Current Members

Ayan Banerjee is a doctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Graz, working on the ERC-funded project StimulART. He earned his Master of Technology in Materials Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in 2024. During his master’s studies, he was awarded the prestigious DAAD KOSPIE Fellowship and carried out his thesis research at Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (IPF) Dresden and TU Dresden, Germany. Following his master’s degree, he worked as a Project Junior Research Fellow at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, where he focused on developing waste-derived lignin–pullulan biocomposite films for food packaging applications.

Projects: StimulART

Bálint graduated from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics with a degree in chemical engineering and joined the Barta Group in 2022. Throughout his career, Bálint has been dedicated to the field of chemical biomass valorisation. Within the Barta Group, he is an integral member of the PureSurf project, focusing on the investigation, optimisation of novel surfactant synthesis as well as scaling-up these processes. Additionally, he is responsible for cost analysis and industrialisation.

Projects: PureSurf

Salvador Bertran has expertise in biomass pretreatment, lignin chemistry, and analytical characterization. During his PhD in Groningen and his research position at TNO, he worked on supercritical CO₂ pretreatment, lignin modification, biomass fractionation, while also gaining experience in biological valorization of the obtained fractions. In his new role, he will investigate diol-assisted lignin-first fractionation in batch and flow systems, contributing to sustainable biomass valorization.

Projects: Circular Bioengineering

Marco is working in the field of method development for measuring emissions. The main working field is the analysis of fuel and exhaust gas of combustion engines, ranging from small two-stroke engines up to large-bore engines. The spectrum of fuels begins with petroleum-based fuels, extends to biofuels and e-fuels, and also includes ammonia and other alternatives. In addition, he works at FVT mbH in the research area of ​​Design (special drives and energy converters, K&A) on the research of new alternatives for propulsion.

Susmita earned her Ph.D. in June 2024 from CSIR–National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India where she specialized in heterogeneous catalysis and biomass valorization. Since July 2024, her research has centered on designing sustainable catalytic strategies for renewable resource utilization and environmentally friendly chemical processes.

Projects: StimulART, PureSurf

Antonio joined the Barta Group in June, 2018  as a doctoral researcher and earned his PhD degree at the University of Groningen, Netherlands with his work “Catalytic routes to value-added amines via lignin-first biorefining“.   His current work is focused on a) The valorization of lignin and lignin-derived platform chemicals for the production of safe and sustainable polymeric materials and b) The development of catalytic pathways towards the synthesis of  pharmaceutically relevant compounds from lignin. 

Projects: StimulART, RE-Fibre, Woodvalue

Ramesh joined the Barta group in 2023 as Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Researcher. Dr Chowdari obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry (Heterogeneous Catalysis) from the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology/Osmania University, Hyderabad (India), in 2014. He has worked at several international institutions, including the University of Saskatchewan (2012), University of Groningen (2014–2016), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (2016–2017), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (2018–2022), and National Institute of Chemistry in Slovenia (2022–2023). Since July 2025, he has been continuing as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the HURIZON project. Dr. Chowdari has expertise in several topics, including biomass valorization, petroleum refining, biofuels, nanomaterials, heteropolyoxometalates, zeolites, CO₂ reduction, and waste plastic recycling.

Projects: HU-RIZON

Claire joined the Barta group in June 2025, and takes care of a variety of tasks related to grant management, operations, dissemination, and outreach. She received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemistry from Brown University and the University of Washington before transferring to Washington University in St. Louis, where she received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. After postdoctoral research at Universität Heidelberg and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, she worked in scientific publishing, where she held several roles, including Editor-in-Chief of ChemSusChem and ChemNanoMat.

Projects: StimulART, Woodvalue, PHARMECO

Ferenc joined the Barta Group as a PhD candidate within the NextBase MSCA Doctoral Network in a joint effort with Fabbrica Italiana Sintetici (Italy). Prior to this, Ferenc graduated from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in pharmaceutical engineering. He started working as a research scientist in X-Chem (Budapest, Hungary) where he gained experience in flow & photochemistry, as well as custom synthesis of API candidates tied to DNA-encoded library screening. His current research focuses on iron-catalyzed cross-coupling development for API manufacturing on industrial scale.

Projects: NextBase

Leonie joined the University of Graz in October 2025 as a doctoral candidate after completing her Master’s degree in Sustainable Chemistry at Stockholm University (Sweden). Her Master’s thesis focused on nickel–carbon nitride hybrid materials as sustainable alternatives to homogeneous catalysts for cross-coupling reactions. Within the PHARMECO initiative, her current work centers on the development of scalable processes using non-precious metal catalysts in continuous flow, under the co-supervision of Prof. Katalin Barta and Prof. Oliver Kappe.

Projects: PHARMECO

Mustapha holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Strasbourg (France). After a postdoctoral stay at the University of Zhejiang (China), he joined the group of Prof Katalin Barta in October 2022, where his research deals with applying sustainable chemical principles to the design of novel catalytic methods.

Markus is a Senior Scientist at the Barta Group, specializing in the intersection of renewable resource utilization and commercial viability. Since joining in 2020, he has managed several EU-funded projects in surfactant research, focusing on characterization, application development, and innovation commercialization. Markus collaborates with academic and industrial partners to ensure that innovative solutions effectively meet market needs. Markus holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Graz (Austria).

Projects: PureSurf, RADAR, ZELDA, ADVANCE

Hana joined the Barta Group in December 2024 as a Project Coordinator. She manages the activities of the RE-Fibre MSCA Doctoral Network, an EU-funded project connecting five academic and seven industry partners across Europe. Additionally, she coordinates the involvement of the Barta group in projects like the Cluster of Excellence (Circular Bioengineering) and another MSCA Doctoral Network, Next Base. Hana has a background in molecular biology of plants and holds a PhD from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria.

Projects: RE-Fibre, Circular Bioengineering, Next Base

Marta joined the Barta group in June 2024 for her master’s thesis, working in the PureSurf project where she focused on reductive amination to expand the bio-based surfactant platform. As of September 2025, she is a PhD student in the surfactant project RADAR, working on the design and synthesis of novel surfactants derived from lignocellulose.

Projects: PureSurf, RADAR

Markus is a Chemical Engineer who joined the PureSurf team within the Barta Group in July 2022, after finishing the Chemie Akademie in Graz. As Head of Analysis, he is responsible for surfactant characterization, operating, and maintaining GC/LC/(HR)MS devices.

Projects: PureSurf, RADAR

Harikrishnan is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD fellow since August 2025 in the Re-Fibre network. He earned his MSc in Chemistry from the University of Siegen, Germany. His work focuses on developing novel, recyclable, lignin-based epoxy resins.

Projects: RE-Fibre

Lukas joined the Barta Group as a Scientific Assistant in October 2024 after completing his Master’s degree in Technical Chemistry, with a thesis focused on bio-based surfactants (PureSurf project). Since June 2025, his work has focused on data-driven approaches in chemistry.

Projects: ADVANCE

Jacquin October joined the Barta group on 1 September 2022. Prior to this, he completed a two-year postdoctoral stay (2020-2022) at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Germany and his PhD at Stellenbosch University (2016-2019) in South Africa. He specialises in atom-efficient synthesis, such as Reppe carbonylations, aminations (reductive amination, hydroamination, hydrogen borrowing) and hydrofuctionalizations (hydroformylation, hydroaminomethylation, hydroacylation, hydroalkoxylations). In the Barta group, his research is centred on the green and sustainable synthesis of surfactants via homo- and heterogeneous catalysis.

Projects: PureSurf, RADAR

Eleonora obtained her Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology (CTF) at the University of Pisa (Italy), after completing her Master’s thesis project at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Her thesis focused on biomolecular chemistry and catalysis, specifically exploring biohybrid catalysts and employing DNA as a chiral inducer. In May 2024, Eleonora joined the Barta Group as a PhD candidate within the NextBase MSCA Doctoral Network. Her current research focuses on developing base-metal catalytic cross-coupling methodologies in alternative reaction media, with applications in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Projects: NextBase

Vallabh joined the Barta group in November 2024 as a postdoctoral researcher. He works on the StimulART project, funded by the ERC Consolidator grant, focusing on the isolation and valorization of lignin to obtain novel polymers. Prior to this, he obtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras, IN), investigating heterogeneously catalyzed processes for biomass, bio-oils, and lignin up-gradation.

Projects: StimulART

Rathnakowsiha joined the Barta group in October 2024 as a doctoral researcher after obtaining her Master’s degree in Chemistry from SASTRA University (India). Her Master’s thesis focused on developing pseudo-homogeneous catalysts from renewable biomass and introducing bathochromic shifts in BODIPY molecules by annulation. Her current work focuses on the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant novel lignin-derived heterocyclic compounds.

Projects: StimulART, Woodvalue

Sydney Reiber is a PhD candidate in the Barta Group, working on the StimulART ERC project, focusing on developing alternative methods for the production and recycling of bio-derived thermosetting composites. Sydney grew up in Colorado, United States hiking and snowboarding. She moved to Vancouver Island, Canada in 2019 for her BSc. in Chemistry, where she completed 3 years of undergraduate research in organic synthesis and catalysis. The final year of her BSc. she worked with Dr. David Leitch’s group for her Honours Thesis, working on the total synthesis of radical containing spiro- molecules as hole transport layers for perovskite solar cells. From 2023-2024 she worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on acidolysis of aerospace epoxy composites and textile deconstruction. Her MSc. was completed in July 2025 under the Erasmus Mundus Sustainable Catalysis program, where her thesis focused on immobilization of Pd catalysts for continuous flow synthesis of chiral pharmaceutical precursors.

Projects: StimulART

Gloria is a polymer chemist with a focus on synthesis using sustainable feedstocks. She obtained her PhD in Inorganic Chemistry in 2022 at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Professor Charlotte Williams. Her thesis was on the study of polycarbonates from CO₂ using heterodinuclear Mg-based catalysts. From 2022 to 2025, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, working with Dr Gregg Beckham on the synthesis of bio-based products derived from lignin. In September 2025 she joined as the Junior Group Leader in the group, working on several projects on the development of bio-derived materials.

Projects: StimulART, RE-Fibre, Circular Bioengineering

Stefan finished his Master’s degree working on carbohydrate chemistry at the Technical University of Graz and joined the Barta group in 2022 as a PhD student within the PureSurf project. His main research focus lies on the ideation and synthesis of novel lignocellulose-based surfactants.

Projects: PureSurf, RADAR

Theresa joined the Barta group as a biochemist in May 2024 and completed her master’s thesis within the PureSurf project, focusing on the antimicrobial potential of lignocellulose-based surfactants. Since September 2025, she has been a PhD student in the RADAR surfactant project, where she investigates the mode of action of novel antimicrobial compounds and contributes to the structural optimization of sustainable surfactants under the guidance of Priv.-Doz. Dr. Nermina Malanovic at the Institute of Molecular Biosciences.

Projects: PureSurf, RADAR

Anja finished her Master’s degree in Advanced Materials Science with a specialization in bio-based materials (TU Graz/KFU) and joined the Barta group as a PhD student in June 2025. Her work is mainly focused on the preparation and characterization of lignin-based polymers.

Projects: StimulART

Arnold commenced his PhD journey in September 2025 as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow within the Re-Fibre project, joining the Barta Group. His research focuses on the catalytic functionalization of lignin-derived alcohols for diverse applications.

Projects: RE-Fibre

Simeon finished his M.Sc. in Sustainable Chemistry at the Stockholm University in June 2025. He started his PhD in October 2025 and is part of the Cluster of Excellence Circular Bioengineering. His research focuses on mechanistic studies of Diol-assisted lignin fractionation.

Projects: Circular Bioengineering

During her bachelor’s studies, Magdolna worked on the generic process development of anti-cancer drugs for a Hungarian pharmaceutical company. This experience provided her with valuable insight into the industry and the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). During her master’s studies, she focused on the development and synthesis of coronavirus NSP3 macrodomain inhibitors, which may hold promise for future antiviral therapies. Building on her previous pharmaceutical knowledge and synthetic chemistry experience, Magdolna began her PhD in 2025 in the Barta Group, where she is currently working on the development of sustainable routes to bioactive heterocycles from wood.

Projects: Woodvalue

Aranza holds a Master degree in Sustainable Catalysis and is now a PhD student in the Barta group as part of the Cluster of Excellence Circular Bioengineering where she will study the integration of fractionation and catalytic downstream processing in diol-assisted fractionation of lignocellulose.

Projects: Circular Bioengineering

Zhe-hui Zhang was born in Shanxi, China. He is currently a PhD student at Beijing Forestry University, Beijing. His research focuses  on preparation of modified Raney Ni catalysts and lignin transformation with Raney Ni catalysts. He began exchange studies at Barta Group in November 2025.