PhD researchers

• Elena Tejada Izquierdo(ELIMINAR)

  I hold a degree in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona and have developed my professional career in the pharmaceutical industry. Along the way, I came across a postgraduate course in applied statistics for the pharmaceutical industry at the UB and a collaboration with the Chemometrics Group at URV, which drew me in to the point of embarking on a doctoral thesis on PAT (Process Analytical Technology) applications in industry using NIR spectroscopy.

• Ines Saouabi 

  Born in Tunisia, I am an agricultural engineer graduated from the Université de Carthage with a master's degree in Olive Growing and Olive Oil Technology from the University of Córdoba. After completing my master's degree, I had the opportunity to come to URV to develop my doctoral thesis on the sensory characterization of products derived from nuts, which is a very interesting opportunity to contribute to improving the quality of these products in the agri-food industry.

• Alicia Murcia 

  I hold a degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from URV and a master's degree in Translational Biomedical Research from Vall d'Hebron Hospital. It was during my undergraduate internship in this group that I realized I wanted to return here to pursue my PhD. My doctoral thesis focuses on the development of electrochemical sensors for the non-invasive detection of analytes, aimed at the sports industry.

• Núria Vera i Valls(ELIMINAR) 

  I hold a degree in Food Science and Technology from the University of Barcelona and a master's degree in Fermented Beverages, specialising in Oenological Research, from Rovira i Virgili University. After completing the master's degree, I had the opportunity to begin my doctoral thesis, focused on the use of images captured with mobile devices for the monitoring of oenological processes, with the aim of supporting the wine industry.

• Azam Hussain(ELIMINAR)

  A Chemistry graduate (2020) from the University of Sargodha, Pakistan, with a master's degree (2023) from the University of Education, Pakistan. His master's research focused on emerging contaminants, examining their environmental fate and associated health risks using multivariate statistical analysis. He also participated in collaborative research on the asymmetric synthesis of heterocyclic compounds and their applications. Since 2024, he has been a PhD researcher at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, working within the project "Catalytic Innovations for the Sustainable Production of Energy, Drugs and Other High-Value Chemicals. Theoretical and applied Chemometrics." He is actively contributing to the design of catalytic systems for the asymmetric hydrogenation of olefins using machine-learning tools implemented in Python. His research interests include asymmetric catalysis, machine learning, chemometrics, emerging contaminants, and environmental risk assessment. His work primarily focuses on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15.

• Marina Pellegrino(ELIMINAR) 

  I graduated in Food Science and Technology at the University of Padova, Italy, earning both my BSc and MSc. I then undertook a research period focused on spectroscopy applied to olive oil and animal feed, before continuing my professional career in industry as a chemometrician. I am currently pursuing an industrial PhD within the Chemosens Group, where my research focuses on spectral libraries, data transfer strategies, and data fusion methodologies aimed at supporting the industrial implementation of spectroscopic and chemometric techniques.

• Giovanni Vettori(ELIMINAR) 

  I graduated in Materials Chemistry from the University of Bologna, Italy. Eager to continue growing academically and to gain new perspectives in an international context, I moved to Tarragona to pursue the Master's Degree in Nanoscience, Materials and Processes and, subsequently, the Master's Degree in Synthesis, Catalysis and Molecular Design. It was during this period that I joined the Nanosensors group, where I carried out my master's thesis focused on electrochemical biosensors. This experience allowed me to discover a research field that combines chemistry, technology and biomedical applications, and it quickly sparked my interest. I am currently pursuing an industrial PhD in collaboration between the Nanosensors group and EoxSense. My research focuses on the development of new methodological and instrumental strategies to promote the application of innovative sensor technologies in the field of point-of-care diagnostics. I am motivated by the opportunity to contribute to the development of innovative technologies that can become useful tools for society and have a real impact in the fields of diagnostics and health.