Our strategy is rooted in global challenges to which we seek solutions in our profile areas through interdisciplinary research and multidisciplinary education. In doing so, we build a responsible and sustainable future.
The high standard of research and education of our university builds a global future and strengthens the vitality of eastern Finland. We foster education and culture by making research-based knowledge available to benefit everyone.
- We have the right and freedom to learn, to teach and to do research.
- We are courageous, open and responsible.
- Our activities are guided by ethicality and Sustainable Development Goals.
Strategic programmes
Finding solutions to the complex problems of our changing world calls for an ability to think and combine things in a novel way. Our interdisciplinary, renewal-driven research communities have the ability to respond to global and national challenges in a unique way.
We actively recruit high-level experts to further advance research activities in our profile areas. Our research environments and infrastructures cater to the preconditions of high-level research.
Open science improves the quality and impact of research. The use of research findings by society is intensified and science reaches an increasing number of people. We strive for the utilisation of research-based knowledge from different disciplines in society, as well as for new innovations.
The accessibility of our education, students, learning processes of a high pedagogical standard, and student well-being stand at the core of our activities and create pedagogical well-being.
We develop our education in a multidisciplinary and challenge-driven fashion with latest research findings, professional relevance and societal needs in mind. We enable continuous learning through our extensive and diverse educational offering.
We increase the amount of education offered in English and the number of international students across all levels of education. We develop measures and procedures to promote the employment of our graduates.
We are an international, diverse, creative and attractive scientific community that is characterised by open interaction and well-being. Responsibility and sustainability guide all our activities.
We have a clear, goal-oriented, encouraging and incentive career model that is supported by proactive and systematic career management that recognises individual career paths, as well as by strategic human resources planning of the faculties.
Our leadership and decision-making are open, inclusive, up-to-date and transparent. Our services and campuses support the university’s core activities and the satisfaction of our students and staff.
Profile areas in research and education
We live longer than ever before, but brain diseases, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes become increasingly common as we get older. Moreover, as the population ages, the prevalence of cancer increases, and musculoskeletal disorders make it harder to cope in everyday life.
Fortunately, the risk of all of these diseases can be reduced by healthy lifestyles. Our research has generated a vast amount of knowledge on the genetic background and risk factors of common chronic diseases. We keep finding ways to prevent diseases with healthy lifestyle habits, while also developing diagnostics and increasingly personalised and targeted lifestyle interventions and drug therapies, as well as effective services.
Our research ranges from molecular-level mechanisms of diseases to effective and cost-effective care, and from the structures of the social welfare and health care system to the legislation that governs it. Our goal is to make active living and healthy ageing available to an increasing number of people.
Our multidisciplinary research related to the environment and natural resources produces information and solutions for tackling complex sustainability issues. In order to tackle the climate crisis, prevent the impoverishment of nature, and ensure the sufficiency of natural resources, our societies need to acquire the competence for systemic sustainable solutions and information on the effects and agents of change.
Our research combines natural, social, legal, business, forest, health, nutrition, and cultural sciences, creating a knowledge base for the bioeconomy, the circular economy, the energy revolution, more sustainable mineral economies and water supply use, sustainable development, and building a carbon-neutral society. Our research also addresses the contamination of air, water and soil, including the management of these three natural resources. Interdisciplinary in nature, our research seeks solutions to environmental challenges and decision-making problems that no agent or discipline can resolve on their own, faced with problems related to the relevance of information, various rights and values, and complex impact chains.
Our multidisciplinary research has produced information on the impact of aerosols on climate change, carbon sinks and sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and the governance of climate and energy solutions. We provide decision-makers with information on the adverse effects that air quality and anthropogenic emissions have on human health and the well-being of the environment. We have done research on topics such as the acceptance and local sustainability of the forest and mining industries, corporate social responsibility, and regulations. We produce both local and global information on multi-purpose forestry and forest use, biodiversity, and the challenges of the bioeconomy. We do research on the consumer markets for innovative forest-based products and services and the business models of companies operating in the bioeconomy, while promoting sustainable business development in the forest bioeconomy. Other focus areas of research are the adaptive control of water supplies and the usability of certain technical applications in the monitoring and purification of water. Our circular economy research creates technological, legal, social, and business solutions for the transition from linear to circular economy. In natural sciences, photonics is strongly involved and widely used in measuring, testing, and various sustainable solutions.
Issues related to globalisation concern us all. Among the most topical ones right now are encounters of cultures, languages and religions, as well as the shaping of identity. Policy-makers and citizens are also engaged in debates about migration, mobility, and geographical and mental boundaries.
Evidence-based information enhances the humanity’s understanding of the rapidly changing world, providing the means to successfully tackle challenges and find new solutions from the perspective of both service systems and public policy.
The research we carry out has gained international visibility, and it provides solutions to issues related to mobility, borders and security in particular. At the same time, the new research information we produce is made promptly available to social decision-makers both at the national and global level. For example, in social research in the field of border studies, our strengths lie in research focusing on internal borders, mobility and the border between the European Union and Russia, whereas research in the field of humanities, which addresses multilevel cultural and linguistic encounters and borders, is linked to changes caused by globalisation as well as wider cultural changes and upheavals in traditions. On the other hand, the application of different approaches enhances understanding when researching new socio-political solutions for tackling the challenges of globalisation and the opportunities emerging from it.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the digitising world will shape the way people and different communities, such as work communities and special groups, learn and interact. While this poses new challenges to our society and global cooperation, it is also a great source of opportunities. Our goal is to reform learning, active participation and learning environments, develop them further, and tackle any challenges along the way.
Our research work has produced novel information on renewed expertise, the processes of successful pedagogical development work, human-technology cooperation in learning, and the dynamics of interaction created by multichannel environments that promote learning. Our understanding of the changes in working life, learner-centred pedagogy supported by technology, and the development of new digital environments, such as virtual and augmented reality environments, is constantly enhanced.
Through our research, we are fostering people’s knowledge and skills in both educational organisations and in working life and helping to create innovative learning environments and more personalised educational paths.