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Mikko Laitinen ([email protected])

I am Professor of English Language at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu and an elected member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. My research focuses on the social network theory in language variation and change in English and on the study of world Englishes in Finland and in the Nordic region. I am interested in computational and data intensive digital methods in the humanities. As empirical material, my research uses both traditional text corpora and born-digital societal big data. As for administrative duties, I was elected as the chair of the University Collegiate Body for 2022–2025.

 

I started my university studies in a college in Texas in the 1990s after which I have been a student and post doc researcher at the universities of Helsinki and Jyväskylä. In 2012, I was appointed as Professor of English at Linnaeus University in Sweden where I helped establish an interdisciplinary research unit of Center for Data Intensive Sciences and Applications (DISA). This interdisciplinary unit brings together computer scientists, visualization experts, social scientists and linguists for data intensive research.

Currently, I am PI of two large externally funded projects. The first one is FIN-CLARIAH (2022–25), which is funded by the Research Council of Finland and its Research Infrastructure program. This national consortium develops tools and datasets for digital humanities research (https://www.kielipankki.fi/organization/fin-clariah/). The work of the UEF group focuses on collecting, preprocessing and analyzing extremely large-scale born-digital social media data and metadata for research. We are particularly interested in human-centered AI and concentrate on using societal big data in ethically sustainable ways (see www.dariah.fi).

The second is a Research Council project funding for 2024–2028. This research project Weak-tie hypothesis in complex digital networks (COMET) tests the validity of the weak-tie hypothesis in sociolinguistics by examining how linguistic innovations spread in extremely large social media networks (https://research.fi/en/results/funding/81344). It brings together leading experts from social network theory, data-intensive sociolinguistics and computer sciences.

In addition, during 2022 and 2023, I run a project funded by the Prime Minister’s Office and its joint analysis, assessment and research funding scheme. This project provided research-based information for decision makers on the role of English in Finland today. It investigated the scope of using English in civil administration, in business life and in higher education in Finland. As empirical material, we used large-scale survey data and data collected from social media. The project report is available (in Finnish) at https://tietokayttoon.fi/-/englanti-suomen-kansalliskielten-rinnalla.

Together with Dr. Martin Schweinberger (University of Queensland), I am the general editor of a new book series (Bloomsbury Academic). This series (Language, Data Science and Digital Humanities) sets out from the assumption that language use is at the heart of the ongoing digital revolution, and that more interdisciplinary collaboration is need to understand both digitalization and language in use in the digital era. The series specifically invites proposals that seek to utilize computational and data intensive methods and explore novel digital solutions to analyze digital data of various sizes and forms.

Mikko Lampinen ([email protected])

I act as a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Eastern Finland’s Business School, and I am a member of the Research Centre for Sustainable Circular Economy (CECE), the Sustainable Innovation Lab (SUNLAB), and the Sustainability Transformations Doctoral Education Pilot (SUSTRA).

My research examines sustainability transitions and the role of ecosystem governance in advancing the circular economy. Focusing on the transition of critical materials, I investigate how businesses, public organizations, and other stakeholders coordinate resources, build collaborative relationships, and govern industrial ecosystems to enable circular economy transition. My work combines perspectives from management studies, sustainability transitions, and ecosystem research to better understand the governance challenges and opportunities associated with systemic change.

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.

ORCID profile

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.