My work as a PhD student covers the fields of spectroscopy, chemometrics and chemistry. The PhD research project wears the working title ”Spectroscopy for the rapid analysis of foods”, lies within the Matforsk project ”Effective assessment of food quality by rapid spectroscopic and sensor techniques”, and is performed under the strict supervision of Vegard Segtnan, Jens Petter Wold and Tomas Isaksson.
The PhD research project serves several aims. I mainly work with spectroscopic techniques like Near-Infrared, Infrared and Raman spectroscopy and compare these techniques used as rapid and non-destructive methods for analysing interesting components of various kinds of food systems. In addition I try to combine various chemometric techniques with basic knowledge about the spectroscopic methods and the chemistry of the specific food systems to assure robust and quantitative descriptions of the components of interest. So far I have used quite a bit of time working with Raman spectroscopy. The theory of Raman scattering has been known for about 80 years, but not until recent years the Raman instruments have grown to be robust, less expensive and thus more available for both research and industry. The technique is rapid, the need for sample preparation is minimal, and molecular vibrations due to water do not dominate in Raman spectra like they often do in Near-Infrared and Infrared spectra. However, issues related to sensitivity and interfering physical features often provide challenges in Raman analysis, and these challenges may be met by utilising the appropriate kinds of chemometric techniques.
I finished my master’s degree in chemistry at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim in 2003, and the thesis was written within the field if organic chemistry. I consider my later experiences using chemometrics and spectroscopy as a valuable addition to my former education in chemisty, and hope they will provide a sound educational basis for interesting work within various fields in the future.
