Viveka Balasundararajan

Viveka Balasundararajan is a Junior Research Fellow and PhD student at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, affiliated with the Chair of Biosystems Engineering. Her research focuses on microbial valorisation of lignocellulosic biomass and anaerobic fermentation optimization using thermal degradation by-products. She holds a BSc in Horticulture (2016) and MSc in Agricultural Microbiology (2018) from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India.

Education:

• Bachelor's in Horticulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (2012–2016)
• Master's in Agricultural Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (2016–2018)

Research Interests:

• Microbial valorisation of biomass
• Waste-to-biochemical conversion
• Sustainable biorefinery systems
• Quorum sensing in plant-associated bacteria

Awards:

• Best Oral Presentation (2020)
• ASRB-NET & GATE Qualifications (2018)
• Indian Ministry Fellowship (2017)

Projects: Leading the project 'Levoglucosan-to-biochemicals: Production, Separation, and Microbial Valorisation' (2023–2027). Collaborating on lignin-based bioproduct development (2025–2029).

Professional Development: Attended courses on anaerobic digestion (University of Galway, 2024) and downstream processing (Delft University of Technology, 2024).