I work as a postdoctoral researcher, and my research focuses on students’ motivation, emotions, and well-being. I am particularly interested in individual differences in these experiences, as well as how motivation, emotions, and well-being fluctuate across situations and develop over time. My research primarily focuses on university students and higher education contexts, but I also examine these phenomena more broadly across different groups of learners. Ultimately, I am interested in understanding how learning, motivation, and student well-being can be supported in diverse learning environments.
Heta Tuominen ([email protected])
Research
I work as a professor and academy research fellow at the University of Eastern Finland. My research links the study of motivation with well-being and explores both among children and young people. In my Academy Research Fellow project (2022–2027), the main objective is to examine the developmental and situational dynamics between students’ motivation, perfectionism, and academic well-being across upper secondary education, and to consider the role of student welfare in supporting students’ learning and well-being.
Teaching
Educational science; educational psychology; learning in different contexts; research on motivation, learning, and well-being; quantitative research methods; PhD theses supervision; Master’s theses supervision
Other
I am the editor-in-chief of The Finnish Journal of Education and Koulutuksesta webjournal. I am also the coordinator of the Educational Psychology and Learning Research Special Interest Group of the Finnish Educational Research Association.
Hung Trinh ([email protected])
Hung is a Doctoral Researcher in Computer Science at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), School of Computing. His research focuses on Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), AI education, AI literacy, trustworthy AI, human-centered machine learning, and Human–AI Interaction.
His doctoral research investigates how learners, particularly K–12 students, interpret AI explanations, how explanations affect trust and decision-making, and how misleading or incomplete explanations can create misconceptions about AI systems.
Hung is currently developing interactive educational AI tools that make model behavior more visible and understandable to learners. His work includes extending the GenAI Teachable Machine with explainability and transfer-learning inspection features that help students explore model predictions, pretrained representations, class relationships, and model limitations. He is also developing Sound Mimic, an explainable audio-classification learning environment where students train sound classifiers, interact with model predictions, inspect time-frequency explanations, and revise their data or strategies based on model behavior.
His broader research interests include explainable deep learning, model transparency, responsible AI, representation learning, computer vision, educational technology, and AI applications in healthcare. His work combines machine learning, XAI methods, interactive system design, and empirical evaluation to support more transparent, trustworthy, and educationally meaningful AI systems.
Iira Tiitta ([email protected])
I am a university teacher and postdoctoral researcher in nursing science at the University of Eastern Finland, specializing in climate–health and planetary health within nursing and healthcare. My doctoral research focuses on integrating the health effects of climate change into nursing education and clinical practice. I have developed research-based framework that support healthcare professionals in identifying and addressing climate-related health risks.
My research interest include climate health, planetary health and development of nursing education
IMPRO – Improved knowledge base and service optimisation to support health and social services reform
Ina Pöhner ([email protected])
Early during my scientific career, I focused on studying protein-protein interactions by computational methods. During my PhD, I shifted my focus to protein-small molecule interactions and their modulation in the context of computer-aided drug design for neglected tropical diseases. As a passionate Linux-user and administrator, I moved on to dive into aspects of scientific databases, data management, biocuration, and FAIR data (data that is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable).
My research at UEF finally connects all the dots: I currently study various anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-protozoal, and anti-cancer targets, utilizing powerful combinations of computer-aided drug discovery and modeling techniques, programming, databases, and artificial intelligence (AI). My research focuses primarily on data-intensive drug discovery problems and the application of AI in drug discovery pipelines. For example, my recent projects involved several semi-automated modeling and docking studies for hundreds of target candidates drawn from Omics-level datasets and AI-accelerated billion-scale virtual screening efforts.
Given its data-intensive nature, my research heavily relies on high-performance computing resources and the Finnish supercomputers hosted by CSC – IT Center for Science. As a CSC Scientific Computing Ambassador for UEF, I act as a bridge between UEF’s researchers and CSC experts and aim to support other UEFians in making the most of CSC’s services and resources – Whether you would like to learn more about how you can utilize CSC super- and cloud computing resources in your research, get support for data management, or join some of the various courses and training opportunities offered by CSC, feel free to reach out!
Income support and child protection
Ira Virtanen ([email protected])
I provide, study and train supportive communication for relationships in which support is an essential part of shared goals. My research expertise is social support in various contexts and relationships. I currently research co-supervision and attempt defining ‘henkinen tuki’, the Finnish cultural term for emotional support. Additionally, I have focused on the experiences of vulnerability, friendships, intergroup contact, and immediacy in initial interactions on virtual platforms (ORCID). I have studied and worked in New Zealand, Belgium, France, Romania and the United Stated (Fulbright alumna of Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, 2010–2011). I have supervised a little over 100 theses and a doctoral dissertation. In UEF, I do research for the Philosophical Faculty’s School of Humanities.
At the Researcher Training Services, I coach peer mentors from doctoral researchers (UEF) and from postdoctoral researchers (YUFE pilot). I teach in courses such as Research Supervision and Peer Mentoring and Collegial Relationships. Organising monthly ReTS have Coffee virtual events are my joyous responsibility. I create and maintain supportive materials for doctoral researchers such as Supporting the Doctoral Journey; Pitching Your Research, and for who prepare to defend their dissertation in public defence, Support for Communication in Public Defence.
For doctoral supervisors, I maintain an online platform Toolkit for Supervisors that has varied materials and videos for self-study the supervision competencies. I provide regular training for all our supervising research staff (e.g., Supervision Plan as a Tool for Doctoral Supervision; Relationships in Doctoral Supervision: Communication, Collaboration, and Community; Solid Foundation for Successful Supervision Relationship; From rejections to resilience – Effective ways to support your doctoral supervisee after peer reviews and grant rejects).
At UEF Centre for Continuous Learning, I have had the privilege to coach communication competence for research and academic leaders. In addition to my academic career, I coach companies and third sector organisations in their various communication needs (e.g., media interviews; public speaking in English; challenging interaction situations; supportive communication in helplines). I am also a certified solution-focused brief-therapist.
Feel free to make use of the audiovisual materials I have created to support for communication competence in public defence, or watch my TEDx Talk on friendships.
On my science communication, media engagements and societal interaction, see the Finnish profile page.
Irene Repeto Deudero ([email protected])
I study how the ways we use and manage the landscape helps to shape wildfires, biodiversity and ecosystem recovery. My research connects local studies with global patterns to understand when forest management and tree planting support healthy landscapes, and when they create unexpected risks. A central focus is afforestation: planting forests on non-forested land. I investigate how this land-use change affects wildfire activity and the area burned across different regions. I also examine how forest plantations and their management influence fire severity and how vegetation recovers afterwards.
My wider research explores the relationships between fire, biodiversity and human activity, including how the causes of wildfires relate to their consequences. I combine satellite images, environmental records and modelling to uncover patterns across space and time, with a particular interest in fire refugia; areas that escape burning or burn less severely, helping species survive and ecosystems recover. Through this work, I aim to support forest management, ecosystem conservation and climate action while recognizing the distinct ecological roles of forests and open ecosystems.
These research interests bring me together with collaborators in Spain (University of Cádiz and CIDE-CSIC), Chile (CR2 and Universidad de La Frontera) and Finland (University of Eastern Finland). Find out more at Landscape and Carbon Dynamics – Biomass Production and GEMA
Irina Lavikainen ([email protected])
– Receipt, processing and evaluation of further utilization of invention disclosures
– Proof of Concept funding application and project implementation support services
– Draft funding application support services
– Spark Finland program support services
– Technology transfer and advocacy related to the commercialization of research results
– Administration related to university patent applications and other industrial property rights
– General support and advice related to innovation activities and research impact planning