I am doctoral researcher on the self-steering hybrid materials project, researching covalently bonded coatings for plastic and ceramic surfaces.
Mikko Nissi ([email protected])
Dr. Nissi is a Professor at the Department of Technical Physics at the University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland. Dr. Nissi leads a research group focusing on pre-clinical quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI). In 2021, Dr. Nissi also served as a deputy head of the department. The research topics in the group include relaxometry methods, such as various rotating and laboratory frame relaxation methods and imaging strategies, as well as quantitative susceptibility mapping. While the primary field of target applications for qMRI in Dr. Nissi’s group has been musculoskeletal diseases and their diagnostics, the research interests of his group concern especially methodological development of ultra-short echo time / SWIFT imaging sequences as well as image acquisition and reconstruction strategies for various target applications.
The most recent project fundings granted to Dr. Nissi concern development of AI-assisted virtual histology using magnetic resonance fingerprinting (Research Council of Finland, grant #354693), depelopment of rapid quantitative ultra-short echo time MRI methods using primarily the SWIFT sequence and its variants and iterative compressed sensing reconstruction methods (Research Council of Finland, grant #325146) and developing an innovation and development environment for industrial applications of material research using microMRI, consisting of investment of an 11.74 T microMRI device and of various pilot projects on microMRI of agricultural and industrial products (European Regional Development Fund, grants #A73998 and #A74016).
Mikko Pelto-Arvo ([email protected])
M.Sc (for.) Mikko Pelto-Arvo, Doctoral researcher in the University of Eastern Finland. A Forest entomologist specialized in Spruce bark bark beetle (Ips typographus L.) and associated species complex, as well as quantifying tree health under insect-induced stress; Ecophysiology, growth responses, hydraulic measurements.
Mikko Räsänen ([email protected])
In my PhD research, I’ve developed computational methods for electrical impedance tomography (EIT) imaging in various measurement setups where different phenomena affect the electrical conductivity distribution of the object being imaged. My research has involved the necessary modifications to the numerical modeling of EIT measurements using the finite element method, as well as various ways to solve the inverse problem of EIT using the Bayesian approach.
I am currently also working on Monte Carlo photon packet software, which is used to model the propagation of light in scattering and absorbing media, such as tissues. This method can be used to model measurements in several optical imaging methods, as well as in photoacoustic imaging.
Mikko Toivanen ([email protected])
I am a historian of modern imperialism and colonial Southeast Asia. My current project, Trees and the travels of knowledge: making modern (trans)imperial forestry from the margins, 1917–1939, funded by the Research Council of Finland, runs 2026–2030. The project examines the transimperial networks of forestry sciences between Europe and Asia and the efforts of Finnish forestry professionals to gain a foothold on the global stage. My previous research has dealt with the development of colonial urbanism in Southeast Asia and the cultures of travel in the nineteenth-century Indian Ocean region. I also have a longstanding interest in the participation of Nordic actors in the networks of global imperialism.
My research monograph Empire, Tourism, and Colonial Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka was published by Leiden University Press in September 2025. I am also a co-editor, with Bernhard C. Schär, of the volume Integration and Collaborative Imperialism in Modern Europe: At the Margins of Empire, 1800–1950 (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025). My articles have appeared in numerous international journals, including the Historical Journal, Urban History and the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History.
I am also a Strategy Group member of the NordGlob network of Nordic global historians.
Mikko Vastaranta ([email protected])
Dr. Mikko Vastaranta is a professor at the University of Eastern Finland’s School of Forest Sciences. He earned his M.Sc. (2007) and PhD (2012) in forest resource science and technology from the University of Helsinki, where he also holds an adjunct professorship in remote sensing of forests. He has held positions as a research scientist at the Centre of Excellence in Laser Scanning Research, university lecturer in forest planning (University of Helsinki), visiting research scientist at the Pacific Forestry Centre (Canadian Forestry Service, Natural Resources Canada), and visiting professor at Shinshu University (Japan). His research focuses on developing remote sensing and geospatial technologies to measure, monitor, and better understand forests. Vastaranta has authored over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and his recent publications can be found on Google Scholar.
Milaja Nykänen ([email protected])
I have a background in various aspect of marine mammal ecology including population genetics, phylogenetics, population modelling and passive acoustics. Currently my research focuses on the movement ecology and abundance estimation of the Saimaa ringed seal, and I am also developing new non-invasive ways to investigate the condition of the seals using photogrammetry.
Milla Uusitupa ([email protected])
Milla Uusitupa’s research interests lie in the fields of grammar of spoken language, Finnish and Karelian dialects, and other Finnic languages. In her doctoral dissertation (Open person constructions in Border Karelian dialects, 2017), Uusitupa has studied the open usage of second and third person singular in Border Karelian dialects, which form an inter-dialect area between Eastern Finnish and Karelian varieties.
Mina Azimirad ([email protected])
Dr. Mina Azimirad (PhD, MNSc, BSc, RN) is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). As an enthusiastic and passionate researcher, Dr. Azimirad has been involved in several research projects, where formed an international network, and study visits to the University of Genova (Italy), University of Thessaly (Greece), AWV & AFBB (Germany), Northumbria University (UK), Surrey University (UK), University of Limerick (Ireland), University of Østfold (Norway), and Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland).
Dr. Azimirad’s research interest mainly focuses on medical emergency teams and nurses’ competencies in managing deteriorating patients. Dr. Azimirad has received a significant amount of competitive research grant (77,400 €) including a 12,000 € travel grant (to an Australian university and the National University of Singapore) for her post-doc research proposal, and published 14 peer-reviewed journal articles, 12 publications intended for professional communities and the general public, published one book chapter, and supervised a Master’s degree nursing student. She has presented 17 research studies at national and international conferences and was a chairman at the latest HTTS conference (Kansallinen hoitotieteellinen konferenssi).
The post-doc research study (eTSiMMe project) main members are Dr. Mina azimirad (UEF), Prof. Hannele Turunen (UEF), Prof. Roman Bednarik (UEF), and our international collaborator from the National University of Singapore Prof. He Hong-Go. The project also has members from the Kuopio University Hospital ICU department who will help us in implementing the project. The project focuses on the assessment of teamwork and shared mental models within the MET.
Minna Kaikkonen-Määttä ([email protected])
Minna Kaikkonen-Määttä is a Professor of Cardiovascular Genomics and Director of the Single Cell Genomics Core at University of Eastern Finland. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Cellular Biology and Physiology from the Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, France, in 2002 and Master’s degree in Molecular Biology from University of Jyväskylä, Finland, in 2005. She obtained her PhD in Molecular Medicine in 2008. She did her postdoctoral studies at University of California San Diego investigating transcriptional gene regulation and enhancer RNAs (2009-2012) before moving to University of Eastern Finland to establish her own research group. She is the vice head of A.I.Virtanen Institute, President of the Finnish Society of Atherosclerosis and member of the board of European Vascular Biology Organization, Scandinavian Society of Atherosclerosis, and Membership Engagement Committee of the American Society of Human Genetics.