Research in BI spans from fundamental research to applied biotechnology and includes cytoskeletal and membrane dynamics; morphogenesis, stem cells, and regeneration; plant, animal, microbial genomics and evolution; and structure and function of viruses and cellular protein complexes. The research activities are carried out in research groups joined into three multidisciplinary research programs. Our group leaders have been very successful in obtaining ERC grants and the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence funding. Our international Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) advises us on research strategy and evaluates our group leaders on a regular basis.
BI group leaders: 1. Ville Hietakangas (ERC-2011-StG), 2. Ykä Helariutta (ERC-2012-AdG), 3. Maria Vartiainen (ERC-2012-StG), 4. Cory Dunn (ERC-2014-StG), 5. Juha Huiskonen (ERC-2014-CoG), 6. Pekka Katajisto (ERC-2015-StG), 7. Jaan-Olle Anderssoo (ERC-2016-CoG), 8. Ari Pekka Mähönen (ERC-2018-CoG), 9. Merja Voutilainen (ERC-2018-StG), 10. Jarno Mäkelä (ERC-2022-StG). 11. Jette Lengefeld (ERC-2023-StG). 12. Alexander Mühleip (ERC-2024-StG)
Group leaders affiliated with BI: 1. Craig Primmer (ERC-2016-AdG), 2. Craig Primmer (ERC-2021-AdG), 3. Dario Greco (ERC-2021-CoG), 4. Pekka Katajisto (ERC-2021-CoG)
CoE programme 2014–2019: CoE in Research on Mitochondria, Metabolism and Disease (Brendan Battersby), CoE in Molecular Biology of Primary Producers (Ykä Helariutta, Ari Pekka Mähönen), CoE in Experimental and Computational Developmental Biology Research (Jukka Jernvall), CoE in Biomembrane Research (Pekka Lappalainen), CoE in Translational Cancer Biology (Tomi Mäkelä, Päivi Ojala)
CoE Programme 2018–2025: CoE in Stem Cell Metabolism (Pekka Katajisto, Ville Hietakangas, Jette Lengefeld)
CoE programme 2022–2029: CoE in Tree Biology (Ykä Helariutta), CoE in Biological Barrier Mechanics and Disease (Pekka Lappalainen)