Research

Experts

Publications

Projects

Activites and honours

The research at the Faculty of Social Sciences is carried out in interdisciplinary and cross-faculty research groups. We conduct research with an unprejudiced and critical attitude, as we combine psychology with administrative sciences, research of work with environmental research, art with economic research, information technology with social work, and cultural history with research of international politics.

We operate actively in Northern Finland, as well as in the rest of the country and abroad.

You can read more about our research work below.

Research activity

We provide northern communities with critical scientific knowledge that reforms fixed ways of thinking. We are tightly networked in the research and business community: through working life oriented research and development projects we contribute to the development of organisations and work communities.

Our inspirational, free and bold academic community invites our students, alumni and partners to join us in carrying out impactful research. We are the leading research department in our field in Northern Finland.

Our research priorities

Our research is nationally and internationally acknowledged. It draws on the principles of creativity, boldness, criticality and theoretical interdisciplinarity, and addresses the following four thematic areas:

• digitalisation and knowledge-based activity of organisations
• cultural economy (e.g. the cultures of sleep, material culture)
• transformation, changing work, academic work, entrepreneurship, and strategic procedures
• welfare of work communities, community formation and social practices

Research activity

We strive to promote sustainable tourism through our research. We conduct critical tourism research in close collaboration with the tourism sector, and offer the surrounding society different forms of cooperation, and various projects and services.

We operate in the Multidimensional Tourism Institute (MTI), which unites tourism expertise from three educational levels: Lapland Tourism College, University of Lapland and Lapland University of Applied Sciences.

Our research priorities

Research activity

We, in collaboration with the rest of the community, conduct research by generating knowledge of people’s everyday life and service needs, and the functionality of everyday services. We operate locally, regionally, nationally and globally to improve social wellbeing.

Our university hosts the Finnish National University Network for Social Work SOSNET. The network organises specialised studies and doctoral education in the field and strengthens university cooperation in basic education and research. We carry out research in collaboration with Northern Finland Centre of Excellence on Social Welfare (Poske) and are also part of Sociopolis, which is a centre of excellence on research, education and development in the social field.

Research priorities

Our social work research demonstrates leading expertise in the issues pertaining to the north and social welfare law. It also combines rehabilitation with social work in a unique way.

Our research includes the following four thematic areas:

1. northern wellbeing, social justice and social welfare law
2. the transforming society, as well as knowledge and expertise in social work
3. sensitive phenomena of social work, and gerontological and rehabilitation social work
4. rehabilitation

Research activity

The disciplines of Political Sciences and Sociology form a nationally and globally networked academic community that cooperates with the government, businesses and the civic society. We are the leading research department in our field in Northern Finland. Our research is characterised by critical, interdisciplinary and holistic approaches. We draw on theories and methods that cross traditional discipline boundaries, and examine phenomena in terms of social interaction and their links to the material world.

The disciplines of philosophy, cultural history, Sámi research and social scientific environmental studies play a significant part in our research. You can also take them as minor subjects.

Research priorities

The research in all our subjects is acknowledged to be high quality, wide-ranging and versatile. The core of our research is comprised of our four thematic research areas:

• nature and natural resource policy, circular economy, and material culture
• religion, welfare, indigenous people and cultures
• power, control and gender
• transformation of communities, work and politics