Matjaž Krajnc was born in 1969 in Maribor. He is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana. From 2003 to 2013, he was Vice-Dean for Research, from 2005 to 2013 Chair of the Management Board of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, from 2013 to 2017 Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, and from 2017 to 2021 Vice-Rector of the University of Ljubljana.

He graduated in 1993 and obtained his doctorate in 1997 from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana. After completing his doctorate, he was employed at Helios as a development project manager, and since 1999 he has been actively involved with the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology. He was a Visiting Researcher at the John Hopkins University and at Oregon State University (USA) as an American Chemical Society Fellow, and was also a Visiting Professor at the University of Zagreb.

From 2003 to 2006 he was a member of the Technical Chemistry core staff (Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Science Office), and from 2004 to 2017 a member of the General Committee of the Slovenian Chemical Society. His research interests range from chemical reaction engineering and heterogeneous catalytic processes to the development of advanced polymer-based materials. He has led several national research projects and development projects for companies and, since 2008, has been the leader of the national research programme "Chemical Engineering".