Current news at the Department of Biological and Environmental Science

Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä, in collaboration with international research groups, have now developed a new statistical method that enables the analysis of data sets comprising millions of species.

Hennariikka Mäenpää's doctoral dissertation results show that tardigrade communities are not uniform across peatlands. They vary particularly with peatland type, but management history, microtopography, and moss species also play important roles.

Professor Jouni Taskinen is a walking database of freshwater pearl mussel research and will be answering the audience’s questions at the Science for All -event on September 16..

University Teacher Tuomo Äkkinen at the University of Jyväskylä is the new director of the Central Finland LUMA Centre. One goal is to get all departments of the faculty more involved in science education to achieve a unified approach.

This year, the University launched a new research profiling area that seeks more comprehensive approaches to foster older people’s functional capacity and recovery from illnesses.

For the first time, Mikko Mäkinen experimentally examined in his doctoral dissertation examined the sulfate tolerance of Finnish fish species and produced essential and highly timely background information for water protection needs.

Recent research shows that lignin can be an environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic microbe-repellent substances. The work was done under tight collaboration between University of Jyväskylä, Spinnova Oy and CH Bioforce.

Focusing on the Arctic-alpine plant Bistorta vivipara (nurmitatar in Finnish), Skylar Burg explored how both environmental conditions and host plant traits shape interactions with fungi and bacteria across altitude gradients in Fennoscandia.

JYU’s international summer school offers unique doctoral education from renowned teachers in an international student environment. The Jyväskylä Summer School will be held from 4th to 15th of August 2025.

The group examined how soundscapes change throughout the day and year. The research revealed that soundscape rhythms are less predictable for people living in urban areas than for animals in the wild.

The Master’s Degree Programme in Diagnostic Health Sciences will start at the University of Jyväskylä in September 2026. The programme is unique in Finland.

Our researcher Johanna Yletyinen has been involved as part of an international research group that has studied diverse ecosystems and environmental management phenomena. The article has been published as a children's version.