Inaugural lectures on 3 December – come meet your new professors!

Audience listening to an inaugural lecture.
Bulletin 11.11.2025

The University’s newly appointed professors will deliver their inaugural lectures on Wednesday, 3 December from 14.30 to 16.30 in the Main Building at Fabianinkatu 33, and remote livestream viewing will be available.

Each lecture lasts around 20 minutes, followed by a break to let attendees move between venues. For the event programme and livestream links, please visit our website at helsinki.fi/juhlaluennot. The lectures will not be recorded.

Afterwards, 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.

While waiting for a lecture or the evening ceremony, attendees are welcome to visit Café Civis in the Main Building or explore Helsinki University Museum Flame, where University staff and students have free entry.

Coats may be left in the free cloakroom on the Main Building’s first floor at Aleksanterinkatu 5 (entrance Hall Aleksi). The audience dress code for the lectures is smart everyday wear, while the evening ceremony calls for festive attire.

No advance registration is needed for the lectures or the evening ceremony and reception, and all members of the University community from freshmen to rectorate are warmly welcome.

The new professors and their lecture topics

Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry

  • Peter Krawczel, professor of Animal Welfare: Understanding the resources dairy cows need to have a meaningful life
  • Anne-Maria Pajari, professor of Nutrition (Molecular Nutrition): Ravinnon vaikutusmekanismien ymmärtämisestä kohden yksilöllisempää ravitsemusta
  • Tanja Pyhäjärvi, professor of Forest Genomics and Breeding: Mitä puiden geenit kertovat sopeutumisesta ja evoluutiohistoriasta?
  • Fred Stoddard, professor of Legume Science: Legumes for sustainability in cropping and food systems

Faculty of Arts

  • Eetu Mäkelä, professor of Digital Humanities: Lisää tekoälyä ihmistieteisiin?
  • Katri Pynnöniemi, professor of Russian Security Policy: Venäjän turvallisuuspolitiikan tutkimusta sodan varjossa

Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences

  • Tomas Roslin, professor of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology: Lajien vuorovaikutus muuttuvassa maailmassa 

Faculty of Law

  • Laura Ervo, professor of Procedural Law: Murros oikeussalissa - Oikeus osallistua ja tulla kohdatuksi
  • Ida Koivisto, professor of Public Law: Onko ihmistoimija välttämätön hallinto-oikeuden hyväksyttävyydelle? 

Faculty of Medicine

  • Annette Horstmann, professor of Behavioural Brain Research: The Hungry Brain: Why We Eat More Than We Need
  • Heikki Koistinen, professor of Internal Medicine: Lihaksen insuliiniresistenssin salat
  • Jorma Ryhänen, professor of Hand Surgery: Käden siirto - elinsiirtokirurgian uusi alue 

Faculty of Science

  • Enrico Di Minin, professor of Conservation Geography: AI for Nature: Harnessing Digital Data to Halt the Biodiversity Crisis
  • Anne-Maria Ernvall-Hytönen, professor of Mathematics (Mathematics Teacher Education): Irrationaalisuus ja siihen liittyvät kysymykset yhdistävänä tekijänä
  • Juha Kangasluoma, professor of Aerosol Physics (Aerosol Technology and Measurement Technology): Mittaustekniikat aerosolitutkimuksen edistäjinä
  • Jan Lundell, professor of Chemistry (Interaction of Light and Matter): Valoa kemiaan!
  • Klaus Nordhausen, professor of Statistics: Seeing the Big Picture: How Statistics Finds Patterns in a Sea of Data
  • Ari Salmi, professor of Physics: "Immaterial hands" to probe and alter matter
  • Christian Webb, professor of Mathematical Physics: Beyond chaos
  • David Weir, professor of Gravitational Wave Cosmology: Ways of seeing (the primordial universe)

Faculty of Social Sciences

  • Tuomas Ylä-Anttila, professor of Political Science (Political and Organisational Studies): Ilmastotoimet vastatuulessa – väliaikaisestiko? 

Faculty of Theology

  • Jason Silverman, professor of Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture: Human work shaped the Persian Imperial economy and society 

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine                  

  • Heli Simojoki, professor i Ruminant Health: Nautaterveyden vaikutus yhteiseen terveyteen
  • Tarja Sironen, professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases: Together for a Healthier World – One Health Against Pandemics

Accessibility

Information on the accessibility of Main Building facilities is available on the ‘Accessibility at the Main Building’ page. For any individual needs to be considered in the event arrangements, please contact unievents@helsinki.

Photo: Pekka Lähteenmäki (University of Helsinki)