at the Faculty of Chemistry at the Jagiellonian University. She is a laureate of the Młody Badacz 2023-2024 (Eng.: Young Researcher) grant competition as part of the Excellence Initiative – Research University (IDUB) program, and she also received the ‘Young Scientist Award’ at the 16th International Symposium on Applied Bioinorganic Chemistry conference in 2023 in Greece.
She is a very versatile person. In addition to working on new medicine, she loves sports. She has been a member of the University of Wrocław women’s volleyball team since 2017. “Sport has been my great passion since childhood, and now it brings me great satisfaction and joy,” she says. “Every year we participate in the Dolnośląska Liga Międzyuczelniana (Eng.: Lower Silesian Intercollegiate League, under the watchful, coaching eye of dr. Adrian Sieroń, we play matches aiming to reach the top ranks. This year, we took the 2nd place in the DLM, which guaranteed us a spot in the semifinals of the Academic Championships of Poland”.
Moreover, she is a social activist and engages in various events promoting science, as well as the promotion of the University of Wrocław and organizational matters at the Faculty of Chemistry, where she currently serves as the Chair of the Faculty Doctoral Council. In the Doctoral Student Council at the University of Wrocław, she holds the position of Second Vice-Chair. “Together with other doctoral students, we strive to work vigorously so that our doctoral community can function as best as possible, for example, by organizing Individual Grants allowing them to participate in conferences,” emphasizes Ms. Daria.
“The nomination by the jury in such a prestigious competition as Young Talents is a great honor for me. I must admit that thanks to it, I feel that my scientific activity has been appreciated and it is a sign that my chosen field of study is the right one and will allow me to make discoveries important for society” – Daria Wojtala told us. – “Moreover, I hope that said distinction will open even more doors for me.”
We sincerely congratulate all the winners and nominees! More about the competition:
Prepared by Katarzyna Górowicz-Maćkiewicz
Translated by Oliwia Kowalińska (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
