Marja-Liisa Riekkola

Meet Marja-Liisa Riekkola

Most important lesson Believe in your scientific ideas and instincts, and take advantage of opportunities when offered. Look rather into the future than into the past.

Most unexpected outcome Perhaps the most unexpected thing happened to me a long time ago was when the Faculty of Science of University of Helsinki selected me, the youngest and only woman among ten competitive applicants to the position of full professor of analytical chemistry. The final decision was based mainly on the independent scientific assessment reports written by four highly respected and well-known international professors.

Eye on the horizon I see very positive future for my research group because analytical atmospheric chemistry (with very good knowledge of separation science and mass spectrometry) offers an excellent basis for the development of new sampling techniques, portable instruments and other equipment to tackle fundamental climate change issues. In addition, the same expertise helps to develop new miniaturized systems for human biomolecule studies. The topics mentioned are so important and actual that I do not see any major problems in getting funding although the economic situation is getting worse.

Developments in analytical sciences have been huge, mainly due to the fact that we have cleverly taking advantage of progress in material science, electronics and information technology, and so on. Analytical sciences are really at the forefront of identifying problems and finding solutions.