June 2025: Matti Hyvärinen and Margit Sutrop

I am currently a pensioner and Research Director of the research project . I served a nine-year period as the vice-director of the Research Centre Narrare (2014–2023) at the Tampere University. While having my degrees in sociology and political science, I have focused on, since my time in the Collegium, on the conceptual history of narrative, master and counter narratives, and the narrative turns. 

My two-year term at the Collegium was of course all too short to complete my project on the conceptual history of narrative, as was the consequent five-year term in the Research Council of Finland. However, the interdisciplinary setting was a real turning point for me. For the first time, I sat next to literary scholars and worked and published with historians, political scientists and narratologists. By co-organizing a Collegium symposium, I had the opportunity to meet Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan – which eventually led me to work together with the narratologist Pekka Tammi from Tampere University, helping later to establish the . Professor Anneli Meurman-Solin, who happened to be at the Collegium at the same time with me, once walked to my room and brought with her two thick books by the world-famous narratologist Monika Fludernik. That was the point I really started to read and understand the relevance of narratology – and of course, led me to meet Fludernik later. Most recently, I have co-edited a volume “Counter-narrative as a concept of narratology” for Frontiers of Narrative Studies, Summer 2025.

I am a philosopher, ethicist, and politician, currently serving as a Member of the XIV Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament). Alongside my parliamentary work, I continue as Professor of Practical Philosophy and Head of the at the University of Tartu, which I founded in 2001. I am also a Member of Academia Europaea and work as an ethics expert for the European Commission.

My current research explores moral disagreement, value conflicts, trust in science, and the value alignment of artificial intelligence. I have studied and worked in Oxford, Oslo, and Konstanz. However, my research stay at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies holds a special place in my academic journey. After concluding my term as Dean at the University of Tartu, the Collegium offered a much-needed sabbatical and a fresh start in research. The contacts I established during my stay in Helsinki paved the way for joint research projects.

It was at the Collegium that I began working on trustworthy AI—then still an emerging topic. I was able to publish several articles on trust, moral disagreement, and value alignment in AI, which now inform my advisory roles in Estonia. I deeply appreciated the stimulating discussions, collegial atmosphere, and valuable feedback. Despite the pandemic’s constraints, I will always remember our joyful reunion at the June 2020 workshop Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic. This was a truly interdisciplinary meeting with a common topic. I am deeply grateful to the and the Collegium for their generous support.