I am a Doctoral Researcher in Drug Research, specializing in the development of universal computational methodologies to streamline RNA aptamer design for ocular diseases. My academic background is rooted in Health Biochemistry – Clinical and Metabolical Biochemistry, complemented by research experience at the University of Porto’s Biomolecular SIMulations Group.

My Master’s thesis focused on genotype-phenotype correlations in PMM2-CDG, where I utilized molecular dynamics simulations, mutagenesis, protein modelling, and MMGBSA analyses to investigate disease mechanisms at the molecular level.

By bridging computational modelling and drug development, my research aims to deliver targeted and effective therapeutic strategies for ocular disorders. I am passionate about harnessing advanced computational tools to accelerate the discovery and optimization of novel therapeutics, ultimately improving patient outcomes in ophthalmology.

Dr. Tiia Liuski works as a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Theology, University of Eastern Finland, in the newly established discipline of Theology of Well-being. She is actively involved in developing this field of study and its international Master’s programme Faith, Crises and Existential Wellbeing. Since September 1, 2025, she has also served as a visiting researcher at the Department of Leadership and Military Pedagogy, Finnish National Defence University.

Currently Liuski leads her two-year postdoctoral research project Finnish Advanced Studies on Military Chaplaincies, Resources and Organisations (FIN-ARMOR, 04/2025–03/2027). The project examines existential, psychological and spiritual dimensions within the armed forces through interdisciplinary frameworks of Theology of Wellbeing, Military Pedagogy, Psychology of Religion and Existential Philosophy.

Her research focuses on the existential foundations of human agency in military and crisis contexts. She examines how questions of meaning, mortality, responsibility and uncertainty shape human action under extreme conditions, and how these dimensions are articulated within contemporary institutional frameworks.

Her research interests include:

• Existential preparedness and human orientation under conditions of uncertainty, crisis and irreversibility
• The conceptual articulation of the existential dimension within military sciences and human performance frameworks
• The role of theology as a conceptual resource in interdisciplinary contexts, particularly in relation to the human dimension in the armed forces
• Existential, spiritual , ethical and psychological dimensions of soldier performance and capability
• The profession, expertise and development of military chaplaincies
• Multidisciplinary and mixed-methods approaches to the study of religion in institutional settings

In parallel, Liuski is outlining a new theological framework tentatively titled Theology of Security and Safety, which seeks to articulate the theological and existential foundations of safety in contemporary societies. A collaborative scholarly volume on this emerging framework is currently in preparation (expected 2027). She is one of Finland’s representatives in the newly established European Research Unit for Military Chaplaincy at Umeå University and one of the founding members of the European Military Chaplaincies Research Network (EMCRN).

Liuski is an active participant in international research networks such as ExistWell Lab, Research in Chaplaincy (ReChap), and Borders, Mobilities and Cultural Encounters (BOMOCULT). In addition, she serves as the editorial secretary of the Journal for the study of Religion, Worldviews and Education.

Liuski earned her Doctor of Theology degree in 2023 with the dissertation The Finnish Military Chaplaincy: A Double Bonded Profession in a Changing Operational Environment, which examined the profession of Finnish military chaplaincy and its development in the context of the 2020s.

From 1 April 2027, she will lead the research project The Possibility of Death as a Horizon of Agency in Finnish Military Training and Education (HAMLET). The research is funded by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation. The Finnish Defence Forces have granted Liuski a research permit to study this theme for the years 2026–2030.

I approach environmental governance as encounters between actors who are located and situated in multiple partially connected sociomaterial networks. Each network reproduces and regenerates its own ontology and epistemology about sustainability and its own conceptions of moral (values and conceptions of responsibility). I apply theories founded on decolonial and posthumanist relational approaches, combining political ontology, decoloniality and STS with environmental politics.

My PhD contributed to critical management studies and focused on recognition in land, natural resource and development governance as well as the economic motives behind conflicts on Indigeneity in Sápmi, during contemporary decolonisation processes of the Sámi people as an Indigenous people of Northern Europe.

My post.doctoral stage is part of our international project on intergenerational learning in collaborative environmental governance.

I use qualitative methods, such as interviews, action research, knowledge co-creation, co-research, ethnography and policy analysis.

I am currently working on my postdoctoral project, in which I examine between- and within-school segregation in urban areas using ethnographic methods. My research interests include themes related to educational (in)equalities. In 2025, I worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher on the OpeSegr project, which investigates teacher segregation in Finland. I am a qualified subject teacher in Finnish as both a first and second language.

I am a Professor in Social and Public Policy at the Department of Social Sciences. I am also the deputy director of the UEF’s  Borders, Mobilities and Cultural Encounters (BOMOCULT) Research Community.

My research is oriented towards international migration, ethnic relations, bordering processes, diversity, embodiment, as well as participatory and creative methods. Over the years, I have studied  topics, such as integration, racism and anti-racism, media use, everyday security, Russian nationality politics and international migration into rural areas.

The central theme of my research is the politicisation of migration issues and understanding how societal changes impact people’s everyday lives. Most recently, I have shifted my research focus towards the issues of security and conflicts. My teaching mainly relates to the above-mentioned themes. I supervise PhD researchers and MA thesis.

I am a qualified body-oriented work supervisor (työnohjaaja STOry), and I gladly support colleagues and students with issues related to well-being at work.