Academy Research Fellow Laura Wey elected to Young Academy Finland
Laura Wey, Academy Research Fellow in molecular plant biology at the University of Turku, has been elected as a member of the Young Academy Finland for the 2026–2030 term.
The Board of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters selected new members for the Young Academy Finland for the 2026–2030 term. Young Academy Finland is a multidisciplinary organization for young researchers that aims to promote research and strengthen the status of science and scholarship in society. It increases the visibility of early-career researchers and encourages young people to engage with science by building connections between researchers and schools.
Laura Wey, who has now been elected as a new member of the Young Academy Finland, leads a research group focusing on bioelectricity at the University of Turku. Wey studies how living cells exchange electrons with their environment and how these processes can be harnessed for sustainable technologies.
“I am honoured to be selected as a member of the Young Academy Finland. The academy provides a unique platform for bringing together researchers from different disciplines to discuss science, society, and the future of research in Finland where I hope to spend my academic career. I am particularly looking forward to learning from colleagues across fields and contributing to conversations on honest sustainability research in Europe,” Wey says.
Wey’s research combines plant science, microbiology, biophysics, and electrochemistry to uncover the mechanisms of electron transfer in plants, algae, and soil bacteria. By understanding these natural bioelectrical processes, the group aims to develop applications such as photo-bio-batteries for renewable energy storage and electro-culture approaches to support sustainable crop production.
Before joining the University of Turku, Wey gained international research experience at the University of Cambridge, the Australian National University, Humboldt University of Berlin, and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
From the University of Turku, other current members of the Finnish Young Academy are Kaisu Hynnä-Granberg, Mikko Puumala, Katariina Pärnänen, Markus Juutinen, Otto Latva, Pauliina Peltonen, Mehrnoosh Farzamfar, Ashish Ganvir, Laura Ivaska and Polaris Koi.
