HCAS facade.
The HCAS is thrilled to announce its new fellows for the 2026–2027 academic year. This fall, we will welcome 21 scholars from across the humanities and social sciences to our community.
Find the full list of fellows and project titles on our website: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
Human Interaction in the Age of the Internet. May 11–12, 2026. Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.
This conference is an experiment.
Human Interaction in the Age of the Internet toys with the format, keeping the strengths of a small-group meeting while rethinking the standard model of paper delivery.
Read more and register: blogs.helsinki.fi/erkko-confer...
SLOW SALON: temporal encounters between two archipelagoes, May 7 at HCAS.
The Asian elephant.
The Christmas Island red crab.
The Finnish lattakääpä (artist’s conk, a polypore).
SLOW SALON: temporal encounters between two archipelagoes, May 7 at the HCAS. Organized by @koneensaatio.fi Arts Fellow Corrie Tan.
Read more: blogs.helsinki.fi/slow-salon/
People exploring a white room filled with dense black strings forming large web‑like shapes.
The 2026 Erkko Conference “Human Interaction in the Age of the Internet” brings together scholars across the social sciences, humanities, and computational research to explore how digital infrastructures are reshaping social life.
Registration is now open: blogs.helsinki.fi/erkko-confer...
Kirby Deater-Deckard seated on a park bench, arms resting on the backrest, wearing red glasses and a gray suit.
“My time at the HCAS was the highlight of my scholarly career and life.”
Featured in the #HCASAlumni Gallery is Professor Kirby Deater-Deckard (University of Massachusetts Amherst).
Read more about Kirby’s research and time at the Collegium: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
Annette Arlander standing in front of a pine tree and sniffing a branch with a curious look on her face.
“This was the first time in my career that I could do research full time, and it felt luxurious.”
Annette Arlander reflects on her time as Kone Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Arts. Read more in the #HCASAlumni Gallery: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
Gray concrete road with painted black lines.
What Do You Mean by That? Methods, assumptions, and limits in archaeology and linguistics, April 17 at the HCAS.
Read more and register: tapahtumat.helsinki.fi/en-FI/page/6...
What can the history of emotions tell us about humanity? HCAS Core Fellow Rob Boddice discusses whether human emotions have changed over time on ABC Radio Australia.
Group photo of workshop participants.
Juulia Grönlund and Netta Lagus showcasing the CogEyeSimLab's integrated eye tracking and driving simulator setup.
Last week, Intelligence³ Fellow Otto Lappi brought together his professional networks for the Speed of Sight workshop. Participants specializing in driving simulators, racing driver telemetry, and eye tracking data analysis shared their ongoing projects, plans, and ideas for future collaboration.
Sirpa Wrede in a blue blazer with black dots, smiling.
“For me, the Collegium period was one of significant intellectual growth.”
Professor Sirpa Wrede (@helsinki.fi) describes her time at the Collegium as an opportunity to broaden her work into new fields.
Read more in the #HCASAlumni Gallery: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
Arto Laitinen in the HCAS Common Room, holding a coffee mug.
“My years at the Collegium were happy, even luxurious, academically – plenty of time for research and for forming interdisciplinary relationships in a nice and supportive atmosphere among sharp minds.”
Featured as #HCASAlumni of the Month is Prof. Arto Laitinen.
www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
We are excited to announce the launch of a new Nordic IAS fellowship program on health and sustainability. Funded by a Novo Nordisk Foundation’s grant of approx. €6.5 million, the program will offer 20 two-year fellowships over the next six years.
🔗 www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
HCAS Director Hanne Appelqvist opening the Winter School.
Professors Tuomas Forsberg, Johanna Sumiala, and Kevin Durrheim during Plenary 1: The Role of Communication in Research and Scholarship.
HCAS fellows and staff Otto Lappi, Hanne Appelqvist, Svetlana Vetchinnikova, Janne Mattila, Jitka Štollová, and Juhana Toivanen during the final plenary: Letters to a Young Academic: Advice We Wish We’d Had – Q&A with HCAS Fellows.
The Winter School concluded with a relaxed pizza & drinks reception.
Last week, the HCAS community grew as the @helsinki.fi PhD researchers joined us for the traditional Winter School. This year’s theme, “No Scholar Is an Island”, guided our explorations into the social dimensions of research.
Walkabout album cover. A blurry, red‑tinted photograph of a park with trees in the foreground and an ornate, multi‑domed building in the background.
Maria Konoshenko, Helsinki-based mezzo-soprano, pianist & composer, announces the release of Walkabout, the first official single from her forthcoming album Songs of Exile.
Join us for a debut release presentation on March 6 at 5 pm in the HCAS Common Room.
🔗 tapahtumat.helsinki.fi/en-FI/page/6...
Kollegiumtutkija Annastiina Kallius käsittelee Helsingin Sanomien sunnuntaiesseessä Suomen asemoitumista kansainvälisessä politiikassa. Hän ehdottaa, että nykytilanteessa suomalaisten suhdetta länteen ja Baltian maihin olisi syytä tarkastella uudelleen.
Tetiana Kalytenko stands in a dim room with candles while a slide about the film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is projected.
Tetiana Kalytenko points at three old black‑and‑white photographs projected on a screen in a darkened lecture room.
A dark room with candles and chairs facing a screen showing the red title card of a film in Ukrainian.
Last night our @koneensaatio.fi Fellow Tetiana Kalytenko introduced us to Ukrainian poetic cinema with a screening of Serhii Parajanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, a central work in the genre.
Portrait of a person wearing glasses and a black blazer, smiling.
“The interdisciplinary dialogue at the Collegium played an important role in shaping my theoretical thinking and in encouraging methodological openness.”
Featured in the #HCASAlumni Gallery is Senior University Lecturer & Docent Mari Wiklund (@helsinki.fi).
www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
A person standing on a sandy beach with calm ocean water and a small, dome-shaped island in the background.
”The warm feeling of companionship between fellows fostered my academic growth and continues to inspire me.”
Professor of Sociology Ugo Corte (University of Stavanger) considers his fellowship at HCAS to be a foundational step in his career. #HCASAlumni
Read more: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
HCAS Fellows Olesya Khanina and Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine have secured permanent academic positions. Khanina will begin a full professorship at the Univ. of Helsinki in Fall 2026, while Erlewine has taken up a permanent research position at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
A panel discussion in a lecture room with HCAS Research Coordinator Juhana Toivanen standing at the front holding a microphone, while five seated panelists face an audience. A large projected slide behind them displays the title “Happiness? Politics, Promises, and Practices".
HCAS Fellows Satu Venäläinen, Acer Chang, Amanda Lagerkvist, and Olesya Khanina seated in a semicircle during a discussion, viewed from behind Rob Boddice who is gesturing while speaking.
HCAS Fellow Kristina Jacobsen playing an acoustic guitar in a dimly lit room, with audience members seated in the foreground.
It was a full house at the Collegium last night for the Night of Science! Warm thanks to everyone who visited us and a special thanks to all the fellows who contributed to the evening.
HCAS Director Hanne Appelqvist and Fellow Annastiina Kallius with representatives of the Human Rights Committee of the German Bundestag.
Yesterday, HCAS had the distinct pleasure of hosting the Human Rights Committee of the German Bundestag, along with the representatives of the German Embassy in Helsinki. Annastiina Kallius's presentation on media-driven political influence was followed by a lively discussion among the participants.
A group of over 60 fellows from the Finnish Institutes for Advanced Study smiling at the camera.
Last week, the Helsinki Collegium hosted the annual meeting for the Finnish Institutes for Advanced Study. This year's theme for discussion was 'contested knowledge'.
The Night of Science at HCAS will conclude with a musical performance by Kristina Jacobsen. Joined by Carolina Stenbäck on cello and Emma Polyakov on fiddle, Jacobsen invites listeners into the soundscape of Spain’s Camino de Santiago.
🗓️ Thursday, January 22, 7:45–8:45 pm, HCAS Common Room.
A blue-toned poster featuring the silhouette of tree. Overlayed text reads "Happiness? Politics, Promises, and Practices. 22.1.2026 at HCAS."
“The end toward which all human acts are directed is happiness” – but what is happiness, and what does it have to do with how people feel? What does it mean to live in the ‘happiest country in the world’?
🗓️ Night of Science at the Helsinki Collegium, Thursday, January 22.
Why does it make sense to use AI to understand how humans use language? What do sorcery and witchcraft have to do with conspiracy theories? How are religious communities responding to today’s environmental issues?
Meet the people who make the Helsinki Collegium on the Night of Science at HCAS.
HCAS Fellows Nataša Pantić and Olle Blomberg have been awarded major research grants from the European Research Council (ERC) and the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskaprådet) in calls decided in the fall of 2025. Together, the grants amount to nearly €2.5 million.
Friedrich Stadler standing in front of a full bookshelf, wearing a gray blazer and eyeglasses.
“If there is such a thing as intellectual sustainability, then my 'Nordic connection' in Helsinki is a good example of it!”
#HCASAlumni of the Month Prof. Emer. Friedrich Stadler (@univie.ac.at) has come to think of Helsinki almost as a second home. Read more: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
Walter Rech sitting outside in a blue button-up and eyeglasses, smiling.
“The Collegium gives its fellows the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in a uniquely stimulating and open environment.
Featured as #HCASAlumni of the Month is Research Professor Walter Rech (Tallinn University). Read more: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-...
Couldn’t make it to HCAS Erkko Professor Kevin Durrheim’s lecture “Polarization: In Mind, Social Media and Public Life”? The full recording is now online!
Rob Boddice makes another appearance on Child, this time discussing sadness: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
