Maryam Ghasemitarei, Atri Halder, Robert Leigh, Jenni Mölkänen and Hanna Ristolainen were appointed to three-year UEF Research Fellow positions.
Five new UEF Research Fellows have started at the University of Eastern Finland this autumn. They are Maryam Ghasemitarei from the Department of Technical Physics, Atri Halder from the Department of Physics and Mathematics, Robert Leigh from the A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, Jenni Mölkänen from the School of Theology, and Hanna Ristolainen from the Department of Social Sciences.
The University of Eastern Finland has used the UEF Research Fellow recruitment model since 2022. In this model, researchers receiving a good score (5-6) but not selected for funding by the Research Council of Finland will be invited to apply for the UEF Research Fellow positions. The requirement is that their funding for the Academy Research Fellow projects has been applied for to the University of Eastern Finland.
With the UEF Research Fellow recruitment model, the university wants to promote the careers of talented researchers. The first UEF Research Fellows were appointed in June 2022, and the newly selected UEF Research Fellows have, in most cases, started their three-year term on 1 September 2026.
The University of Eastern Finland will recruit new UEF Research Fellows from among well-performing Academy Research Fellow applicants also in summer 2027. The next call for applications for Academy Research Fellowships will be open from 14 October to 11 November 2026.
“It is important for the University of Eastern Finland to support promising young researchers at the start of their careers as independent researchers. Through this support, we are enabling more young researchers to advance in various academic disciplines,” emphasises Jussi Pihlajamäki, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation.
Research into cancer, optical networks, cardiomyocytes, faith-based development and community case management for older adults
Maryam Ghasemitarei’s research investigates how cold atmospheric plasma can selectively damage cancer cells by altering mitochondrial proteins involved in iron regulation and triggering ferroptosis, a form of iron-dependent cell death. By combining quantum and molecular simulations with machine learning, she aims to uncover these mechanisms at the molecular level and develop predictive computational tools to identify oxidation-susceptible sites in proteins, ultimately contributing to the development of more precise plasma-based cancer therapies.
Atri Halder’s planned research aims to study the correlation flow through an arbitrary high dimensional unitary linear optical network. Linear optical networks underpin a broad spectrum of emerging technologies, from optical neural networks and analog photonic computation to quantum information processing and high-speed communication. Yet, despite their ubiquity, existing theories assume perfectly coherent light and fail to capture the stochastic nature of real optical fields. This project aims to establish a unified theoretical and experimental framework describing how partial correlation – an intrinsic property of all practical light fields – propagates through arbitrary N×N unitary optical networks and can affect the outcome.
It is now possible to generate human heart muscle cells from pluripotent stem cells, but their wider use is limited by their structural and functional immaturity. Robert Leigh’s project seeks to identify regulatory processes which can help change immature human cardiomyocytes into adult-like cells for better use in disease modeling, tissue engineering, drug development, and regenerative medicine.
Jenni Mölkänen studies what religious development actors are doing in a situation where official development aid from states has been reduced or discontinued altogether. In discussions concerning faith-based development actors, a need for further information has been identified, particularly regarding the activities of local religious actors. The research focuses on Madagascar, which is located in the sub-Saharan Africa, in the western Indian Ocean. Religious actors, particularly traditional Christian groups, are key societal actors in Madagascar. In addition to these actors, new religious groups are also active in Madagascar. The study examines how these faith-based development actors operate amid the climate crisis, a changing multipolar world order, and geopolitical changes.
Hanna Ristolainen’s study is a multi-perspective evaluation of community case management for older adults. Its aim is to increase understanding of the community case management process and its ability to support older adults’ functioning and living at home. The study utilizes multiple data sources, including interview and survey data as well as register-based information on clients' functional ability and their use of social and health care services.
