Our Team

Matti Rissanen is currently a professor of Physical Chemistry in the University of Helsinki and an associate professor of Experimental Aerosol Science in the Tampere University. Rissanen is the lead of the Radical Aerosol Physical Chemistry research group which is positioned in both universities.

He obtained his M.Sc. (Honors) and Ph.D. (Laudatur) from the Physical Chemistry laboratory of the University of Helsinki studying the temperature- and pressure-dependent kinetics of select gas-phase free radical reactions.

He is an author of over 100 publications, and his main research focuses on the in-situ formation of atmospheric aerosol precursors and the related development of research instrumentation. He is a part of the Finnish Academy Center of Excellence in Research, Vilma, and a holder of the Finnish Academy Research Fellow, and the prestigious European Research Council Consolidator, Grants.

Siddharth Iyer is an Academy Research Fellow at the Aerosol Physics Laboratory in Tampere University, Finland.

Siddharth’s research focuses on studying the gas-phase oxidation chemistry of biogenic and anthropogenic hydrocarbons using quantum chemistry and mass spectrometric tools. These investigations are crucial for understanding the processes that precede the gas-to-particle conversion in the atmosphere. He is currently investigating the oxidation chemistry of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Tampere University.

Siddharth received his PhD from University of Helsinki, Finland, in 2019.

I am Prasenjit Seal, a senior researcher in the Aerosol Physics Laboratory of Tampere University, Finland. My research areas are based on computational chemistry and molecular modeling, which ranges from small organic molecules to medium-sized clusters to soft matters. I devoted my research career in the areas of non-covalent interactions, optical properties, magnetic properties, aromaticity, thermochemistry, chemical kinetics, photochemistry, and molecular dynamics. At present, I am involved in studying the mechanism and kinetics of the autoxidation of anthropogenic voltaic organic compounds (AVOCs).

More detailed information about my work and research activities can be found on my site.

I’m a postdoctoral research fellow in the Aerosol Physics Laboratory at Tampere University. I joined RAPC research group in 2021.

Prior joining in this group, I completed my PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India. My thesis was based on estimating the kinetics of radical-molecule reactions in the gas phase. At present, my research focuses on exploring the autoxidation mechanism of hydrocarbons and its contribution as aerosol precursors using advanced mass spectrometric techniques. Outside lab, I enjoy playing outdoor sports, travel, and spending time with my friends.

Areas of expertise: Chemical ionization mass spectrometry, Quantum chemical computation, Laboratory chemical management, Basic Chemistry teaching

Shawon is a final year PhD student in the RAPC research group of Tampere University. In the beginning of his doctoral studies in Tampere University, he was awarded the full 4-years doctoral funding by the Engineering and Natural Sciences (ENS) doctoral school. He has been studying the gas-phase oxidation chemistry of hydrocarbons with focus on carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) that can rapidly lead to the formation of highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOM). He graduated jointly from Helsinki University, Finland and Lille University, France with a master’s degree in Advanced Spectroscopy in Chemistry (ASC) with Erasmus Mundus scholarship in 2019. During the European joint master’s studies, he conducted research in Analytical Chemistry to characterize Indoor Air Quality.

Earlier, in 2015, Shawon graduated with another master’s degree in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. He conducted the synthesis and characterization of several macrocyclic complexes of biological importance. Soon after the graduation, he served as a chemistry laboratory instructor at the Asian University for Women, Bangladesh for two years.

My name is Sana Farhoudian and I joined Matti Rissanen team in 2022. In this group, as an experimentalist, I am doing research on the autoxidation of furan and decalin as VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) sources, busy with API-TOF and Orbitrap in seek of HOMs (Highly Oxygenated Molecules). Mass spectrometry in its various branches is what we rely on to detect HOMs, what we chase eagerly, via different machines.

Not only these compounds but also anywhere there are origins for VOCs is a spot of interest to me; like 2023 CESAM, Paris; where we monitored nighttime monoterpene oxidation chemistry initiated by NO3 in an atmospheric simulation chamber.

Switching from the background of nanochemistry to aerosol physics to study atmospheric physics has been a turning-point to me as someone for whom protecting environment is one of the concerns of life. Being a nephophilia for long years and clicking dozens of clouds photos, makes you wish to figure out more about their birth, growth and aging in detail leading to realizing the importance of aerosols since they play roles in Earth's climate mostly by reflecting sunlight back to space.

And we all are aware of the fact that life on Earth depends inevitably on its climate!

Rabbia Asgher is currently a Doctoral Researcher in Radical Aerosol Physical Chemistry group under supervision of Matti Rissanen.

Her main research interest are atmospheric aerosols: minuscule suspended particles that wield significant influence over climate and air quality; the two subjects that hold pressing significance for both society and the environment. Central to her research is characterization of the chemical composition of (organic) aerosol particles by means of advanced mass spectrometric techniques alongside investigation of their sources, formation and transformation processes, and fate in the atmosphere.

Currently, she has been analyzing Furan (a potential biofuel) oxidation chemistry to understand its connection with aerosols formed via formation of Highly Oxygenated Molecules (HOM) using Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Moreover, she was part of CESAM 2023 in Paris where she dealt with nighttime NO3 oxidation chemistry of monoterpenes in an atmospheric simulation chamber using API-TOF.

Previously, she has done her masters in Organic Chemistry; a good foundation to understand oxidation mechanisms of volatile organic compounds (VOC) leading to secondary organic aerosols (SOA) via HOM.

Sakshi Jha is a Ph.D. student in the Aerosol physics laboratory of Tampere university, Finland. In 2022, she graduated with a master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry from National Institute of Technology Warangal (NITW) in Telangana, India. She has worked on Density Functional Theory (DFT)-Based Calculations for 2D Hexagonal Lanthanide Metals for her master's thesis in computational field. She is currently working on a computational study of gas-phase oxidation chemistry for her doctoral thesis. She focuses on the kinetics and autoxidation mechanism of the anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOC), mainly aliphatic and aromatic compounds, initiated by OH and NO3 radicals. She additionally studies the bidirectional role of nitrogen oxides (NOx).

I was born in Ardabil, Iran in 1992. I studied Mechanical Engineering and scrutinized the principles of Fluid Dynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, and Thermodynamics in various research in my hometown from 2011 to 2022. Then, as a Doctoral Researcher, I joined the Aerosol Physics laboratory group at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University in 2022. I am modeling aerosol particle formation and transportation in order for taking an important step towards clean cities and society.

I'm currently a PhD student in the physical chemistry department at Helsinki University.

My master's degree is in Advanced Spectroscopy in Chemistry (ASC) and I graduated jointly from the University of Helsinki (Finland) and the University of Lille (France). The thesis internship took place at VTT MIKES (Finland) and it focused on the evaluation of machine learning classifiers for mineralogy mapping based on near-infrared hyperspectral imaging.

My current research topic focuses on the application of machine learning for complex mass spectral analysis.