In the picture from left to right: Kim Krappala, Anna Svenn, Riikka Hiltunen, Tommi Kärkkäinen, and Inka Rantakallio (photo: AJ Savolainen)
Young Academy Finland’s autumn season kicks off with an expanded staff. Riikka Hiltunen will focus on managing the Young Academy Finland full-time, and Inka Rantakallio has been appointed as the new editor-in-chief of Mene ja tiedä journal. Inka holds a doctorate in musicology and has since worked e.g. as a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Council of Finland, and as one of the editors-in-chief of the peer-reviewed Musiikki magazine. Inka will work as editor-in-chief of Mene ja tiedä journal on a 50% basis.
Selja Taipale, coordinator of science education in Swedish at the Young Academy Finland, has moved on to new challenges, and Anna Svenn has been chosen to continue the part-time work. Anna is a teacher of Finnish language and psychology and is also completing a master’s degree in social psychology. Anna works as an assistant for the Mene ja tiedä magazine and as coordinator of the Tutkija tavattavissa service in Swedish. Science education coordinator Kim Krappala will continue to coordinate the Finnish-language side of the service and other science education projects at the Young Academy Finland.
Tommi Kärkkäinen will also be working part-time for the Young Academy Finland during the fall of 2025. Tommi is conducting a study for the organization, which will serve as a basis for the Young Academy Finland to develop operating models for supporting researchers’ policy impact. The report will focus in particular on the interface between research and political decision-making, and the journalistic media. Tommi also works as knowledge broker in the Science and policy department of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and is writing a dissertation in the Higher Education Group at the University of Tampere on the boundary conditions of interaction between research and decision-making.
Young Academy Finland will also grow by 18 new members at its autumn meeting in September. With the addition of the new members, 20 members from the 2021–2025 term will become alumni of the Young Academy Finland.