Dr. Violetta Aru

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Violetta Aru is a biologist with strong expertise in analytical chemistry. Her research focuses on understanding the diet-environment influence on human and animal metabolism. She earned her degree in Biology in 2011 and completed her PhD in Chemical Sciences and Technologies in 2016 at the University of Cagliari, Italy. In 2020, she was appointed as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor in High-Throughput NMR Foodomics in the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen. Her current work involves applying ¹H NMR metabolomics to characterize bioactive compounds in agri-food by-products (e.g., olive leaves and myrtle pomace) and in natural matrices like propolis, with an emphasis on their radical scavenging and protective effects against oxidative cellular damage. She identifies metabolic pathways and biomarkers associated with altered digestion and gut inflammation in Atlantic salmon fed plant-based diets using multi-omics approaches. Additionally, she investigates multitrophic and multispecies cultivation systems to optimize food fermentations. Her main research areas include: characterizing the anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective effects of natural antioxidant ingredients and plant extracts in the agro-food industry, developing and validating high-throughput untargeted NMR-based methods linking specific metabolic signatures to food processing methods, fermentation pathways, and potential health outcomes.

Research Interests

Experience

Tenure-track Assistant Professor

2020-06-01 — Present

Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen • Copenhagen

Focus on High-Throughput NMR Foodomics.

Assistant Professor

2020-02-01 — 2020-05-01

Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen • Copenhagen

Postdoctoral Researcher

2016-08-01 — 2020-01-01

Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen • Copenhagen

Awards

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FOOD junior Scientist of 2022

2023-01-01
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Metabolomics Society Early Career Travel Award

2018-01-01

Courses

MSc Quantitative Biospectroscopy MSc Plants Foods 1 - Composition Biochemistry MSc Fundamentals Beer Brewing Wine Making BSc Food Production, Society and Health

Requirements for University of Copenhagen

Master Program
Requirements
IELTS
Overall
Required:6.5
TOEFL
Total
Required:83
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Psychology Minimum 45 ECTS in core psychology areas Minimum 20 ECTS in methodology and statistics
Application Checklist
  • Bachelor's diploma
  • Transcript of records
  • Course descriptions
  • Self-assessment form
  • Documentation of English proficiency
Specialization Notes

Focuses on clinical, social, and cognitive psychology.