Elena Velickova Nikova (female) holds a degree in Food and Biotechnology Engineering (2001), master degree in Biotechnology from Sts Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM, 2008) and a PhD (2013) in Food Technology from Sts Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. She has ISO 9001:2015, ISO 17025:2018 and ISO: 22000:2018 certifications (2019).

She has developed her research among North Macedonia, Portugal, Bulgaria, Sweden and Italy in several fields of food technology and biotechnology. Currently she is associate professor and researcher at the Department of Food Technology and Biotechnology at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Sts Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.

Her previous/current activities started with (1) Anaerobic-aerobic treatment of textile waste water at Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon a) screening of microorganisms suitable for discoloration of textile effluents, b) testing different aerobic-anaerobic conditions, c) spectrophotometric evaluation of degraded diazo dye (2000); (2) Alternative sweeteners belonging to the polyhydroxyalcohols intended for food products a) selection of sweeteners (xylitol, sorbitol, erythrol), b) preparation of biscuits with alternative sweeteners, c) microbial and sensorial stability of biscuits over storage (2001-2004); (3) immobilization of biocatalyst (enzymes and cells) and their application in various processes at Bulgarian Academy of Science, a) synthesis and characterization of hydroxyethyl cellulose cryogels, b) immobilization of live cells in cryogels, c) ethanol production with regular and lyophilized cryogels with entrapped cells via fermentation( 2006-2008); (4) non-thermal preservation of strawberries at Lund University, Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition, Lund, Sweden, a) freezing of strawberries with trehalose and antifreeze protein, b) vacuum infusion, c) pulse electriec field treatment, d) drip loss and cell viability (2009), (5) edible films at Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Department of Agroindustrias, Lisbon, Portugal, a) synthesis and characterization of pure and modified chitosan films, b) strawwberries coating with edible film, c) stability evaluation of coated strawberries (2010-2012); (6) vacuum infusion of apples with trehalose at Interdepartmental Centre for Agri-Food Industrial Research, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Italy, a) vacuum infusion of apples, b) characterization of impregnating solutions, c) characterization of infused apples (texture, color, respiartion rate, metabolic heat production, TD-NMR, microscopy) (2014); (7) edible films for intelligent packaging (at the moment).

Her professional carrer as a researcher was always coupled with teaching assignements: (1) Associate profesor for several courses: Introduction to Food Engineering, Food Preservation Processes, Quality Control of Food stuff (first cycle), Quality management, Sensory analysis, Legislation in food safety (second cycle), Food structure, Advances in food processing (third cycle) (2018- ); Assistant Profesor for Introduction to Food Engineering, Food Preservation Processes, Quality Control of Food stuff, Isolation and purification of bioproducts (first cycle) (2013-2018), research and teaching assistant (2004-2013).

She published around 14 papers, 20 papers in proceedings and more than 30 conference posters and several exhibiotions in fairs. She supervised undergraduate works (30) and master thesis (2) and participated in organization of professional trainings (3) and congresses (2).

She participated in 4 projects, she is a member of the Society of chemist and technologist of North Macedonia and reviewer of refered international journals (8).