PhD and M. Sc. Students

WISE PhD Student
Surabhi S. Raj obtained her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Biotechnology in 2016. She completed her Master of Technology degree in Computational Biology and Bioengineering at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-NCL), Pune, India, in 2023. In 2024, she joined the Ph.D. program within the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE) at the Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University. Her research focuses on the remediation of PFAS from groundwater using lignin-derived materials, with special emphasis on porous carbons.

WISE PhD Student
Weijie Li is a PhD student in Prof. Tetyana M. Budnyak research group at Uppsala University. His research is about hybrid materials for pollutants mitigation based on lignin-derived biobased materials.

Co-supervised PhD Student
Yelriza Yeszhan is a second-year PhD student at Satbayev University in Kazakhstan, specializing in Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials. Yelriza works under the supervision of Prof. Seitkhan Azat and is co-supervised by Asst. Prof. Tetyana Budnyak. Her current research focuses on the application of MXenes in water treatment. She holds an MSc in Chemical and Materials Engineering from Nazarbayev University and possesses additional experience in the synthesis and application of conducting polymers.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Postdoctoral Researcher
Jingqian Chen obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia in 2020 focused on polysaccharides hydrolysis kinetic modeling, kraft pulping, hemicellulose adsorption to pulp fibres, and micro-fibrillated cellulose production by enzymatic hydrolysis. She has worked on biomaterials by lignin nanoparticles for energy storage and photonic color applications since 2021. She joined Prof. Tetyana M. Budnyak research group at Uppsala University in 2024 focusing on sustainable biomaterials development of lignin particles and polysaccharides for environmental science and applications.

WISE Postdoc
Frank Sznaider received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires in 2021, focusing on structural and rheological studies of Brea gum exudate polysaccharides and the use of chemometrics to study amidation reactions of these biopolymers. He has worked as a collaborator of the Antarctic Argentinian Institute (IAA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the study of microplastic pollution in the Antarctic region. He joined Prof. Tetyana M. Budnyak’s research group at Uppsala University in late 2024, focusing on the development of sustainable bio-based materials using lignin, polysaccharides and natural fibers for environmental science and applications.

WISE Postdoc
Ananta Dey was born in West Bengal, India. He received his bachelor (2012) in Chemistry(H) and master degree (2014) in Applied Chemistry from University of Calcutta in West Bengal. He pursued his research work entitled “Role of Noncovalent Interactions in PCET and Designing Supramolecular Assemblies” at CSIR-CSMCRI under the supervision of Dr. Amitava Das and was awarded with the PhD degree by AcSIR in 2021. Subsequently, he joined the research group of Prof. Jacinto Sá (Uppsala University, Sweden) as post-doctoral fellow to work on plasmonic hetero structured materials for hydrogen evolution and CO2 reductions. He is currently working as a post-doctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Tetyana Budnyak at Uppsala University on rare earth material extraction using lignin and silica-based materials.

SERC Postdoc
Zinaida Bunina received her PhD in 2022 from V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine, for research on lanthanide ion adsorption by polymeric sorbents with immobilized O-dentate ligands. Her research interests lie in physical and analytical chemistry, with a particular emphasis on developing innovative separation and preconcentration techniques – including adsorption and microextraction of transition metals –to improve the sensitivity and environmental sustainability of analytical methods. She joined Prof. Tetyana Budnyak’s research group in 2024, and her current work focuses on separation of critical raw materials, including Uranium, from deposits and tailings as part of Smart Exploration Research Center https://www.smartexploration.se/

Researcher, Docent in Physical Chemistry
I am excited to share that I earned my PhD in Physical Chemistry from Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine in 2016, focusing on sorption and complexing equilibria at nitrogen-containing organo-silica anion exchangers. After my degree, I joined the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil for a postdoctoral fellowship in the Solids and Surfaces Laboratory, developing silica-based materials enriched with metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles for applications in photoactive systems, sensors, and electrochemical biosensors. From 2019 to 2021, I returned to Karazin University as a researcher and assistant professor, primarily teaching undergraduate courses while nurturing my passion for mentorship and education. I also participated in enriching research visits to the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Microbiology for Materials and the Environment in France and Jagiellonian University in Poland. My research during this period focused on the electrochemical synthesis of inorganic hybrid composites for energy applications and catalysis.
In July 2021, I was thrilled to join Prof. Tetyana M. Budnyak's group, where my research now centres on harnessing porous materials to combat water pollution through effective adsorption and catalysis.

SAR Researcher, Docent in Analytical Chemistry
Nataliia Smyk received her PhD degree in Analytical Chemistry and holds the position of Associate Professor at the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Her research expertise includes the development of electrochemical and spectroscopic sensors for the detection of toxicants in environmental, personal care, and food matrices. In late 2025, she joined the research group of Professor Tetyana Budnyak at Uppsala University as a guest researcher. Her current research interests focus on the development of lignin-based sorbents for the removal of residual pharmaceutical compounds from water.

Nataliia Fihurka, researcher in 2022-2025

Oscar Cabezuelo Gandia, postdoc in 2024-2025 (postdoc, University of Nottingham, UK)

Alina Korobeinyk, visiting researcher in 2024, 2025 (Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)

Nataliia Stoliarchuk, visiting PhD student 2024, 2025 (Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)

Mariia Kaidash, visiting postdoc in 2024 (Institute of Singal Crystals of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)

Tetyana Khaliavka, visiting postdoc in 2024 (postdoc, Denmark Technical University, Denmark)

Francisco Carvalho, Master student in 2024 (Ramboll Stockholm)

Alina Nikolaichuk, postdoc in 2022-2024 (postdoc, KTH, Sweden)