SECOND CALL LAUNCH
Online call info was held on Nov 11 and you can find the presentation materials and a video recording here.
If you have any questions regarding the call, always contact syslife@utu.fi.
SAVE-THE-DATE: CALL LAUNCH EVENT ON 11 NOVEMBER
Programme
Launch of the 2nd SYS-LIFE Call on Zoom
Time: November 11th 2024, starting at 14:00
14.00 Opening
Markus Juonala, SYS-LIFE Director
14.05 SYS-LIFE introduction
Georges Kazan, SYS-LIFE Vice Director
14.20 SYS-LIFE research opportunities
Markus Juonala, SYS-LIFE director
14.30 SYS-LIFE Application process
Sanni Helander and Maiju Kannisto, SYS-LIFE coordinators
14.40 Q&A
SYS-LIFE INDUCTION DAY
This week, our new postdoctoral researchers gathered at the university for an induction day which included introductions, career planning advice and a campus tour. The day began with an introduction to SYS-LIFE programme as well as to the researchers and their projects.
Afterwards the postdocs attended a lecture session about career planning. This provided insights into academic career pathways, with practical advice on EU research competence framework tools, making a personal career development plan and balancing long-term goals with current projects. After lunch, the International House Turku introduced themselves, offering practical tips for navigating life in Turku.
As part of the orientation, the Units — including Department of Chemistry, IT and Health Tech, University Hospital, PET Center, POPC and Turku Bioscience — presented themselves, highlighting their key research areas and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. The day concluded with a tour of the campus, visiting key sites and buildings such as the Aurum, PET Center, Medisiina, Dentalia, Teutori and Biocity.
SYS-LIFE INFO SESSION
SYS-LIFE has started the preparations for the 2nd Call and arranged an information session for research groups and PIs at the University of Turku. If you are a researcher at the University of Turku and want to host a postdoctoral researcher, you can send the research theme description to SYS-LIFE (syslife@utu.fi) before 4th of October. And remember to tell about SYS-LIFE to your colleagues and friends around the globe!
Presentation materials can be found here.
Experiences from the first call by professor Juhani Knuuti and the SYS-LIFE fellow David Molnar
NEW FELLOWS
We are happy to announce our selected fellows and their projects for SYS-LIFE postdoctroral programme:
- Nitin Bayal: The mediating impact of gut microbiome on Executive Function: a multi-assay analysis
- Jarkko Johansson: Normative dopaminergic function and activation of cognitive control: neuroimaging studies across the lifespan
- Yaxing Meng: Life course blood pressure and cardiovascular prevention
- David Molnar: Morphological and functional characterization of the pericoronary epicardial adipose tissue in atherosclerosis and its incremental diagnostic value
- Dattatray Mongad: Multi-omic characterization of gut microbiome dysbiosis and resistome: Implications for cardiovascular risk
- Sanaz Nazari Farsani: Identifying prior and novel undetected stroke lesions in suspected CAD patients through total-body PET/CT imaging and generative deep learning
- Mika Ogawa: The relationship between oral health, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease: a dental anxiety perspective
- Oluwafemi Ojo: Defining the role of HSD17B12 in body adiposity regulation and PCOS related metabolic dysfunction
- Suman Vimal: Proteomic evaluation of stress granules and processing bodies in pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation
- Jiawei Yang: AI for heart monitoring using exercise aware wearables (Exercise4Heart)
- Li-Fang Yeo: Gut micRobiome and Metabolome in modulating Blood Pressure (GRuMBP)
SELECTION COMMITTEE MEETS
SYS-LIFE Selection Committee held its meeting on the 3rd of June in a sunny and warm Turku campus. Committee members had a busy day in examining the external reviews and compiling an ordered ranking. As a result of their expert input, the position in the fellowship programme is offered to eleven of the highest-ranked applicants. Selected applicants, as well as reserve list applicants, have been notified of their status and rank by email. The results will be made public as soon as all the new positions have been confirmed.
SYS-LIFE team congratulates the new postdoctoral fellows!
More about evaluation and selection on: APPLICATION
Pasi Liljeberg, Ville Kytö, Kari Kalliokoski, Eero Jokinen, Pekka Hänninen, Georges Kazan, Tapio Lönnberg, Anni Wärri, Sari Stenholm, Harriet Wallberg, Pirjo Nuutila, Markus Juonala, Eeva Rainio, Jyrki Heino, Sanni Helander
SYS-LIFE PARTNERS
We are happy to announce that SYS-LIFE has finalished a consortium agreement with Turku University Hospital, Business Turku, Siemens Healthineers and Ghent University. We welcome the partnership of all these great entities and look forward to incorporating their expertise with SYS-LIFE. More information about our Partners at ABOUT: PARTNERS.
TYKS
Turku University Hospital (TUH) is the main hospital of the Southwest Finland welfare region. It´s ranked the 58th best hospital in the world and offers a wide range of clinical research options.
Business Turku
Business Turku (Turku Science Park Ltd, TScP) coordinates business development services within the Turku region in Southwest Finland. The expertise of Business Turku in providing innovation support makes them an ideal choice for supporting the intersectoral aspects of the SYS-LIFE programme.
Siemens Healthineers
Siemens Healthineers pioneers breakthroughs in healthcare. The company is principally active in the areas of imaging, diagnostics, cancer care and minimally invasive therapies, augmented by digital technology and artificial intelligence.
Ghent University
Ghent University is among the world’s top universities, with 11 faculties including Bioscience Engineering, and Medicine & Health Sciences. UGent will provide research and training support, primarily through the KERMIT research unit within the Department of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering.
FIRST CALL SELECTION UPDATE
As we’re entering proper spring time in Turku, our reviewers are going through the last parts of evaluating the applications for the first call, after which the Selection Committee will have their meeting on the 3rd of June. The applicants will be notified with information about their reviews and ranking during June.
Selection Committee
Chair Harriet Wallberg, Professor, Karolinska Institutet
Vice-Chair Eero Jokinen, Professor, Finnish Cardivascular Foundation
Ville Kytö, MD PhD, R&D Director, Wellbeing services county of Southwest Finland
Pekka Hänninen, Dean, UTU
Pasi Liljeberg, Professor, UTU
Pasi Virta, Professor, UTU
Jyrki Heino, Professor, UTU
Pirjo Nuutila, Professor, UTU
Sari Stenholm, Professor, UTU
Kari Kalliokoski, Research Manager, UTU
Tapio Lönnberg, Senior Research Fellow, UTU
Ex officio members
Markus Juonala, Professor, SYS-LIFE Director, UTU
Georges Kazan, Research Manager, SYS-LIFE Vice Director, UTU
Sanni Helander, Coordinator, UTU
Anni Wärri, Development Manager, UTU
Eeva Rainio, Head of Development, UTU
SYS-LIFE GOES TO BRUSSELS
Last week SYS-LIFE travelled to Brussels to meet our partners at Ghent University, as well as to pay a visit to Nordic House and the Finnish embassy. SYS-LIFE was represented by Director Markus Juonala, Vice Director Georges Kazan, Professor Pasi Liljeberg and Project manager Eeva Rainio.
At Ghent University we had the pleasure to meet SYS-LIFE partner, Professor Bernard De Baets, who leads the Knowledge-based Systems research unit KERMIT, as well as other professors from the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering. We introduced SYS-LIFE programme and Health research at the University of Turku, and got to hear about the strengths and aims of Ghent University’s Faculty of Bioscience Engineering and Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences. Afterwards, we did some matchmaking and brainstorming on how to develop SYS-LIFE and Ghent-UTU collaboration.
Ghent University, Campus Coupre
Graslei, Ghent
The next day we visited Nordic House to meet with our Head of EU Affairs at the Turku EU Office, as well as with representatives from Region Skåne and the Greater Copenhagen EU Office, who are also leaders of the Health Working Group ERRIN (European Regions Research and Innovation Network). We discussed possibilities on developing collaboration between SYS-LIFE, UTU, their home regions and ERRIN.
Later, we visited the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU, where we presented SYS-LIFE and UTU Health and learned more about how the Representation works for Finnish research and heard about their present and upcoming activities.
All in all, our visit resulted in plenty of fruitful conversations about how SYS-LIFE can act as a bridge to enhance international collaboration and cultivate interdisciplinary scientific excellence with a wide range of partners. In addition to excellent discussions, we got to enjoy springtime in the beautiful cities of Ghent and Brussels.
Spring in Ghent
SYS-LIFE Director Markus Juonala
FIRST CALL: EVALUATION PERIOD
First call for SYS-LIFE fellowship in University of Turku has now closed. We want to thank everybody who sent in their application. Those which passed the technical check have now been submitted for the external evaluation and the applicants have been contacted via email. We will keep you posted on the selection process and hope to see you soon here in Turku, Finland!
