The inaugural lectures of the new professors

As they take up their new role, each professor at the University of Helsinki holds a public inaugural lecture. Inaugural lectures are held twice a year close to the end of each term, usually in May and December.
Upcoming lectures | 3 December 2025

Newly appointed University of Helsinki professors will give their inaugural lectures on Wednesday, 3 December 2025 at 14.30-16.30 in the University’s Main Building (Fabianinkatu 33). The lectures are also available for livestreaming. The lectures serve as popular introductions to the professors’ disciplines and current research topics. 

Following the above lectures, Professor of Russian Security Policy Katri Pynnöniemi will give her inaugural lecture in Finnish at an inauguration ceremony starting at 17.00 in the University’s Great Hall. Her topic will be Venäjän turvallisuuspolitiikan tutkimusta sodan varjossa (‘Research on Russian security policy in the shadow of war’). Following the approximately one-hour ceremony, the audience is invited to a reception in the Main Building foyers. 

The programme below includes a detailed schedule for the day’s lectures and a list of the lecturers. Before each approximately 20-minute lecture, the relevant faculty’s dean or vice-dean will briefly introduce the professor. The event is open to all.

Please join us to meet the University of Helsinki’s newly appointed professors.

PROGRAMME 3.12.2025
ROOM F3003 (Tekla Hultin)

Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor

At 14.30
Chemistry (Interaction of Light and Matter) | Faculty of Science 
Valoa kemiaan!

At 15.00
Mathematics (Mathematics teacher education) | Faculty of Science
Irrationaalisuus ja siihen liittyvät kysymykset yhdistävänä tekijänä

At 15.30
Statistics | Faculty of Science 
Seeing the Big Picture: How Statistics Finds Patterns in a Sea of Data

At 16.00
Conservation Geography | Faculty of Science
AI for Nature: Harnessing Digital Data to Halt the Biodiversity Crisis
ROOM F3005

Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor

At 14.30  
Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture | Faculty of Theology
Human work shaped the Persian Imperial economy and society

At 15.00  
Digital Humanities | Faculty of Arts
Lisää tekoälyä ihmistieteisiin?

At 15.30  
Ruminant Health | Faculty of Veterinary Medicine / Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry 
Nautaterveyden vaikutus yhteiseen terveyteen

At 16.00  
Emerging Infectious Diseases | Faculty of Veterinary Medicine / Faculty of Medicine
Together for a Healthier World – One Health Against Pandemics
ROOM F3010

Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor

At 14.30  
Procedural Law | Faculty of Law
Murros oikeussalissa - Oikeus osallistua ja tulla kohdatuksi 

At 15.00
Public Law | Faculty of Law
Onko ihmistoimija välttämätön hallinto-oikeuden hyväksyttävyydelle?

At 15.30
Political Science (Political and Organisational Studies) | Faculty of Social Sciences 
Ilmastotoimet vastatuulessa – väliaikaisestiko?

At 16.00  
Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology | Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Lajien vuorovaikutus muuttuvassa maailmassa
ROOM F3017

Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor

At 14.30
Aerosol Physics (Aerosol Technology and Measurement Technology) | Faculty of Science
Mittaustekniikat aerosolitutkimuksen edistäjinä

At 15.00
Physics | Faculty of Science
“Immaterial hands” to probe and alter matter

At 15.30
Mathematical Physics | Faculty of Science 
Beyond chaos

At 16.00
Gravitational Wave Cosmology | Faculty of Science
Ways of seeing (the primordial universe) 
ROOM F3020 (Studium)

Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor

At 14.30
Animal Welfare | Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry / Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Understanding the resources dairy cows need to have a meaningful life 

At 15.00
Legume Science | Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry
Legumes for sustainability in cropping and food systems 

At 15.30
Forest Genomics and Breeding | Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry 
Mitä puiden geenit kertovat sopeutumisesta ja evoluutiohistoriasta?

At 16.00  
Nutrition (Molecular Nutrition) | Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry
Ravinnon vaikutusmekanismien ymmärtämisestä kohden yksilöllisempää ravitsemusta
ROOM F4050 (Small Hall)

Fabianinkatu 33, 4th floor

At 14.30
Internal Medicine | Faculty of Medicine 
Lihaksen insuliiniresistenssin salat 

At 15.00
Behavioural Brain Research | Faculty of Medicine 
The Hungry Brain: Why We Eat More Than We Need

At 15.30  
Hand Surgery | Faculty of Medicine
Käden siirto - elinsiirtokirurgian uusi alue
INAUGURATION CEREMONY

At 17.00, Great Hall, 2nd floor (Aleksanterinkatu 5)

Speech: Chancellor Kaarle Hämeri

Inaugural Lecture: , professor of Russian security policy: 
Venäjän turvallisuuspolitiikan tutkimusta sodan varjossa 

Introductions of the new professors
Music

After the ceremony, the reception, including refreshments, will be held on the second floor of the Main Building.

Accessible entrance: Yliopistonkatu 2. Further information on the accessibility of Main Building facilities is available on the ‘.
Cloakroom: Aleksanterinkatu 5

For any individual needs to be considered in the event arrangements, please contact unievents@helsinki.
 
Dress code

New professors
New professors giving their inaugural lectures wear a black suit, or tailcoat with a bow tie and black waistcoat. Pocket handkerchief is not used with a black waistcoat. Clerics may wear clerical attire, and those who have completed their doctoral degree at a foreign university may use the gown of that institution. The new professors carry with them their doctoral hats if they have graduated from a Finnish university, and they have a doctoral hat. 

Audience
The dress code for the audience is casual. In the evening session, the dress code is festive attire.
Professors who gave their inaugural lectures in 2024-2025
May 2024

Faculty of Arts:
, Professor of Germanic Philology | , Professor of Finnish and Nordic History | , Professor of Latin language | , Professor of Classical Philology | , Professor of Indigenous Studies

Faculty of Educational Sciences:
, Professor of Craft Science and Craft Pedagogy

Faculty of Medicine:
, Professor of Clinical psychology, mental health, and mental health interventions | , Professor of Dermatology and Allergology | , Professor of Biochemistry | , Professor of Development of Healthcare Services 

Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry:
, Professor of Molecular and Translational Plant Biology | , Professor of Global Forests and Land Use 

Faculty of Science:
, Professor of Regional and Urban Inequalities | , Professor of Earthquake Seismology | , Professor of Data Science (Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence) | , Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Physics | , Professor of Computer Science (Software Development Methods) | , Professor of Data Science (Knowledge Discovery in Big Data) | , Professor of Computer Science (Spatiotemporal Data Analysis for Sustainability Science)

Faculty of Law:
, Professor of Law | , Professor of Criminal and Procedural Law

Faculty of Social Sciences:
, Professor of Social Policy | , Professor of European Societies and Politics | , Professor of Social Work| , Professor of Philosophy of Social Science and Sustainability
December 2024

Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry:
, Professor of Food Sciences | , Professor of Sustainability Science (Behavioural Change toward Sustainability Transformations) 

Faculty of Science:
, Professor of Cryosphere-atmosphere interactions | , Professor of Biogeochemical Cycles | , Professor of Computer Science (distributed systems and networking with emphasis on Internet of Things) | , Professor of Physical Chemistry 

Faculty of Arts:
, Professor of Italian Language | , Professor of Audiovisual Culture | , Professor of Scandinavian Languages | , Professor of Ethnology | , Professor of Ibero-Romance languages | , Professor of Digital Humanities | , Professor of Art Studies 

Faculty of Social Sciences:
, professor of Social Work | , professor of Sociotechnical Change of Consumer Society |
, professor of Disability Studies | , professor of Practical Philosophy | , professor of Global Development Studies | , professor of Sociology | , professor of Communication

Faculty of Educational Sciences:
, professor of Language Didactics |, professor of Sociology of Education

Faculty of Medicine:
, professor of Pharmacology

Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences:
, professor of Neurobiology

Faculty of Law:
, professor of Civil and Commercial Law
May 2025

Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry:
, professor of Environmental Economics | , professor of Sustainability Science (Sustainable Food Systems) 

Faculty of Arts:
, professor of Finnish Language | , professor of Islamic Studies | , professor of English Language and Digital Humanities | , professor of Finnish Language | , professor of Quantitative and Comparative Linguistics

Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences:
, professor of Socio-ecological Systems | , professor of Integrative Neurobiology | , professor of Evolutionary Ecology | , professor of Statistics | , professor of Integrative Physiology

Faculty of Medicine:
, professor of Molecular Pathology | , professor of Neurology | , professor of Cancer Molecular Biology | , professor of Translational Medicine | , professor of Pediatric Cardiology | , professor of Neuropsyhcology 

Faculty of Educational Sciences:
, professor of Learning in Humans and Machines

Faculty of Pharmacy:
, professor of Pharmaceutical Bioinformatics

Faculty of Science:
, Professor of Mathematics (Swedish-language professorship) | , professor of Environmental Geochemistry | , professor of Life Science Informatics | , professor of Experimental Materials Physics 

Faculty of Social Sciences:
, professor of Criminology | , professor of Political History

Swedish School of Social Science:
, professor of Media and Communications