UniOulu Science Day 2026
Event information
Time
Wed 15.04.2026 08:30 - 17:00
Venue location
Linnanmaa campus
Location
Registration for UniOulu Science Day 2026 is now open. The registration will close on 2 April at 11.59 pm. To celebrate the Oulu 2026 Culture Capital year, we also welcome participation from citizens of Oulu. Please register for your preferred workshop to secure your slot. More detailed information about the workshops can be found here.
The language of the event is English. The event will be held at Linnanmaa Campus.
Programme
8-9: Interactive demo: Kuurankukat ja laulavat kvantit: virtuaalimatkoja ajassa ja paikassa, Assistant Professor Ella Peltonen & team, AIC Lounge
8.30: Morning coffee served in front of Lecture Hall L1
9-10.15: Opening plenary, Lecture Hall L1
Welcome words
Rector Arto Maaninen, University of Oulu
Keynote speech – Light in the Darkness: astrophotography under the northern sky
J-P Metsävainio, Astronomical nature photographer and visual artist
Keynote speech – Hybrid Knowledges
Associate Professor Laura Beloff, Vice Dean for artistic and creative practices in the School of Art, Design and Architecture, Aalto University
10.30-11.45 Concurrent workshops, part 1
You can choose one of the following 18 workshops to attend. You will participate in the same workshop for part 1 and part 2. You must register for the workshop of your choice to secure your place – some of the workshops only accept a limited number of participants.
- The AI-Era Approach to Knowledge Management and Communication in Complex Projects
- AI in Pathology Workflow: Driving New Clinical Predictors
- Any Science is Neuroscience: Intersections of Mind, Body, and Society
- Boost Your Research Proposal with AI
- Data-Driven Futures in Health: Interdisciplinary Insights from the Data4Healthcare Programme
- Decoding Deepfakes and Public Trust in the Age of AI
- Deep Listening in Polarized Times: Democratic Dialogue
- Digitalization, AI & Data at the Service of Humanity – Securing effective services in the rural North through digitalization
- Expanding the toolbox for solving global environmental problems.
- Foresight Workshop on Mini-scenarios for Human-Centric Digitalization
- Green Hydrogen Transition: From Molecules to Mindsets – Bridging Technology and Society
- How does culture shape our capacity to adapt?
- Resilient science – breaking barriers in interdisciplinary communication
- Species Work
- Turning Challenges into Opportunities: Radical Ideas for Resilience in a Changing Arctic
- Co-creating City Futures: Unlocking Innovation through Engaged Research
- WhatWorks Practices – Designing a Well-functioning Multidisciplinary Research Programme for nature positivity
11.45-12.45 Lunch break
11.45-12.45: Interactive demo: Kuurankukat ja laulavat kvantit: virtuaalimatkoja ajassa ja paikassa, Assistant Professor Ella Peltonen & team, AIC Lounge
12.45-14 Concurrent workshops, part 2
The workshops continue in the same spaces.
14.00 Afternoon coffee in front of Lecture Hall L3
14.30-15.45 Afternoon plenary, Lecture hall L3
Comments and closing words
Vice Rector for Research Matti Latva-aho, University of Oulu
Keynote speech – Who Gets to Choose? On the future(s) of universities and researchers
Docent Veli Virmajoki, Senior Researcher, Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC), Turku School of Economics
Imagining Academic Futures – A facilitated foresight exercise
Facilitators: Senior Researcher Veli Virmajoki from Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC), Turku School of Economics, and from University of Oulu Head of Planning Juha Mönkkönen, Specialist Anu Rytivaara, Head of Development Minna ‘t Lam, and Specialist Heidi Peuraniemi.
15.45 Poster session with cocktail hour
The Call for Posters is open until 13 February! We warmly invite and encourage early career researchers of the University of Oulu to come present their interdisciplinary research posters at UniOulu Science Day. The best poster will be awarded!