My research focuses on food security related initiatives in the Global South. I work on aquaculture and specifically fish farming development, food innovation using neglected foods and indigenous knowledge, food safety and quality management as well as value chain management and development of gender-based value chains. The development of tertiary education (vocational and higher education) is a cross-cutting theme in all of my global engagements in research and education.

Projects

Global Foodnet: Ancient Crops for Food Security

Central Asia Finnish Education Institutes for Green Biotechnology and Food Security

Aquaculture and fisheries development in the Kyrgyz Republic

Green biotechnology for food security

Development of women fish farmer cooperatives in Nepal

Capacity Building in Fisheries and Aquaculture Education in the Kyrgyz Republic

Education collaboration opportunities between Finland and South Africa

Bridging existing and new approaches for science, technology and innovation cooperation between Finland and Africa

Food safety and quality management

Teachers of the future : Finnish-Namibian collaborative teacher education

Food product development from indigenous foods

Role of Finnish higher education in global food and nutrition security

Yuzhuo Cai is a Senior Lecturer and Adjunct Professor at the Higher Education Group (HEG), Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University, Finland. He has been with the HEG for 15 years and was the Acting Professor of the unit from August 2013 to July 2014. He is the (Chinese) Director of Sino-Finnish Education Research Centre jointly coordinated by Tampere University and Beijing Normal University. His teaching and research areas are higher education policy and management, internationalisation of higher education, innovation studies and comparative education, with 78 peer reviewed publications (59 in English) and 6 scholarly books in these fields.

I'm a project management professional with several years of experience in coordinating international cooperation projects in both academia and the private sector. My areas of expertise are: science, technology and innovation (STI) cooperation frameworks between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, EU-CELAC STI policy dialogue, internationalization of higher education and research, Latin American Studies and intercultural communication.

Projects

Developing Finnish Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Europe, Africa, Asia and the LAC Region (FinCEAL Plus)

Developing Finnish Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Europe, Africa and the LAC Region (FinCEAL)

Developing Finnish Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Europe, Africa, Asia and the LAC Region (FinCEAL Plus Continuation)

Internationalizing Finnish Science: Building Sustainable Bridges to Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (BRIDGES)

I am a doctoral researcher in the Doctoral program in School, Education, Society and Culture (SEDUCE) of the University of Helsinki. My research focuses on equity in academic partnerships between Global North and Global South higher education institutions. I am more specifically interested in understanding the temporalities of academic partnerships, time conceptions informing partnership time frames, and how partnership time frames either support or undermine equitable collaboration.

A doctoral researcher and staff member at the University of Eastern Finland. My professional background includes working as a Research Assistant in the Faculty of Education at Birzeit University, Palestine. I also served as a senior instructional designer at the Open Learning Center of Al-Quds Open University, where I specialized in eLearning for higher education—developing online courses, digital content, blended learning environments, and immersive learning technologies such as XR, AR, and VR. My PhD research focuses on immersive learning in higher education, with a particular emphasis on the use of augmented reality (AR) in physics education. Additionally, I'm interested in AI in education, STEM education, and innovative pedagogies.

Projects

“VAGALHÃO” HIGHER EDUCATION AND CAPACITY-DEVELOPMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES IN THE FOREST SECTOR IN MOZAMBIQUE

Projects

UTU Geography Tanzania Team

Teacher Preparation Programme through ODL Mode for Enhancing Quality in Education jamk.fi/Nepal Community power learning process: A substantive theory about adult group learning experiences (PhD - thesis) https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/56980

Projects

Teacher Preparation Programme through ODL Mode for Enhancing Quality in Education

Projects

TaitaWater - WG Social issues in Water management

Goal 4+: Eco-cultural Pluralism in Quality Education in Ecuadorian Amazonia

Projects

Private Agricultural Investments and Land Use Change Impact on The Adaptive Capacity of Local Communities to Climate Change in Mozambique -PAIMO-

Forestry Higher Education Advancement in Laos (FORHEAL)