Research Council of Finland funds return of leading international music researcher to University of Jyväskylä
Tuomas Eerola is currently Professor in Music Cognition at Durham University in the United Kingdom. Eerola completed his PhD at the University of Jyväskylä where he worked as a Professor of Musicology from 2007 to 2013. Eerola will start as Professor of Music Psychology in Jyväskylä on 2 August 2026.
Professor Eerola and his research group intend to use interdisciplinary methods in the study of emotions. The research seeks to better understand and apply the mechanisms that promote wellbeing.
“In the EU, mental ill-health is estimated to cost the economy 3% of GDP,” says Eerola. “There is compelling, measurable evidence across clinical, neurological and social domains that artistic and social-emotional engagement, notably through music, dance, and visual arts, produces significant improvements in both mental and physical well-being.”
In Eerola’s research, interdisciplinary methods will be used that combine data from surveys, interviews, and experiments with physiological, neural, and movement data. The research will be conducted at the Department of Music, Art, and Culture Studies at the University of Jyväskylä, as well as within the Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body, and Brain.
The Research Council’s funding aims to strengthen the profiling of universities. Those researchers and their research teams who receive funding and relocate to Finland will work in the profiling areas selected by the universities, areas that have been previously developed with funding from the Research Council. Eerola’s research effectively combines the profiling areas of JYU.Well and SOSUS.
“I am very pleased that our university’s renowned research is receiving significant support,” says Vice Rector Kaisa Miettinen. “Professor Eerola’s research profile is very unique. This research will further enhance the international competitiveness of our university and advance the development of open science in a range of ways.”
More information:
Professori Tuomas Eerola, tuomas.eerola@durham.ac.uk
