Iryna Protsak obtained her Master’s Degree in Chemistry from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2012 and received her PhD in Physics and Chemistry of Surfaces from the Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry, NASU, Kyiv, in 2016. She conducted her postdoctoral training at the University of Glasgow (UK), the Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry (Ukraine), and Zhejiang University of Technology (China). In 2022, she joined the University of Vienna after her project was awarded an Individual Fellowship from the Austrian Science Fund.
Her research focuses on advancing porous nanomaterials with customized physicochemical properties, particularly through surface modification of silica, carbon substrates, MOFs, and more. These materials are investigated for their potential as selective sorbents in advanced water treatment and resource recovery. The primary goal of her current project is to develop specialized sorbents capable of selectively adsorbing and separating Critical Raw Materials (CRMs).