A Cyprus-based assistant professor was awarded a prestigious grant to conduct research in atmospheric science and explore the role of base molecules in aerosol formation.
Assistant professor at the Cyprus Institute’s Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C) Dr Tuija Jokinen, has been selected for funding for a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for an innovative project proposal exploring “The role of Base molecules in AErosol formation (BAE)”.
The research to be carried out at The Cyprus Institute is led by Dr Jokinen, an established PI with a demonstrated history in groundbreaking nanoaerosol and aerosol precursor studies, and aims to advance our understanding of the atmospheric chemistry and molecular pathways that control the formation and growth of aerosol formation.
The project will focus on the role of base molecules in the formation of new particles and their fate in the atmosphere. This project will underpin the modelling of atmospheric aerosol processes, which are subject to major precursor emission changes in Europe and beyond. The project has a duration of five years and a total budget of €2.24 million.
The BAE project is of particular significance to global efforts to address the climate crisis, as aerosol formation and growth mechanisms need to be better understood to improve air quality and weather prediction models, and reduce uncertainty of radiative forcing in climate change projections.
Dr Jokinen’s is the only ERC starting grant proposal to be selected for funding at a Cyprus-based Research Organisation in 2022 and the sixth starting grant awarded to Cyprus since the beginning of the programme in 2007.
Jokinen joined CyI in August 2021 from the University of Helsinki, Finland, where she also completed her PhD in physics and MSc in Chemistry. Following her dissertation in 2015, she was affiliated with the University of California at Irvine, USA, and has also been a visiting researcher at TROPOS, Leipzig, Germany.
She has a long history in working with chemical ionisation – atmospheric pressure interface – time of flight mass spectrometers and she specialises in field observations of aerosol precursor gases and sub 10 nm particle measurements.
More information about the 2022 ERC Starting Grant results here.
