HEMIJSKI FAKULTET, UNIVERZITET U BEOGRADU

Their core work

The Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Belgrade is an analytical chemistry research group specializing in food safety, environmental contamination, and toxicology. Their work focuses on developing and applying advanced analytical platforms — including lipidomics, metallomics, and isotope ratio mass spectrometry — to detect and characterize contaminants in food and the environment. In their most recent work, they investigate how micro- and nanoplastics move through the food chain, interact with the human digestive system, and contribute to health outcomes such as allergy, asthma, and toxicity. They coordinate EU research projects rather than joining as junior partners, indicating strong scientific leadership capacity.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (FoodEnTwin, 2018), the faculty focused on building analytical method capacity — lipidomics, metallomics, and artificial enzyme systems — as foundational tools for food and nutrition science. By their second project (Imptox, 2021), these tools were deployed toward a sharply defined environmental health problem: tracking micro- and nanoplastics from environmental sources through food and into the human body. The trajectory is clear: from analytical method development toward applied toxicological research with direct public health relevance.

This group is moving toward becoming a specialized analytical hub for micro/nanoplastic exposure assessment — a field with rapidly growing regulatory and industrial demand across food, packaging, and environmental sectors.

How they like to work

They have acted as coordinator in both of their H2020 projects, suggesting strong proposal-writing and project management capability rather than just scientific contribution. With 11 unique consortium partners across 7 countries in only 2 projects, they build moderately sized, internationally diverse teams rather than working in isolation. This pattern indicates they can lead a consortium and attract European partners, making them a viable principal investigator for future Horizon Europe calls.

Despite only two projects, they have connected with 11 unique partners across 7 countries, pointing to an active and geographically spread network for a relatively small H2020 portfolio. Their base in Serbia (an associated country) and Widening Participation funding history suggests they serve as a bridge between Western Balkan research capacity and the broader European research community.

What sets them apart

The Faculty of Chemistry Belgrade is one of the very few coordinators of H2020 research projects based in Serbia, which is unusual and signals above-average EU project competence for the region. Their combination of deep analytical chemistry instrumentation (IRMS, lipidomics) with an applied focus on food-borne microplastic toxicity puts them at a specific and currently high-demand intersection. For consortium builders, they offer both scientific depth and geographic diversity — useful for meeting Widening Participation requirements without sacrificing research quality.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Imptox
  Their largest project (€881,750), coordinated as a full RIA, tackles one of the most urgent emerging food safety issues — micro/nanoplastic ingestion and its links to allergy, asthma, and gut toxicity — using a bespoke analytical platform.
• FoodEnTwin
  A Widening Participation twinning grant that positioned the faculty as a regional leader in frontier food and nutrition science, building the analytical toolkit that underpins their subsequent health-focused research.