I have 30 years of experience in industrial research on pulp and cellulose chemistry. The scope was extended to biorefineries after my research career started in 2007 at Aalto University. My core interest comprises the use of tailored ionic liquids for the selective dissolution of different biopolymers as a novel way of biomass fractionation. In material science the focus is laid on the development of high added-value cellulose material regenerated from ionic liquid solution as well as the synthesis of building block chemicals by heterogeneously catalyzed conversion routes from polysaccharides.