People

Group Leader
Anna Vanluchene 

ORCID 0000-0002-1620-5452

Anna Vanluchene obtained her PhD in Chemical and Process Engineering through a double degree between UPMC Paris and UCT Prague, working at ESPCI under the supervision of Prof. Jérôme Bibette and Prof. František Štěpánek at UCT Prague. After postdoctoral research at the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals (Czech Academy of Sciences) and Ghent University (MSCA Fellow, SynBioC group, Prof. Christian V. Stevens), she established her independent research group at UCT Prague in September 2024. 

PhD Students

• MSc. Simona Staňová
  

  Simona obtained her Master's degree in Drug Synthesis and Manufacturing from UCT Prague's Faculty of Chemical Technology in 2026, completing her diploma thesis at the University of Vienna's Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences on interactions between Staphylococcus aureus wall teichoic acids and human C-type lectins. She is now pursuing her PhD on the flow-based evaluation of light-activated antibacterial surfaces, studying how flow conditions and surface properties affect the antibacterial performance of photocatalytic materials.

• MSc. Jan Sochor
  

  Jan obtained his Master's degree in Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering in 2026, through a double-degree programme between UCT Prague and the University of Cagliari, where he focused on the synthesis, characterization and evaluation of novel catalysts for producing electrofuels from CO₂ and green hydrogen. He is now pursuing his PhD on high-throughput experimentation for heterogeneous catalysis in flow reactors, combining high-throughput screening with flow photomicroreactors to accelerate the discovery of efficient, scalable and green catalytic processes.

• MSc. Ruben Hansson

  Ruben obtained his Master's degree in Chemistry in 2025 from Lund University, Sweden, where he focused on the synthesis of metal pincer complexes. Since September 2025, he has been pursuing his PhD on photocatalysed processes for the flow synthesis of fine chemicals, with a particular focus on heterogeneous photocatalysis using carbon nitride–based materials such as g-C₃N₄ and PHI. His work centers on moving these reactions from batch to continuous flow, aiming to improve photon efficiency, selectivity, and scalability for sustainable, small-molecule chemical synthesis.

Students

Master's Students

• Bc. Adam Plšek 
  Topic: Development of a Microfluidic Chip for Studying Oxidative Photocatalytic Reactions in Two-Phase Flow
• Bc. Matouš Barták
  Topic: Development of a Microflow Cell for Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
• Bc. Tomáš Heimerle
  Topic: Preparation and Testing of Graphitic Carbon Nitride Thin Films for Microfluidic Photocatalytic Reactors
• Bc. Vladimír Krucký 
  Topic: Immobilisation of Deazaoxaflavins for Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Sulfoxidation (co-supervised with Dr. Petr Kovaříček) 
• Bc. Monika Felcmanová 
  Topic: CFD Modelling of Microfluidic Flow Cells with Passive Mixers for Photochemical Applications (double-degree program with the Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy) 
• Bc. Sebastian Lecaros Vasquez
  Topic: Development of Stable Emulsions for Sustainable Hair Dyes from Peruvian Plant Sources

Bachelor's Student

• Veronika Hornová
  Topic:  Investigation of the Antibacterial Properties of Photocatalytic Materials 
• Lukáš Váňa  
  Topic: Study of Trazodone Synthesis under Continuous-Flow Conditions (conducted at ICPF, CAS under the co-supervision of Petr Stavárek)
• Vojtěch Urban 
  Topic: Design and Fabrication of a Microfluidic Chip with Herringbone Mixers for Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
  
  

The FLOWery group at the New Year’s dinner (Prague, 2026)

Join Us! 

🚀 We warmly welcome motivated B.Sc. and M.Sc. students.
If you are interested in joining the group, please contact anna.vanluchene@vscht.cz

Topics for Bachelor’s and Master’s students 

• Development of high-throughput experimentation in flow microreactors
• Sustainable photochemical transformations in flow reactors for chemical specialties 
• Photochemically induced antibacterial properties of functional films, tested in microflow cells
• Scale-up strategies for photochemical reactors
• Design of microreactors for enhanced photon utilisation in gas–liquid photoreactors
• We also collaborate closely with the ICPF, Czech Academy of Sciences, offering students the opportunity to work on joint research topics 

Funding

• Dagmar Procházková Fund
  Project duration: 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2028
  Project title: Illuminating Flow: Transport Phenomena in Photocatalysis for Fine Chemical Synthesis
  This project is supported by the Dagmar Procházková Fund in collaboration with the UCTP.  
• GAČR – Czech Science Foundation
  Project duration: 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2028
  Project title: From Speculation to Mechanism: Deciphering the True Potential of Poly(Heptazine Imide)
  This project is funded by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) and carried out in collaboration with the Laboratory of Biomimetics (doc. Viola Tokárová, UCTP) and the following partner institutions: Brno University of Technology, Masaryk University, and Czech Academy of Sciences
  Role of our group: Within this project, our group focuses on oxidative transformations and microbial inactivation in microfluidic systems. 

List of Publications

Full publication list: Google Scholar