Fifteen doctoral researchers will be recruited to the University of Eastern Finland’s new multidisciplinary doctoral programme.
Coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland, a new international doctoral programme in the field of forest-based bioeconomy has secured substantial EU funding totalling 2.4 million euros. The European Union supports the programme through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND scheme. The programme’s total funding amounts to 4.2 million euros.
The five-year Doctoral Programme for Advancing Forest-Based Bioeconomy (DP-FOBI) will be launched in the spring of 2026. Fifteen international doctoral researchers will be recruited to the programme. A call for applications will open in June 2026, and the doctoral researchers will take up their positions in March 2027.
The new doctoral programme seeks to create research-based solutions for a sustainable forest-based bioeconomy. The programme is rooted in interdisciplinarity, and its research interests include understanding and promoting resource-efficient and climate-smart wood-based value chains, utilising the intangible value of forests and related new innovations, and supporting the commercialisation of new solutions.
“The doctoral programme significantly strengthens the multidisciplinary approach applied by the university’s Forests and Bioeconomy Research Community (FOBI), as we work with our partners to generate forest-based solutions to benefit society,” says Professor Jouni Pykäläinen, Director of the FOBI Research Community and Scientific Coordinator of the doctoral programme.
“The programme examines genuinely multidisciplinary bioeconomy phenomena and enables the recruitment of highly promising international doctoral researchers. Securing this funding is a concrete example of the strong performance of the University of Eastern Finland’s research communities,” adds Professor Tommi Laukkanen, the programme’s other Scientific Coordinator.
All faculties of the University of Eastern Finland will be involved in the new doctoral programme. Participating units are the School of Forest Sciences, the Department of Chemistry and Sustainable Technology, the Department of Geographical and Historical Studies, the Law School, the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, the School of Humanities and the Business School.
For further information, please contact:
Jouni Pykäläinen, Professor (forest economics and forest policy), Director of the Forests and the Bioeconomy research community, Scientific Coordinator of the DP-FOBI project, University of Eastern Finland, [email protected], tel. +358 50 382 6094
Tommi Laukkanen, Professor (marketing and consumer behaviour), Director of the Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Research Group, Scientific Coordinator of the DP-FOBI project, University of Eastern Finland, [email protected], tel. +358 50 438 7423
Helen Reijonen, University Lecturer, Impact Manager of the DP-FOBI project, University of Eastern Finland, [email protected], tel. +358 50 435 2408
