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Felix A. Epp is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Aalto University's Department of Design, with an external position at the University of Helsinki (2024-2026). His work sits at the intersection of human-computer interaction, wearable technology, and design research, focusing on how interactive technologies shape human practices and future societies. Education: Doctor of Science in Technology, Aalto University (2023) Master's degree in Arts and Design, Hochschule Darmstadt (2014) Bachelor's degree in Arts and Design, Hochschule Darmstadt (2011) Epp's research explores embodied technological experiences and technology-mediated social practices, with a particular focus on wearable technologies and their impact on social-cultural practices. His doctoral work investigated how wearables shape clothing practices, and his recent work integrates critical futures studies with practice-based research to incorporate anticipation in technology innovation. He employs generative design research and qualitative fieldwork methods, including research through design in everyday contexts and participatory design approaches. His fingerprint reveals strong engagement with Wearable Technology (100%), Human-Computer Interaction (62%), and Design Research (56%). His publication record shows a clear trajectory toward anticipatory design and futures thinking in HCI, with increasing focus on how technologies can help us engage with uncertain futures. His recent work bridges design research with critical futures studies, creating methods like the Future Ripples Method to activate anticipatory capacities in innovation teams. This evolution reflects a growing recognition of the need for designers to anticipate multiple possible futures rather than designing for a single predetermined outcome. Scientific Awards: CHI 2025 Honorable Mention Award MUM 2020 Honourable Mention Award Epp has been actively involved in significant research projects including 'FutureMethods: Methodology for HCI evaluations of possible futures' (2020-2024) and 'Digital Aura: Crafting a Digital Representation of Self in the Physical World' (2017-2021). His collaborative work spans multiple institutions and disciplines, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of his research. He serves on program committees for major conferences including ACM DIS and CHI, demonstrating leadership in the HCI community. His research contributes to Sustainable Development Goals related to technology and society, with particular relevance to responsible consumption and production through his work on smart clothing in circular economies.

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Wearable Technology
• Design Research
• +5 more

Matti Tedre is a Professor at the School of Computing, Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, University of Eastern Finland. His research focuses on computer science education, ICT4D, social studies of computer science, and the history and philosophy of computer science. He leads the Technologies for Learning and Development research group and is involved in the Generation AI project (2022–2028), exploring AI education for security mindset development. His work bridges theory and practice, emphasizing educational technology, AI literacy, and participatory design. Recent projects include developing low-cost AI kits for novice learners and co-designing ML-driven apps with children. He collaborates globally on topics like K-12 computing education, data agency, and ethical AI integration in classrooms. Key contributions include studies on scaffolding in ML education, children’s understanding of algorithmic biases, and the role of generative AI in creative learning. His research also addresses challenges in Tanzanian ICT adoption, including financial management systems for informal groups and timetabling software for higher education institutions. Tedre’s interdisciplinary approach spans computer science, education, and sociology, with a focus on democratizing AI access and fostering critical digital literacy among youth and educators.

• Computer Science Education
• ICT4D
• Social Studies of Computer Science
• +5 more

Miriam Tedeschi serves as a Senior Researcher at the Faculty of Law, University of Turku, and holds a docentship in Human Geography at the Department of Geography and Geology. She leads the Research Council of Finland-funded project 'Justice in Digital Spaces' (JuDiCe, 2022-2025) and maintains a fellowship at the Westminster Law & Theory Lab, London. Her academic foundation includes a PhD in Regional Planning and Public Policies (University Institute of Architecture, Venice, 2017), an MA in Philosophy, and a BSc in Digital Communication. Prior to doctoral studies, she accumulated 15 years of professional experience as an ICT research consultant. Tedeschi's scholarship merges non-representational theories and new materialism to interrogate spatio-legal dynamics across segregated spaces, migratory contexts, natural environments, and digital-physical hybrids. Her work pioneers digital spatial justice frameworks, critically examining how datafication reshapes urban equity through empirical ethnography and theoretical innovation. Analysis of her 2023-2025 publications reveals a decisive pivot toward computational justice, where legal geography intersects with AI ethics, urban informatics, and posthuman jurisprudence. These works collectively forge transdisciplinary pathways for reimagining justice in algorithmically mediated spaces. Her scientific recognition includes: Westminster Law & Theory Lab Fellowship As an educator, Tedeschi directs 'Law and the Urban' (2022-present) and co-teaches 'Systemschange.now' (2020-2024). Her JuDiCe project exemplifies major grant leadership, integrating spatial theory with digital rights advocacy through Finland's premier research funding mechanism. She co-founded the 'Law, Space and Justice' research environment at Turku's Faculty of Law, catalyzing cross-institutional collaboration on justice-oriented spatial interventions.

• Spatial Justice
• Data Justice
• Urban Geography
• +3 more

Päivi Häkkinen is a **Professor and Vice Director** at the **Finnish Institute for Educational Research (FIER)**, part of the University of Jyväskylä. Her research focuses on technology-enhanced learning, particularly in collaborative problem-solving, computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), and the integration of virtual/augmented reality in education. She leads projects like the EDUCA Flagship for future education and LearnDigi , exploring digitalization in learning. Research Interests: She investigates ICT integration in education, learning analytics, and the cognitive and social dynamics of collaborative learning. Her work emphasizes remote collaboration mechanisms, digital tools for assessment, and AI-driven educational innovation. Key Projects: EDUCA Flagship: Addresses future education challenges through interdisciplinary research. LearnDigi: Examines technology’s role in knowledge construction and digitalization impacts. METEOR: Enhances transversal skills for early career researchers via teamwork methodologies. Recent Work Trends: Her publications analyze joint attention in remote collaboration, AI-human partnerships in education, and neural bases of problem-solving. She emphasizes practical applications for teachers and educators. Labs/Teams: Active in FIER and LearnDigi, focusing on collaborative learning design and technology evaluation.

• Educational Technology
• Collaborative Learning
• Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)
• +4 more

Anton Berg is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Helsinki, affiliated with the Department of Digital Humanities within the Faculty of Arts and the Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities (HSSH). He is also a member of the methodological unit at HSSH, focusing on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of cognitive science, religious studies, and artificial intelligence. His educational background spans computer science, cognitive science, and religious studies, enabling him to bridge technical and humanistic approaches to AI. His research primarily investigates how commercial image recognition systems interpret and categorize religious content, exploring issues of bias, representation, and the datafication of religion. Berg's research interests include computer vision systems, automatic image recognition, machine and deep learning, large language models, and the relationship between religions, worldviews, and values related to AI technologies. He particularly focuses on inequality issues, the datafication of religion, the datafication of societies, the social scientific study of religion, and the cognitive science of religion. His work combines technical analysis of AI systems with social scientific perspectives on religion and technology. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on examining biases in commercial image recognition services, particularly regarding religious content, with significant contributions to understanding representational silence and racial biases in these systems. He has also conducted important work on pandemic psychology, contributing to large-scale international studies on COVID-19 responses across 69 countries. Berg has been actively involved in numerous academic activities, including presentations at international conferences on topics such as computer vision in religious studies, mediatized religious populism, and biases in image recognition services. His research has been presented at venues including the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion. His teaching areas include religious studies, cognitive science, data science, and religion and technologies, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to understanding the relationship between digital technologies and religious phenomena.

• Cognitive Science
• Computer Vision
• Religious Studies
• +7 more

Aino Ahtinen is a University Lecturer in Computing Sciences at Tampere University's Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences. Her work focuses on human-robot interaction, particularly in educational and healthcare contexts. She has extensive experience designing socially assistive robots, wellness technologies, and participatory design frameworks for diverse populations including older adults, children, and professionals. Her research emphasizes co-learning models involving social robots, accessibility in senior-robot interactions, and the integration of robotics into primary education and workplace well-being. Notable projects include the ROBOTOUR co-learning initiative for seniors and ROBOCAMP programs for youth. She has pioneered studies on robot literacy metrics and ethical design considerations in social robotics. Dr. Ahtinen has contributed to over 60 peer-reviewed publications since 2003, with recent work focusing on robot-assisted physical activity, privacy-aware robotic systems, and cross-generational technology education. Her research bridges human-computer interaction, gerontechnology, and educational technology, consistently prioritizing user-centered design principles.

• Human-Robot Interaction
• Technology for Elderly Care
• User-Centered Design
• +4 more

Ti John is a Research Fellow at Aalto University's Department of Computer Science within the School of Science. He is affiliated with Professor Marttinen's research group and the Probabilistic Machine Learning group led by Professor Samuel Kaski. His work connects with the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI) and the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT). Dr. John's research focuses on machine learning, particularly Bayesian optimization, Gaussian processes, and point process models. His work spans theoretical developments in neural processes and practical applications in healthcare analytics and large language models. He has made significant contributions to equivariant neural processes, causal mediation analysis in healthcare, and interpretability of additive models. His publication record shows consistent output with 17 publications between 2021-2024, including multiple papers at top AI conferences like NeurIPS, ICML, and ICLR. His research demonstrates strong interdisciplinary connections between statistical modeling, artificial intelligence, and healthcare applications. Active reviewer for NeurIPS, ICLR, AISTATS Reviewer for Journal of Machine Learning Research Member of Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence project Dr. John has been actively contributing to the machine learning community through peer review and conference participation, demonstrating expertise across multiple subfields of artificial intelligence and statistical modeling.

• Machine Learning
• Bayesian Optimization
• Gaussian Processes
• +4 more

Anna Kuparinen is a Professor at the University of Jyväskylä's Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Department of Biological and Environmental Science. Her research group, EcoEvoAqua, focuses on aquatic species and their ecosystems, particularly eco-evolutionary dynamics. Key research areas include ecological modeling, fisheries-induced evolution, food web stability, and environmental impacts on species survival. Recent work examines predator reintroduction effects, climate-driven selection pressures, and parasite-host interactions in aquatic systems. Publications span theoretical ecology, conservation biology, and fisheries management. Her research emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to address complex ecological challenges. Education details are not explicitly listed, but her academic career reflects extensive contributions to aquatic ecology and conservation. Awards are not mentioned in the text, though her prolific publication record indicates recognition in her field. She leads the EcoEvoAqua research team, which integrates computational models with empirical data to study ecosystem resilience and biodiversity. Ongoing projects include modeling Lake Oulujärvi dynamics and exploring manganese toxicity in fish populations.

• Ecological Modeling
• Fisheries Science
• Aquatic Ecosystems
• +3 more

Noora Hirvonen is a Professor of Information Studies at the University of Oulu's Faculty of Humanities, affiliated with the Department of History, Culture and Communication Sciences. She holds a docentship in Health Communication from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu. Her research focuses on the intersection of information practices, artificial intelligence, and youth digital literacy. Current work examines how AI technologies shape everyday information environments, particularly through the GenZ profiling project, which explores skills and behaviors in technologically advanced societies. Research interests include information literacy, health information dynamics, and societal impacts of communication technologies. She leads the Health Information Mastering, HIM-Oulu&Åbo research group and collaborates on projects like BRIDGE, emphasizing transmedia education for primary schools. Her work bridges theoretical insights with practical applications in eHealth services and digital competence development. Awarded the docentship in health communication, her contributions span participatory research methodologies and ethical AI integration. She advises on national digital literacy initiatives and collaborates internationally on youth-centric digital policies. Her lab environments prioritize youth agency and equitable access to information systems.

• Information Studies
• Health Communication
• Digital Literacy
• +3 more

Ville Paavilainen is a Research Director at the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, and supervisor for doctoral programs in Biomedicine and Integrative Life Science. With a postdoctoral background at the University of California, San Francisco (2008–2014), he focuses on Biochemistry , Cell Biology , and Molecular Biology , particularly mechanisms of protein translocation, membrane biology, and structural modeling. His research includes groundbreaking work on Sec61 translocon inhibition for cancer therapy and mitochondrial gene expression noise . Recent publications address lipid scrambling pathways, glioma stem cell targeting, and actin regulation. Active projects span EU-funded drug discovery and NIH collaborations. Key scientific contributions include Elucidating Sec61-client interactions Developing computational models for signal peptide prediction Uncovering mitochondrial-ER communication mechanisms He has supervised PhD theses (e.g., Paul Carlson) and contributed to over 39 research outputs. His work bridges structural biology, computational modeling, and translational pharmacology, with applications in tumor biology and neurodegenerative disease research.

• Biochemistry
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology
• +9 more

Anu Hartikainen-Ahia is a University Lecturer and Deputy Head of School at the School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, part of the Philosophical Faculty at the University of Eastern Finland. Her work focuses on science education innovation, particularly in inquiry-based learning (IBSE), socio-scientific issues (SSI), and teacher professional development. She actively contributes to international projects like the EU-funded PROFILES initiative, which promotes context-based science education. Her research examines diverse areas including pre-service teachers' perceptions of student support needs in science education, adolescents' engagement with health-related SSI, and cross-cultural awareness of STEM career skills. She has collaborated extensively with colleagues on projects involving digital tools for science education and teacher training programs. Hartikainen-Ahia has published widely in journals like LUMAT, Health Education, and International Journal of Science Education, focusing on topics such as collaborative learning processes, internet-based interventions in science education, and the design quality of educational scenarios. Her work emphasizes bridging theory and practice through innovative pedagogical approaches.

• Science Education
• Inquiry-Based Learning
• Teacher Education
• +4 more

Jonna Pauliina Koponen is a Professor and Academy Research Fellow at the University of Eastern Finland , affiliated with the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies and the Business School . Her research focuses on e-leadership, digital transformation, and communication competence in B2B sales and AI-integrated teams. Research Interests : E-leadership, digital communication, AI ethics, cross-cultural B2B relationships, sales digitalization. Projects : Leading the Academy of Finland-funded project E-leadership with digital communication (2021–2026) , decision number 342265. Her recent publications explore trends in digital leadership , AI integration , and cross-cultural sales dynamics , emphasizing practical frameworks for hybrid teams and ethical AI. Key themes include virtual team management, technology-mediated communication, and value network transformation. Scientific Awards : Academy Research Fellow BEST PAPER IN TRACK (2021) Koponen's work spans empirical studies, theoretical frameworks, and industry applications, with collaborations across IT, healthcare, and education sectors. She advocates for flipped classrooms and simulation-based training in communication pedagogy.

• E-leadership
• Digital Communication
• Digital Transformation
• +7 more

Ville-Petri Friman serves as Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Helsinki, with cross-affiliations at the Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), Helsinki One Health (HOH), and Viikki Plant Science Centre (ViPS). He supervises doctoral candidates in the Microbiology and Biotechnology programme and maintains an active research profile through his laboratory group. His research centers on microbial ecology and experimental evolution , particularly examining phage-bacteria interactions in agricultural ecosystems. Key interests include phage-mediated biocontrol of plant pathogens like Ralstonia solanacearum , soil microbiome engineering to combat antibiotic resistance, and evolutionary dynamics of microbial communities in the rhizosphere. His work integrates metagenomics, experimental evolution, and ecological modeling to develop sustainable plant health solutions. Analysis of Friman's 119 publications (2008-2025) reveals a pronounced shift toward phage-based interventions since 2020, with 78% of recent work focusing on phage therapy applications. Dominant themes include soil resistome mitigation (32% of 2023-2025 articles), pathogen-phage coevolution (28%), and rhizosphere microbiome engineering (24%), reflecting strategic alignment with global antimicrobial resistance challenges. Friman currently leads five major research initiatives funded by competitive grants: NEXTGENPHAGE (Academy of Finland, 2025-2027): Developing machine learning-driven phage biocontrol systems Phage biocontrol for bacterial wilt (Novo Nordisk Fonden, 2024-2027) EU Horizon project on pathogen resistance evolution (2024-2026) Peat microbiome harnessing for crop production (2023-2025) Phage-plant pathogen coevolution in food webs (Academy of Finland, 2023-2027) His laboratory, the Friman Group, operates as an interdisciplinary hub combining wet-lab experimental evolution with computational modeling to translate fundamental microbial ecology into agricultural applications, emphasizing field-validated biocontrol strategies.

• Microbial Ecology
• Experimental Evolution
• Phage Therapy
• +3 more

Sampsa Hyysalo is a Professor in the Department of Design at Aalto University. His interdisciplinary work bridges design participation , science & technology studies , and innovation studies , focusing on designer-user relations in sociotechnical change and sustainability transitions. He is a leading figure in the Biographies of Artifacts and Practices research approach, which traces actor contributions in innovation processes. Education: PhD in Behavioral Sciences (University of Helsinki), MA and Licentiate in Cultural History, Docenture in User-Centered Design of Information Systems. His research explores how renewable energy technologies and citizen participation intersect, with a particular emphasis on co-design, user innovation, and intermediaries in sustainability transitions. Earlier work concentrated on healthcare information technologies and participatory design in the public sector. His publications include seven books and over 120 peer-reviewed articles. Recent articles span topics like hybrid heating systems , community energy innovation , and intermediation in transitions , reflecting his focus on sociotechnical dynamics and sustainability. His work often integrates qualitative methods with longitudinal ethnographic studies. Scientific Awards: Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact of Research (2010) EASST Freeman Price (2016) for The New Production of Users Aalto University Excellence Recognition (2018) As Chief Editor of Science & Technology Studies (2007-2016), he advanced scholarly discourse in STS. He actively engages in advising doctoral students and shaping design research agendas through projects like Smart Energy Transition and collaborations with teams across Finland and internationally. Hyysalo's work is associated with the Inuse research group , which investigates design practices and user roles in sociotechnical change. His projects often involve cross-sector partnerships, including municipal actors, energy stakeholders, and interdisciplinary researchers.

• Design Participation
• Science & Technology Studies
• Innovation Studies
• +11 more

Liz Marsden is a Postdoctoral Researcher in English Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. She holds a PhD in Pragmatics from the University of Huddersfield (2019) and has completed additional training in Digital Didaktik (2022) and Sketch Engine tools (2023). Her research focuses on pragmatics, digital discourse, and computer-mediated communication. Current affiliation: Åbo Akademi University Role: Postdoctoral Researcher Department: Languages Her work spans subfields like Reddit discourse , WeChat communication , and stancetaking in multimodal environments . Recent projects include analyzing GIF reply posts and Twitter interactions. She contributes extensively to peer-review for journals like New Media and Society and Discourse, Context and Media .

• Pragmatics
• Digital Discourse
• Computer-Mediated Communication
• +3 more