Assistant Professor Merve Atasoy investigates anaerobic bioreactor technology that has the potential to revolutionise wastewater treatment. Her professorship was established with the support of endowments from industry.
Wastewater is often viewed simply as waste that flows into treatment plants and burdens the environment. However, novel bioreactor technology can transform wastewater treatment so that waste streams turn into a resource through the recovery of valuable chemicals. The development of sustainable technology lies at the core of Assistant Professor Merve Atasoy’s research.
Atasoy works in the Department of Chemistry and Sustainable Technology on the Joensuu Campus of the University of Eastern Finland. Her expertise lies in sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies, bringing together environmental biotechnology, microbiology and engineering. Applications stemming from her research focus on the design and operation of bioreactors and on microbiological processes.
“Within the field of environmental biotechnology, my research focuses on anaerobic digestion, bioreactor design and operation, and the exploration and engineering of microbial communities in these systems,” Atasoy summarises.
Towards increasingly resource‑wise wastewater treatment
Currently, most wastewater treatment plants rely on activated sludge systems for mainstream carbon removal, which require external oxygen supply. Although these systems achieve high removal efficiencies, they account for nearly 70% of total plant electricity consumption and contribute approximately 50 % of greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants.
Recent advances in anaerobic bioreactor technologies have created new opportunities to shift wastewater treatment from an energy-intensive process to a resource-recovery platform.
“High-rate anaerobic bioreactors can achieve effective carbon removal while simultaneously enabling the recovery of valuable products through anaerobic digestion. The central research questions in my field therefore focus on how to develop and optimise high-rate anaerobic bioreactors for mainstream carbon removal and how to design biological systems capable of simultaneous carbon and nitrogen recovery,” Atasoy explains.
Collaboration helps translate research into practical applications
Atasoy’s ongoing research focuses on the recovery of valuable chemicals from wastewater through the development of two-stage anaerobic bioreactor systems and the engineering of microbial communities to enhance product yields while simultaneously capturing carbon and nutrients.
“We are also launching a new project that will involve close collaboration with two Finnish biotechnology companies, NPHarvest and Biopallo. The aim is to translate the project’s research outcomes into industrial applications,” Atasoy says.
Professorship made possible by endowments
Merve Atasoy’s previous roles include Postdoctoral Researcher and Technical Manager of the Biodiscovery Platform and Modular Bioreactor Platform at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. She obtained her doctoral degree from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.
Atasoy was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Eastern Finland in early 2025. Numerous companies and public organisations have given financial support for research and education in technology on the Joensuu and Kuopio campuses. Atasoy’s professorship was made possible by endowments from Technology Industries of Finland, John Deere, Abloy and Outokummun Metalli.
At the University of Eastern Finland, education in the field of technology was launched in autumn 2023 in three degree programmes: photonics and sustainable technologies on the Joensuu Campus and technical physics on the Kuopio Campus.
The latest expansion in the field, the degree programme in data engineering, will be launched in Joensuu and Kuopio in autumn 2026. The programme covers data science, statistics and software development as equally strong areas.
