CV

Curriculum Vitae of Urban Wünsch

Contact Information

Name Urban Wünsch
Professional Title Assistant Professor, Chalmers University of Technology
Email urban.wunsch@chalmers.se
Location Gothenburg, Sweden
ORCID 0000-0001-6972-6932
Scopus ID 57192896682

Professional Summary

Researcher working on organic compounds dissolved in water — disentangling the composition of complex environmental samples to understand the fate of Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) in aquatic systems. As of late 2026: 34 publications (10 as lead), H-index 19, 2100+ citations.

Experience

  • 2025 - Present
    Assistant Professor
    Chalmers University of Technology, Architecture and Civil Engineering
  • 2024 - 2025
    Assistant Professor
    DTU Aqua, National Institute for Aquatic Resources
  • 2020 - 2024
    Postdoc
    DTU Aqua, National Institute for Aquatic Resources
  • 2018 - 2020
    Postdoc
    Chalmers University of Technology, Architecture and Civil Engineering
  • 2014 - 2017
    PhD student
    Technical University of Denmark, National Institute for Aquatic Resources

Education

  • 2018
    PhD
    Technical University of Denmark
  • 2014

    Germany

    M.Sc.
    University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven
    Biotechnology
  • 2011

    Germany

    B.Sc.
    University of Applied Sciences Bingen
    Biotechnology

Teaching

  • 2018 - Present
    Co-organizer of online course
    Machine learning for spectroscopic data analysis
    For Master- and PhD-students
  • 2015 - 2025
    Teaching topics in master-level courses
    Ocean science & technology
  • 2023 - 2024
    Course responsible
    Blue Bioeconomy Innovation
    M.Eng, ~40 students
  • 2018 - 2020
    Teaching, bachelor-level courses
    Introduction to Chemistry & Urban spaces and functions for civil engineers
    Large classrooms

Supervision

  • 2026 - Present
    Co-supervisor
    Luis Salvatierra Chung Sang (PhD)
    DTU Aqua (Denmark)
  • 2025 - Present
    Main supervisor
    Julia Iwan (PhD)
  • 2024 - 2024
    Main supervisor
    Frederik Lenk (B.Sc.)
    Special course
  • 2023 - 2023
    Co-supervisor
    Maria Papadimitraki (Research Assistant)
    University of Southern Denmark
  • 2019 - 2023
    Co-supervisor
    Anders Dalhoff Bruhn Jensen (PhD)
    DTU Aqua (Denmark)
  • 2022 - 2022
    Co-supervisor
    Emilie Tage Andresen (B.Sc.)
    DTU Chemistry (Denmark)
  • 2022 - 2022
    Co-supervisor
    Linea Gry Ebbesen (B.Eng.)
    DTU Environment (Denmark)
  • 2020 - 2022
    Co-supervisor
    Signe Melbye Andersen (M.Sc.)
    DTU Aqua (Denmark)
  • 2019 - 2022
    PhD committee member
    Xianyu Kong (PhD)
    Alfred Wegener Institute (Germany)
  • 2021 - 2021
    Co-supervisor, voluntary special course
    Laila Vinther & Cecilie Hjelm Hvas Hansen (M.Sc.)
    DTU Environment (Denmark)
  • 2021 - 2021
    Co-supervisor
    Evelyn Namuga Kasule (B.Sc.)
    DTU Environment (Denmark)
  • 2018 - 2021
    Co-supervisor
    Nashita Moona (PhD)
    Chalmers (Sweden)

Research grants

  • 2025
    Dissolved Organic Matter Biogeochemistry - innovative methods and sensors
    Strategic funding, Chalmers thematic area Ocean

    2025-2029, Principal Investigator

  • 2023
    A new approach to laccase discovery from the sea
    Independent Research Fund Denmark

    2.5 million DKK, named applicant

  • 2022
    New eyes on old GAC
    FORMAS, Sweden

    146,000 SEK, co-applicant

  • 2021
    Oxidation Demand and Rate (ODaR) as a sensitive proxy of biostability in drinking water
    FORMAS, Sweden

    26,000 SEK, co-applicant

  • 2019
    Enhancing Biogeochemical Fingerprints of Natural Organic Matter with Data Fusion
    Åforsk Foundation

    400,000 SEK, main applicant

  • 2019
    An optical sensor for reducing biocide dependence in chemical manufacturing
    Vinnova, Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems

    474,000 SEK, co-applicant

  • 2019
    2-year postdoctoral scholarship
    Carl Tryggers Stiftelse

    552,000 SEK, main author

Recent conferences

  • 2023
    Photosensitivity of fluorescent dissolved organic matter across the arctic ocean
    Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2023, Mallorca, Spain
  • 2021
    Combining Physical and Mathematical Chromatography to Decipher the Molecular Fingerprints of Dissolved Organic Matter
    20th Conference of the International Humic Substances Society (online)
  • 2021
    Mathematical chromatography deciphers the molecular fingerprints of dissolved organic matter
    Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2021 (online)

Skills

Dissolved organic matter characterization: Excitation-Emission Matrix (EEM) spectroscopy, Absorbance spectroscopy, High Performance Size Exclusion Chromatography (HPSEC), Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS)
Chemometrics: Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC & PARAFAC2), N-way Partial Least Squares (N-PLS), Advanced Coupled Matrix and Tensor Factorization (ACMTF)

Membership in Scientific Communities

Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO): Member since 2014
International Humic Substances Society (IHSS): Member since 2018