Keyword: Cultural memory and social change

Professor of Evolutionary Biology Virpi Lummaa from the University of Turku in Finland has received a major funding from the European Research Council ERC. Lummaa received the funding for a research project that focuses on how major societal changes in the past 300 years have influenced human kinship networks and how they, in turn, have influenced the evolutionary fitness of people in the 18th to 20th century Finland. Lummaa also investigates the same questions in Asian elephants, which have suffered from declines in population size during the past 50 years due to human influence.

Researchers from the University of Turku and the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology investigated the role of grandmothers in preventing childhood mortality from infectious diseases in 18th and 19th century Finland. According to the study, grandmothers decreased all-cause and cause-specific mortality of children.

The funding supports cross-disciplinary research in the University’s three profiling areas that focus on immune mediated diseases, the evolution of human diversity, and the design of sustainable materials.

A seminar on Ukrainian Literature and Culture will be held at the University of Turku on 10 November, 2022. Register for the event by 7 November. It is also possible to attend the seminar online.

Researchers from University of Turku investigated how the vaccine mandate against the deadly childhood infection smallpox was successful at increasing vaccination coverage in 19th century Finland.

In order to understand how Russia’s war in Ukraine is possible, it is important to analyse what kind of narratively mediated view of reality, conception of history, and national identity the Russian state-owned media has built and sustained for years. Competing narratives also play a central role in other major global crises of our times, such as the pandemic and ecological crisis. Cultural narratives shape social reality and they can be used as a weapon in moulding public opinion.

Welcome to the seminar "Sustainability and Academic Research – UTU Researchers Contributing to Sustainability" on 4th June. Faced with a multitude of challenges ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic and global environmental crisis to a variety of risks pointed out by for example the third citizens’ panel on sustainable development in Finland, the presenters and audience are invited to share their thoughts and insights on sustainability and academic research. Registration is open until 2nd June.