Dr Vesna Najdanovic is Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies and Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at Aston University (School of Engineering and Innovation). She obtained her MEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Belgrade (Serbia) and her PhD in Chemical Engineering from NOVA University of Lisbon (Portugal). 

Her research addresses the transition from petrochemical to sustainable, bio-based manufacturing, with a focus on circular bioeconomy technologies, sustainable solvents, biomass valorisation, and environmentally responsible chemical and biochemical processing. Her work integrates experimental chemistry, separation science and process engineering to develop scalable routes for producing biofuels, biochemicals and high-value products from waste streams. She collaborates closely with industry and international partners to translate research into practice.

Dr Najdanovic has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers, with multiple outputs ranked in the top 10% worldwide by citation impact and several achieving top 5% Altmetric attention. Her work has attracted significant media coverage, including the BBC World Service, Reuters, BioTechniques and international engineering outlets.

Dr Najdanovic has guest-edited special issues for Biomass & Bioenergy and the Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data, and serves on international research evaluation panels for the Royal Society, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, the French National Research Agency (ANR) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in 2025 in recognition of her sustained contributions to chemical science and research leadership. She is also a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA)  recognised for innovative teaching practice and sector-leading contributions to student experience and curriculum development.