Olle Järv promotes a way of thinking in which knowledge about human mobility improves our understanding of a dynamic and networked society and its structural changes. Järv has put forward new perspectives on a number of topics, such as urban diversity and spatial segregation, multilocality and nature tourism.
He is particularly interested in how digital data such as mobile phone and social media data can be used to study mobility, and he has developed methods to apply these data to social research.
As an RCF-funded Academy Research Fellow, Järv is investigating how big data can help to understand the cross-border human mobility and interactions and how they can contribute to mapping and understanding functional border regions in Europe.
Järv is a top researcher in human geography in relation to his career stage. According to the award motivation, he has the potential to carve out and has already embarked on a remarkable international research career in his field.
Järv said: “Funding from the RCF has been really important for my career: the five-year BORDERSPACE project allowed me to establish a new line of research, create a research team around it and network internationally. I feel that my research has influenced the way the scientific community understands and examines social phenomena and processes. That’s why my research also has societal application. It’s been rewarding to see how the project’s research is also of interest to various EU stakeholders in terms of informing policymaking.”
Olle Järv works in the Digital Geography Lab, a research group led by Professor Tuuli Toivonen.
Recognition and encouragement for exceptional research talents
The aim of the Research Council of Finland Awards is to give recognition and encouragement to early-career researchers who are increasing their independence in their careers and to draw attention to objectives that the RCF considers important.
The Awards are presented to RCF-funded Academy Research Fellows, Postdoctoral Researchers, Clinical Researchers or principal investigators of Academy Projects, whose scientific career is still mostly ahead of them. The winners have demonstrated exceptional scientific audacity, creativity or innovation in their work. Other award criteria include increasing public awareness of scientific research or the research career, raising public interest in science, actively contributing to public debate in society, or otherwise strengthening the role, application and impact of science and research in society.
The Awards have been presented since 2003. The 2024 Awards will be presented to the winners at the Science Forum on 20 May 2025. In addition to Olle Järvi, this year's award also goes to Emilia Nordlund, Research Manager at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, developer of new protein sources.