As many stories as arrivals
International staff at universities cannot be lumped in as a single group. People have very diverse experiences of organising their academic careers and the rest of their lives in a foreign country.
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Science is a community effort
Media and communications researcher Veera Ehrlén believes that science is created together. She works with Young Academy Finland to build a community of researchers where expertise is shared, the voice of science is boosted, and research is made socially visible.
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Professor of the Year 2026 Jani Erola: Promises and limits of education
Professor of the Year 2026 Jani Erola is also one of the fifteen recently appointed Research Council of Finland Academy Professors. His new project studies the connections between increased level of education, job market changes, and new technology in social inequality.
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The Academic of the Year Timo R. Stewart: Researchers’ role in public in need of discussion
Intentional misunderstandings, hate speech, silencing attempts. Academic of the Year, researcher and non-fiction writer Timo R. Stewart has had to witness these over the course of his career. In his opinion, a researcher conducting science with public funds plays an important role in social discourse.
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Raising the higher education rate is Finland’s trump card for the future
Minister Mari-Leena Talvitie’s goal is to open the doors of higher education institutions to at least every second young person. By increasing RDI funding, she wants to secure a strong capability to innovate for Finland in the future. At the same time, she is aware of the difficulties of increasing the education level and research funding.
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Heidi Kuusniemi: Professor of time, place, and space
Vuoden Professori 2025 on paikkatietotekniikkaan ja satelliittinavigointiin erikoistunut Vaasan yliopiston tietotekniikan professori Heidi Kuusniemi. Hän haluaa kehittää laajaa yhteistä hyvää palvelevia ratkaisuja ja menetelmiä. Hänen uransa aikana satelliittipaikannuksessa on otettu vallankumouksellisia harppauksia.
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Sofia Laine, Youth researcher with wild visions
Securing life opportunities for future generations should be our number one priority, says the Academic of the Year 2024, Research Professor Sofia Laine. She finds youth research essential for securing the conditions for sustainable life on our planet.
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Quality is created in higher education institutions
The funding model for higher education institutions is currently undergoing minor modifications in accordance with the government programme. However, the need for a more fundamental change in the model is brewing in the background, according to the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Director General of the Department for Higher Education and Science Policy, Sirkku Linna.
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Chasing the secrets of genetics and nutrition
“My work is at its best when I finish a research project, as well as when I notice my students improving while I am teaching”, summarises Professor of Nutrition Therapy Ursula Schwab, the 2024 Professor of the Year.
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Academic of the Year Lotta Kaila: ”Social discourse is about persistence”
As a result of Lotta Kaila’s active social discourse, pollinator exposure to pesticides has become a topic of discussion in Finland. That has required the Academic of the Year to put herself out there.
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Doctor of Work Psychology Helena Åhman: Difficult situations have the seed of learning something new
Doctor of Work Psychology Helena Åhman specialises in facing high-pressure situations and trusts the enriching nature of disagreements and options.
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Looking for the lost peace and quiet to do your job
For the new President of the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers, Tero Karjalainen, boosting wellbeing and letting people get on with it and do science are high on the agenda. He encourages the universities to compete through good HR policies.
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Against hate speech
Academic of the Year Tuija Saresma has put herself on the line many times for her study of hate speech. Often with confusing results.
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Happenstances and epiphanies
Professor of the Year 2023 Aki Mikkola focuses on discussion, internationality, and the freedom to err. Many machines around Finland bear the imprint of research and instruction.
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Libraries riding the wave
We must quickly develop services to ensure research data is preserved even in the future, envisions Minna Niemi-Grundström.
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Päivi Hökkä: Learning is more than knowledge and skills
The world and the surrounding universe is such an incredible place from a learning point of view, says Professor of Continuous Learning Päivi Hökkä.
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Putting linguistics to use
Anna Solin is confident that languages can be used in parallel – including in university administration.
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