Faculty office:
P.O. Box 56 (Viikinkaari 9)
00014 University of Helsinki
phone +358-(0)9-1911
fax +358-(0)9-191 57561
Faculty office open
Mon-Thu 12-14
Fri closed
International affairs,
undergraduate studies and admission,
Master's degree programmes:
bio-sci (at) helsinki.fi
PhD studies and admission:
biojatko-neuvonta (at) helsinki.fi
Diplomas:
bio-diploma (at) helsinki.fi
Personnel affairs:
bio-hallinto (at) helsinki.fi
Welcome to the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences!
The Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences with its neighbouring units forms the largest and most prominent scientific and educational unit for life sciences in Finland.
The significance of biological and environmental knowledge for the entire society is increasing. Applications of biosciences play significant role in health care and medical sciences. They also are extremely important in answering to environmental questions such as conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources.
See also our departments:
Department of Biosciences
Department of Environmental Sciences
News
News
ERC Advanced Grant to professor Kai Kaila
Professor Kai Kaila has received an European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for his research about arginine vasopressin and ion transporters in the modulation of brain excitability during birth and birth asphyxia seizures. The grant is €2.5 million fo 5 years. This year the ERC awarded over €660 million to 284 senior research leaders in 18 different countries.There were just over 2,400 applications for the grants this year, which was slightly more than last year. Kaila's grant is one of the five coming to Finland.
Copse snail, Arianta arbustorum, really hates wood vinegar
Birch-derived wood vinegar acts as a repellent against copse snails and other molluscs. Another birch product, biochar, could also play a role in diminishing the pesticide risk as it reduces the leaching of glyphosate from the soil.
Newly found telencephalin-dependent mechanism regulates synapse formation
ICAM-5 i.e. telencephalin is a neuron-specific cell adhesion molecule that controls immune responses and slows the development of the synapses. Changes in ICAM-5 levels are associated with for example epilepsy and Alzheimer's. Deleting ICAM-5 from mice accelerates synapse formation and improves memory and learning. Lin Ning found out a novel ICAM-5-dependent mechanism which regulates synapse formation, dendritic spine maturation and remodeling.
Freshwater monitoring made more reliable by statistical tools and analysis
Freshwater monitoring is not easy as spatial and temporal variation within water bodies causes different uncertainties. However, the sources of variability in lakes are relatively well known.
– Sampling design in individual monitoring regimes would benefit from the characterization of variance and subsequent uncertainty analysis of different data sources, says Saku Anttila in his doctoral dissertation.
More meadows and dense spruce forests needed in the urban environment
Urban spruce forest habitats need to be managed to maintain shady, cool and moist conditions. Also, dry meadows should be mown late in the season and the cut vegetation removed, says Stephen Venn. He also suggests that supplementation of habitat networks should be implemented for example by construction of dry meadows on landfills and noise abatement banks.
Climate change may disrupt the phenological synchrony between species
40 years' worth of animal, plant and climate data from Russian Carelia is a treasure trove to those studying climate change and its effects.
A small fungus fed on tree resin already 40 million years ago
The forest near you might even at this moment hide a species currently unknown to the science. Instead of being big and flashy it might be so small and specialised that it is hard to find. Hanna Tuovila found several fungi that feed on tree resins. Their close relatives have been on the Earth for tens of millions of years.
