Experts in themes associated with the Finnish parliamentary election

This page lists University of Helsinki researchers available for commenting on themes related to the parliamentary election in Finland.

Juhana Aunesluoma (Finnish, English)

NATO, other foreign policy, in particular relations in the Baltic Sea Region and with the United States

Martin Björklund (Swedish, Finnish, English, French)

International law and European law pertaining to international commercial treaties, WTO, bilateral and regional commercial treaties, including climate issues, international sanctions

Jari Eloranta (Finnish, English)

NATO, military expenditure, military procurement, sanctions, conflicts

Matti Heino (Finnish, English)

Societal crisis tolerance, pandemic preparedness, utilisation of anticipation and knowledge based on behavioural science in governance

Eva Heiskanen (Finnish, English, Swedish)

Energy, everyday life, a fair energy transition

Janne Hukkinen (Finnish, English, Swedish)

Strategic management of environmental and societal crises, environmental policy, sustainability transitions, researchers’ freedom of speech, interaction between scholarship and politics

Timo Miettinen (Finnish, English)

EU policy, European issues, Finland’s status in the EU

Laura Nordström (Finnish, English)

EU policy, the eurozone crisis and lobbying

Eija Ranta (Finnish, English)

Development cooperation, development policy

Teivo Teivainen (Finnish, English, Spanish, Portuguese)

Foreign policy, ideologies, human rights issues, drug policy

Tuomas Ylä-Anttila (Finnish, English)

Climate policy, societal movements and civic activity, political polarisation, values of candidates and citizens and their placement on the ideological spectrum



For experts on Russia, Ukraine and the impact of the war, see this list.

Saska Heino (Finnish, English)

Income taxation, income inequalities

Matilda Hellman (Finnish, Swedish, English)

Composition of previous governments, welfare policy, differences between political and executive power

Lauri Holappa (Finnish, English)

Political economy, economic policy, debt, economic policy in the eurozone, global economy, interface between economic and security policy

Ilja Kristian Kavonius (Finnish, English, German)

Measuring the economy and wellbeing, especially household income and wealth

Mikko Kuusela (Finnish, English)

Insurances and occupational pensions

Niku Määttänen (Finnish, English)

Financial policy, macroeconomics, public finances, pension system

Mika Pantzar (Finnish, English)

Health and welfare, public debt, trends

Jukka Pirttilä (Finnish, English)

Financial policy, tax policy

Antti Ronkainen (Finnish, English)

Economic policy, monetary policy, EU policy

Juha Tervala (Finnish, English)

Economic policy, financial policy, public debt, recovery, sustainability deficit, green investment

Roope Uusitalo (Finnish, English)

Public finances, labour market

Vesa Vihriälä (Finnish, English)

Economic policy, economic crises, EU economic policy

Matti Ylönen (Finnish, English)

Political economy, global politics, development cooperation and development policy, governance policy, politics of international taxation

Jutta Hartikainen (Finnish, English)

Multicultural nursing, women’s status and segregation, equality, the accessibility and equality of digital social welfare and healthcare services, nursing education and training, wellbeing and power structures in nursing

Maija Jäppinen (Finnish, English)

Social work, social services in the social welfare and healthcare services reform, services for children and families, child protection, gendered violence and domestic violence, social security, the right to an adequate standard of living

Kaisa Kuurne (Finnish, English)

Childbirth and reproduction, healthcare practices, the care system, gender, families, course of life, social welfare, informal safety nets and networks

Tuomo Laihiala (Finnish, Swedish, English)

Food aid, disadvantage, welfare inequalities, the welfare state service system 

Anne Leppo (Finnish, English)

Drug policy, marginalisation, inequality, care and care policy

Tiina Sihto (Finnish, English)

Care, family caregiving

Mia Silfver (Finnish, English)

Family caregiving, the wellbeing of young people, support for environmentally sustainable lifestyles

Pekka Tuominen (Finnish, English)

Segregation, urban policy

Elina Virokannas (Finnish, English)

Drug policy, substance abuse, marginalisation in access to services, obstacles to access to services, diverse marginalisation

Minna Zechner (Finnish, English)

Elderly care, care policy

Georg Boldt (Swedish, Finnish, English)

Participation of young people, participatory democracy, civic activism, social movements, church policy 

Michael Egerer (Finnish, English, German)

The gambling system, the Veikkaus gambling operator

Johanna Kantola

Gender equality, equality policy, opposition to gender equality, feminism and populism, their association with EU and European trends, particularly in relation to the European Parliament.

Veikko Eranti (Finnish, English)

Election campaigning, social media in elections, general themes, urban policy

Tuomas Heikkilä (Finnish, English)

False information (misinformation, disinformation), information disorders, misleading communications, misconceptions, fact-checking, social media, online activism

Theodora Helimäki (Finnish, English)

Voting behaviour, using information to make voting decisions, relations between candidates and voters, ideologies, candidate-centredness

Veikko Isotalo (Finnish, English)

Recommendation systems, placement of candidates’ and voters’ values on various political spectra, candidates’ election success, voting behaviour

Jenni Karimäki (Finnish, English)

Election campaigning, general election themes, election history, political parties, ideologies, formation of the government, standing as a candidate and nominations from the party perspective

Hannu Lahtinen (Finnish, English)

Voter turnout, particularly differences between population groups

Eeva Luhtakallio (Finnish, English, French)

Influencing with images and visual politics, social media influencing, civic activism, inequality of participation, gender in politics, populism 

Matti Nelimarkka (Finnish, English)

Relationship between technology and politics, technology as a tool for policy-making, interaction and politicians’ modes of discourse on social media, reliability of data analyses

Emilia Palonen (Finnish, English, Swedish, German, Hungarian, French)

Inter-party dynamics, backing, discourses and populism, voting areas (especially in Eastern Finland)

Essi Pöyry (Finnish, English)

Marketing of politics, election campaigning, political opinion-makers, social media in politics

Åsa von Schoultz (Swedish, English)

Success and behaviour of candidates, voters’ opinions and behaviour (voter turnout, voting decisions), election systems, Finnish National Election Study Consortium and Finnish Parliamentary Candidates Survey

Johanna Vuorelma (Finnish, English)

Political rhetoric, political ideologies

Hanna Wass (Finnish, English)

Values in politics, voter turnout and political participation, party and candidate selection, representation, formation of the government, election-related harassment, church policy

Kristiina Brunila

  • Sociology and politics of education, social justice, knowledge/power, equality

Risto Hotulainen

  • Educational evaluation

Minna Huotilainen

  • Brain and learning, work wellness

Markku Jahnukainen

  • Special needs education, politics of education , comparative education

Kalle Juuti

  • Digital aspects on teaching and learning, engagement in learning, science education, and professional learning

Mirjam Kalland

  • Early childhood education, families and parenthood

Tapio Lahtero

  • Training schools, teacher training, school management

Lasse Lipponen

  • Early childhood education,  EC teachers eduation, HEI Schools

Kirsti Lonka

  • Educational psychology, phenomenal learning, digital learning, Finnish school system

Fritjof Sahlström

  • Teacher education, comprehensive education

Katariina Salmela-Aro

  • Educational psychology, learning and motivation, students and teachers wellbeing

Janne Varjo

  • Sociology and politics of education; Education, society and Culture