Research projects 39

The article-based PhD thesis builds on five published articles. It explores how international human rights law regulates the prevention of honour-related violence (also called honour-based violence). The thesis analyses the obligation of the State to not only punish this form of violence but also to undertake other preventive measures. The legal discussion of honour-related violence has so far largely focused on criminalisation. This research brings to the fore the questions of whether States also should try to abolish the underlying causes of honour-related violence, above all strict gender roles and negative gender stereotypes that regard men as superior to women.

VitalSens is a joint research project with the main goal of designing a smart, cost effective and scale-able personalized biomedical remote monitoring health platform. Printable wireless electronic sensors for continuous ECG monitoring are designed. Further, the ECG recordings are stored in a cloud storage. We then proceed by developing a computational engine which processes the physiological measurements and provide automated event detection for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The primary focus is to create an intelligent processing system which is adaptive to the patient ECG recording.

Biomedical Robotics and Applications (BioRA) focused on the staff exchange between the partners of EU and China, and on the development of new technologies and applications in the field of biomedical robotics on the macro, micro and nano scales for biological cell detection, manipulation, test and injection. It met the objectives and requirements of the Marie Curie Action: International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES), by setting up multiple bridges between European and Chinese institutions.

Cyanobacteria are interesting ancient diverse organisms with a great future in biotechnology. In this project, we will investigate molecular and cultivable cyanobacterial biodiversity from diverse habitats in Brazil. We will isolate strains to form a biobank and utilize cyanobacterial strains to screen and identify new bioactive compounds, their biosynthetic genes and enzymes.

Fungi associated to trees are hyperdiverse, and not much is known about fungal biodiversity in the tropics. Equally, very little is known about their ecological impact on disease development and co-evolution with their host tree species, particularly in Paraguay. Of special interest are those that associate with native species of families like Myrtacea, famously known for the genus Eucalyptus, used world-wide in forest plantations. In recent years, fungal diseases of Eucalyptus plantations have become increasingly common. This endangers forest production, particularly in areas where little is known about the local microbes.

We applied the design science research framework to develop a mobile learning application, MobileEdu, for computing education (ICT and Programming). The application is intended to facilitate the learning of computer science courses on mobile devices, support ubiquitous, collaborative, and social learning for university students.

  • Head of research Sara Lindeman
  • Language n/a

The world needs hands on solutions to wicked problems such as climate change, resource scarcity and poverty, and we need to nd the pathways that enable such solutions to emerge. To maintain competitiveness in the future, Finland needs to improve it’s capacity to innovate and collaborate in new ways, to provide holistic and sustainable solutions to global challenges, both in emerging markets as well as disruptive new approaches to service provision in Europe. New global studies frugal and reverse innovations in complex global systems.

  • Head of research Wolfgang Fritzsche
  • Language n/a

The windows developed in this project will prevent the heat from solar radiation from entering buildings, and instead convert that to usable energy. Thus, the need for air conditioning is drastically reduced without compromising daylight illumination. On the other hand, our widows will also increase the use of solar power by integrating the collectors directly into the facades of buildings.

It focussed on improving vocational and adult education to respond better to concrete needs in society and industry; it engaged and encouraged female teachers and students to have an active role in development of their institutions, their communities and wider society; of entrepreneurship, basic social and health care, environmental education and waste management, updating of adult education provision, improving vocational teacher education; it encouraged universities to collaborate more concretely with adult and vocational institutes for example in graduate and doctoral thesis research.

  • Head of research Harri Pietarila
  • Language n/a

The Nepal PPCR Project Development Objective is to enhance government capacity to mitigate climate-related hazards by improving the accuracy and timeliness of weather and flood forecasts and warnings for climate-vulnerable communities, as well as developing agricultural management information system services to help farmers mitigate climate-related production risks.