In 2026, Academician Professor Markku Kulmala will be taking a step aside from his leadership role, and Professor Tuukka Petäjä will become the new director of INAR. This is a new beginning since INAR was founded under Prof. Kulmala’s leadership, originally as an aerosol and environmental physics laboratory, then as a division in the Department of Physics, before becoming its own institute at the University of Helsinki in 2018. Prof Kulmala will however continue leading ACCC.
Prof. Petäjä has shared some of his reflections, thoughts, and visions of the future of INAR with the INAR Newsletter.
Fond memories of INAR, especially Hyytiälä Forest Station
Since being active in INAR (and formerly the Department of Physics) since 2000, Prof. Petäjä’s favourite memory was taking part in the QUEST2 measurement and experiment campaign at Hyytiälä in 2003. The campaign included sulfuric acid instruments from MPI, AMS instruments from Leeds University and Aerodyne Research, an ultralight aircraft from KIT, and newly developed instruments from University of Helsinki. Despite being a long and stressful campaign to keep the instruments up and running in working order, Prof. Petäjä has fond memories of this trip. It was during this experience that he realised that this was his calling, and he made the decision that he wanted to continue this work for his career. He loves bringing people together, especially at Hyytiälä, setting up instruments, and developing scientific projects to study the atmosphere.
Challenges of the current academic landscape
Academia is a dynamic landscape, especially when it comes to resources and funding. In particular, Prof. Petäjä notes that it is difficult to find sources of long-term funding in academics, and this is one of the biggest challenges faced by INAR (and any research unit). This is especially challenging for measurement efforts intended to last many years, which is one of the core ideas behind SMEAR and INAR’s research infrastructures. Nonetheless, Prof. Petäjä is optimistic about keeping our infrastructures active in the future, which are critical components of atmospheric and Earth-system research, even through challenging times. INAR has dedicated staff who maintain this critical infrastructure, and ensuring continuous long-term measurements for scientific research remains a top priority.
Another challenge is the size of INAR and the fact that INAR groups are spread out among several campuses and facilities (e.g., Kumpula, Viikki, Hyytiälä, Värriö, Lahti). We should not be isolated islands of activity; rather, we should have joint goals and work together. Prof. Petäjä encourages collaboration between different research groups and facilities, and he also encourages collaborating with groups outside of INAR and Finland.
Finally, a recent challenge that Prof. Petäjä notes is that it is not always easy to bring a new generation of researchers into the field. Prof. Petäjä encourages community outreach and hopes to attract new students and researchers into the field of Earth, atmospheric, and environmental science.
The value that INAR brings to the greater academic community
INAR has world-class expertise with interdisciplinary subjects in atmospheric, Earth, and natural sciences, including new particle formation and growth, aerosol-climate interactions, terrestrial ecosystems, forestry, soil science, and atmosphere-ecosystem interactions. In addition to the Hyytiälä and Värriö stations, which are known worldwide, INAR maintains and takes part in research infrastructures around the world, including European Research infrastructures, such as ICOS, ACTRIS, eLTER, and AnaEE. In Finland, these are integrated within INAR RI.
In addition to keeping up INAR’s international standing and expertise in these subjects, Prof. Petäjä hopes to foster new cutting-edge research topics, develop novel collaborations, and explore new scientific ideas. For example, INAR is continuing to work with Chinese collaborators to develop new measurement networks and joint academic research and teaching programmes. INAR is also building similar research and education collaborations in India.
Vision for the future
Prof. Petäjä says that one of the most important things is to encourage community spirit in INAR, and it’s also important to encourage open discussions and welcome new ideas about the future of INAR. This includes bringing together PIs and research groups to hear their needs going into the future. Additionally, maintaining infrastructures, instruments, observation sites, and modelling tools will remain a priority.
Prof. Petäjä also hopes to develop new tools in multidisciplinary research. For example, AI is a rapidly growing area of research interest. Additionally, he hopes to further strengthen integrative research for example between forest sciences, atmospheric sciences, meteorology, chemistry and soil sciences.
Prof. Petäjä looks forward to thinking outside the box, exploring new and novel research topics, developing new science, discussing science with researchers and experts, and tapping their brains for ideas. This includes not only supporting and planning exciting research ideas but also implementing them and bringing them to fruition. Most of all, Prof. Petäjä also looks forward to using INAR’s expertise in a wider sense to address societal and global challenges in the future of Finland and our planet.
On behalf of the editors of the INAR Newsletter, we thank Professor Kulmala for the dedication and passion he has given to INAR, and we wish Professor Petäjä all the best wishes in his new role as director of INAR.