Researchers’ Night

Welcome to the Oulu Botanical Garden! The greenhouses, Romeo and Juliet, are open to the public. Botanical Garden, Kaitoväylä 5. 

The bug academy 

Come and meet little bugs and great researchers! The bug academy will teach you about the lives of creepy-crawlies and insect research. Would you like to see the different development stages of ants, butterflies as a pupae, or bumblebees having a ball in the hall?  How do you study the behaviour, ecology, genome and evolution of insects? Meet researcher and live bugs: bumble bees, ants and butterflies. Science Garden, Multifunctional space Sara, Kaitoväylä 5. 

Visit a beehive!  

Come and see what life is like inside a beehive. There will be a glass-walled hive, which bees live inside normally. Beekeepers will tell more about it and answer any questions. You can also taste and buy honey made by our bees. You can find us in the botanical gardens.  Botanical Garden, Kaitoväylä 5

Potnapekka transports the public free of charge between campus and Botanical Garden non-stop from 5pm to 9pm. 

Could I become a doctor?

What would it be like being a doctor? What does a doctor do for a living? Why does the doctor have a sword, and what does the doctor's hat conceal inside? Come meet the doctor with his hat and sword to Tellus and hear how you can become a doctor too! Doctor’s interview is in Finnish and starts at 17.30. Tellus Backstage at 17.30

Biobank Borealis – better health through research  

Biobank studies are used to develop better treatments and diagnostics for illnesses. Come to learn about the biobank and the methods and daily grind of research. Take part in the Guess what? microscope competition and pipetting challenge! Tellus Frost Club 

Try the Auditory Track application

On the iPad, try differentiating of instruments and pieces of music and perceive what happens to hearing of speech in noisy and reverberant listening conditions. With this Auditory Track application of ours, which is mainly aimed at young people and adults, you can try different tasks spoken by both a female and a male, from single words and sentences to slightly longer narratives. Tellus Aspire 

Play the Emotion Games in the Emotion Detectives' office

Play the Emotion Detectives Game and recognize facial expressions and tones of voice! How does a happy, surprised, or disgusted expression look like on the faces of children and adults? Can you distinguish between different emotional tones of voice? You can play a facial expression memory game, a puzzle showing facial expressions, the “Anger bingo” or, for example, fill in a crossword puzzle. With the game character Aksu, you can also solve various tasks received by the Emotion Detectives in their office. Tellus Aspire 

Do you recognize what Vinski wants?

Test VR glasses and do a virtual reality task where the objects that Vinski wants can be found by observing him. Tellus Brisk  

Energy from the sun — from sunlight to electricity

How do solar panels work? How snow, cloudiness and other factors affect energy generation by solar panels? Is it worthwhile to have solar panels in the North, does it generate energy year-round? Researchers from the Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Group will present the function of solar panels to those interested in the issue. Tellus Horizon

Entrepreneur workshop for children 

Come and set up your own company! The workshop features two activity points where children make plans for their own company and design a logo for it. Each young entrepreneur receives a start-up grant – in chocolate coins. The duration of each activity point is 10 to 15 minutes. M101 at 17-19

Information processing from many angles    

In the session, you can learn about the development work of smart technology. Find out what would be just right for you: programming, modelling, drafting, inventing new product ideas or testing. In the workshop, you can try block programming or 3D modelling. Suitable for both children and adults. YL124 at 17-19

MathsStop  

Maths is so much more than calculations! Come and play games and have fun with mathematical problems. The games are best suited for visitors over 4 years of age. L2

Meet the bones   

Come join us to learn about human and animal bones. In archaeological research bones can tell us a lot of things about past people and animals.  From human bones (plastic casts) you can see how to separate males from females and test for yourself how easy sex estimation is. You will also learn how to identify smaller bones and learn their location in the body. Animal bone stations will give you the opportunity to compare the bones of different species to see similarities and differences. You will also be able to see examples of different types of pathological changes in bones. For all ages. 115A at 17.30-19.30 

Digital Manufacturing at Fab Lab   

Come and discover Fab Lab, a digital manufacturing workshop. Laser cut a small object to go with you. See how the 3D printer and other computer-controlled devices work. Encode the Internet of Things (IOT) and make yourself a reflector. Imagination is the limit. FabLab 

Home Dentist of Digital Age  

Screen Teppo's teeth, get to know a home dentist of digital age and take a picture of teeth. Receive advice on smart feasting. AT127 Media Lounge at 17-20

See your name with new eyes! 

At the Languages and Communication stand, we will turn your name into an anagram, into Japanese or into Cyrillic! Glass Cube at the main lobby KE1002  at 17-19

Magic of Chemistry  

In the Chemistry workshop you can do the magic trick of chemistry. You can find out with teaching demonstrations what kind of topics are being researched in the Research Unit of Sustainable Chemistry. Come and experience these wonders of chemistry to the Reseacher’s Night! KE1094  

The drones

At the demonstration point, our researchers tell you about drones  and show the equipment used for drone-related research. Some are unique flying devices built from the components by scientists themselves. There are lots of possibilities associated with drones and their use. Therefore, the university has several research directions in which their use is being experimented with. Topics relate to issues such as safety, 3D modelling, transport logistics, measurement, imaging and surveillance. Main Lobby

Oulu University Library

Science Library Pegasus offers fun things to do for all ages with the theme of sustainability. Main Lobby

People and biodiversity  

Meet the researchers from Biodiverse Anthropocenes Research Programme!  Biodiverse Anthropocenes is a Research Programme of the University of Oulu supported by the Academy of Finland PROFI6 funding (2021-2026). Through innovative and transdisciplinary research, our scholars from across the social and natural sciences collaboratively investigate the biodiversity loss currently threatening multi-species well-being and planetary sustainability. Main Lobby in front of  L3

International UniOulu 

Explore fun pin making, photo boothing and berry-juice tasting and feel internationalised in UniOulu campus style! Main Lobby

Robotics Workshop

In the robotics lab, “James” and “Jeeves” serve visitors refreshments (juice and mineral water). James and Jeeves are cooperative robotic arms. In the robotics workshop, you can try out the programming of the robot yourself and see how robotics gets closer to people! TF103

Test a Formula-car!

Have you always wanted to know what it feels like to sit behind the wheel of a formula-car? Now there is an opportunity when Formula Student Oulu presents its student-designed and executed racing car. The Formula was competed in international engineering competitions held at the F1 circuit in the summer of 2022 in Austria. Formula Student Oulu is an organisation founded in 2013 that combines both technical and business expertise. Technology lobby

Optical Brain Monitoring

At the University of Oulu, measurement methods are being developed to monitor brain health. The aim is to develop diagnostics to identify at an early stage, for example, possible impairment of brain function in older people and methods to restore it. Using light, based on near-infrared spectroscopy, one can traditionally measure hemodynamics of the brain. The MIPT Research Unit also develops methods and analysis models for measuring brain fluid dynamics. In this context, this demonstration point introduces an optical method related to brain monitoring. Väylä, hallway in front of Tellus

Build a diverse landscape

Imagine yourself at the top of a fell. The landscape is frosted by trees and plants glowing in colours. But what's under the vegetation layer? In this workshop you will learn about geodiversity which means the diversity of non-living nature. The landscape is built of rocks, soils and shapes. Together they form the stage of nature, where all plants and animals are considered as actors. The workshop offers a variety of materials, such as sand and pebbles, from which the guests of Researchers' Night will be able to build a geodiverse landscape together. When the landscape is diverse, it offers a wide variety of homes and hiding places, where many species can live and thrive. The workshop is organized by researchers from the Physical Geography Research Group. Väylä, hallway in front of Tellus

Ask about energy

Energy prices go up! Ask about energy. In the future, where does the electricity and heat come from? Väylä, hallway in front of Tellus

Learn about cookies and your right to privacy online

Have you ever hit a cookie wall on a website? Have you always wanted to know exactly why cookies are placed in websites and in apps? Do you know how many cookies are in the website you last visited or what cookies are embedded in your apps? Do you know what the cookies that are embedded in your apps and websites actually do? Learn about your right to privacy online. Become a CSI-COP citizen scientist and be part of a team across Europe. Investigate and explore with us what cookies track us in the websites and apps we use daily. Väylä, hallway in front of Tellus

Quantum games  

Come and experience the fascinating, albeit strange, world of quantum mechanics by playing games! How do familiar games, such as tic-tac-toe or battleship, work in a quantum world? You can also see a real quantum computer in action! PR145 

BioDigi – pop up Living Lab: Participate important biochar research!

The workshop is related to BioDigi -project financed by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland. BioDigi research focuses on production, uses and environmental impacts of carbon products originating from biowaste integrating Digital tools at different steps of the work. One of the central tasks in BioDigi project is related to impacts of carbon products on plant growth. In this workshop you can participate BioDigi research also during the forthcoming weeks. In the workshop you will sow barley seeds in different substrates under the expert guidance. After sowing, you can take seed trays at home, and follow the germination during the few coming weeks. At the end of the follow-up period, you will send the observations and/or photos to BioDigi researchers for further treatment of the information. Each workshop can accommodate max 30 persons at the time, and they are organized several times during the evening. The duration of the workshop is 15-20 min. Between the workshops you can explore the BioDigi project and discuss with the experts. PR101

Energy from the atom – how do we produce energy by breaking nuclei?

Approximately one third of the electricity produced in Finland comes from nuclear energy, but… Where does nuclear energy actually come from? How do we harness such energy and transform it in electrical energy? How does a nuclear power reactor actually work? Researchers from the Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Group will present the working principles behind the nuclear energy production and technology. Guests at the researchers' night will be able to familiarize themselves with nuclear power plant simulator programs and get better informed about what is happening at the nuclear plant and how uranium cracks. This workshop will be held in English. Guided sessions will start at 17.30, 18.30 and 19.30. AT122

Lectures

Lectures are held in Finnish

Professor Jouni Pursiainen: Miten tiede on muuttanut elämäämme? (How does science improve our life?)

Scientific knowledge has caused fundamental revolution in human life. In the Middle Ages people could hardly imagine the modern world.  L8 at 17.30

Professor Petteri Pietikäinen: Moniäänisyys mielisairaaloiden sairauskertomuksissa 1900-luvulla (Voices in the patient records of mental hospitals in the 20th century)

Is the patient voice heard in the documents of Finnish mental hospitals? To answer this question, patient records of the Oulu Mental Hospital and Pitkäniemi Hospital between 1900 and 1960 will be discussed in the presentation. L8 at 19.00

Short presentations in Finnish

Professor Helka-Liisa Hentilä: Pandemiat ja kaupunkisuunnittelu (Pandemics and urban planning) Tellus Stage at 17.30

Professor Sari Kunnari: Lasten kielelliset vaikeudet ja niiden kuntoutus (Children's language problems and their rehabilitation) Tellus Stage at 17.50

Professor Ulla Haverinen-Shaugnessy: Asuinrakennusten peruskorjaukset, energian säästötoimenpiteet ja sisäilmaston parantaminen (Renovations of residential buildings, energy saving measures and improving indoor climate) Tellus Stage at 18.10

Short presentations in English

Postdoctoral Researcher Vahid Farrahi: Exercise Isn’t Everything: How to spend the 24 hours of your day for better cardiometabolic health? Tellus Stage at 18.40

Academy Research Fellow Roger Norum: What is the Anthropocene and why does it matter? Tellus Stage at 19.00

Postdoctoral Researcher Matthew Nielsen: The life cycle of butterflies in changing climates Tellus Stage at 19.20

Panel Discussion

Panel Discussion is in Finnish

Pelastetaan maapallo! (Let's save the Globe!) Tellus Stage at 20

Cafe Hub in the central lobby serves visitors from 17.00 to 21.00. Coffee, refreshments, savory and sweet pastries and sweets are available.

Entrance to the event from Erkki Koiso-Kanttilan katu, main entrance 2T. 

At the Oulu Botanical Garden (Kaitoväylä 5) entrance from the main door. Map of the Botanical Gardens (PDF)

Potnapekka minitrain operates free of charge between campus 2T entrance and garden non-stop from 17.00 to 21.00. 

The bus stop is located on Erkki Koiso-Kanttilan katu in front of entrance 2T. The bus stop at Linnanmaa's main entrance 2T is called University. Bus schedules on the website of public transport in Oulu.

There is plenty of room for bicycle parking in the area. 

Car parking is free and free of charge in the P-area between Erkki Koiso-Kanttilan katu and Yliopistokatu (P1 and P2) on the day of the event at 16-22.  Map of Linnanmaa (PDF)

Lost on campus? Download the Oulu Campus Navigator in the Play Store or App Store and you will find all the places for Researchers Night.

Photographing

Photographing and filming is taking place at Researchers’ Night. If you enter the event area, you may be filmed and have your picture taken. By entering the area, you are giving consent to the organisers to film, photograph, and to make sound recordings of you, and to use such recordings and images at their discretion in university-related contexts. You hereby release the organisers from any liability in connection with the above.

Accessibility

The Linnanmaa campus area of the University of Oulu is very functional in terms of accessibility. In addition, attention has been given to accessibility through various arrangements (see campus map). There is an unobstructed passage through main door 2T to the event. Accessible toilets can be found e.g. near the R entrance.

First aid 

The first aid point is located in room PR102 (Prosessinkatu at the northern end of the main lobby).
General emergency number: 112.

What did you think of Researchers' Night? Answer the survey!

You can provide feedback on the event by answering this questionnaire (Webropol). Thank you for your feedback!

Welcome to Researchers' Night in Sodankylä on Friday, 30 September!

During the Researchers' Night at Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (Tähteläntie 62) you will hear about the most beautiful lightshow in space, the Northern Lights, with beautiful photos and videos. SGO Scientists will be ready to answer your questions about their work.

We will present the work of SGO, and the LappiSat -project, (both in Finnish) within which we are building a real satellite! Furthermore, you will hear the lecture "Light and Time" (in Finnish), at the end of which we will go outside and try to photograph the night sky (weather permitting).

In the upstairs meeting room SGO's international researchers will tell about their research in English.

Coffee, tea, juice and cake will be served from 18.30.

The event is free of charge.  Welcome!

Public lectures in Finnish

Tähtelä main building Polaria, downstairs lecture room

18.00 Head of Laboratory Jouni Envall: Lappi matkalla avaruuteen - LappiSat-hankkeen esittely

19.00 Director Eija Tanskanen: Löytöretkiä polaarialueen observatorioon

20.00 Head of Observations Thomas Ulich: Valo ja aika – voiko aikaa tallentaa tiedostoon?

Public lectures in English

Tähtelä main building Polaria, upstairs KAIRA-room

18.00 Doctoral Researcher Kenneth Nilsen: Middle Atmospheric Ozone: Response to Space Weather and Long-Term Trends

18.30 Doctoral Researcher Emranul Sarkar: Radio Meteor Observation at Sodankylä 

19.00 Doctoral Researcher Samson Moges: Space Science Research in Ethiopia

19.30 Postdoctoral Researcher Ruslan Sherstyukov: Artificial Intelligence in Space Research

20.00 Postdoctoral Researcher Neethal Thomas: Earth’s Upper Atmosphere and Space Weather Impacts