Hannu Salmi and Craig Primmer commence their five-year term as Academy Professors at the beginning of 2017.
Adjunct professor of Biomathematics Laura Elo from University of Turku has received a grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The grant is one of the most highly competitive grants in Europe. The ERC Starter Grant is 1.5 million euros.
Valter Weijola, a researcher from the University of Turku, discovered a large rat species unknown to science from Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Weijola’s previous discovery from another island in the same island state, reported in late February, was a new monitor lizard species.
Researchers from the University of Turku have demonstrated that photoinhibition of photosystem I, which reduces the effectiveness of photosynthesis, is actually a plant's self-defense mechanism against more extensive harm.
The rotational rate of one of the most massive black holes in the universe has now been measured very accurately by the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Turku and the Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO together with an international team of astronomers. It is the first time that the rotational rate and mass of a supermassive black hole has been measured with a closer accuracy than one percent.
The University of Turku wants to advance the open access and utilisation of research data with the newly-published data policy.
A Finnish-Norwegian-Scottish research group has discovered a gene that is important in determining the size a salmon is when it returns from the sea to reproduce in its home river. Surprisingly, the same gene is also involved in regulating the timing of puberty in humans. The results have profound implications for the management and protection of wild salmon populations, and may also help study health issues related to puberty in humans.
The Baltic Sea has a far stronger effect on the state of the North Sea than what has been previously thought. According to a recent University of Turku study, water flowing out from the Baltic Sea affects the salinity of and the number of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the North Sea. The results also suggest that Baltic Sea waters also affect North Sea herring offspring numbers.
Researchers in Finland and the Netherlands have been able to describe how sunlight is absorbed and distributed in the photosynthetic machinery of cyanobacterial cells during light fluctuations. With this method the researchers proved, that in darkness the cells seem to “get ready” for an increase in light intensity by adopting a larger light-harvesting antenna.
