The University of Eastern Finland’s Communicator of the Year Awards were announced in an award ceremony today. A winner was selected from each of the university’s faculties, and the 2020 Communicator of the Year Awards were presented to Professor Reetta Kälviäinen, University Lecturer Suvi-Maria Saarelainen, the Department of Physics and Mathematics, and Research Manager Juho Pesonen. The selections were made by the university’s Communications and Media Relations.
The Communicator of the Year Award is presented in recognition of an outstanding attitude towards, or of efforts in, communication and marketing during the past year. The award is not tied to any professional title: the most important thing is a genuine interest in communication. The primary criterion is that the person or the group has understood the significance of communication and is determined to raise awareness of the university’s activities by means of communication.
In the award ceremony held today, the Communicator of the Year Award of the Philosophical Faculty was presented to University Lecturer Suvi-Maria Saarelainen. Her research addresses the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and she has been active and quick to comment on her extremely topical research findings in the media. Saarelainen’s attitude towards interview requests, story writing, and commenting on her own field of study, is positive. She also has a strong presence on social media, which has made her a well-known researcher addressing life’s meaningfulness.
The Communicator of the Year Award of the Faculty of Science and Forestry was presented to the Department of Physics and Mathematics. The department’s staff and students have an extremely positive attitude towards communication, and they have been active in pitching new ideas for science communication. Furthermore, they have ventured into new platforms, such as the world of podcasts and videos, without hesitation. The Flagship on Photonics Research and Innovation, PREIN, has also considerably boosted the department’s communication efforts on a national level.
The Communicator of the Year Award of the Faculty of Health Sciences was presented to Professor Reetta Kälviäinen, who is a prominent scholar of epilepsy with a positive attitude towards communication. Kälviäinen raises awareness of the latest research into epilepsy and its treatment through active communication with the media, which has also attracted international visibility. Her efforts in disseminating information about epilepsy are both persistent and diverse, and she has skilfully mastered new platforms of communication, such as different channels on social media.
The Communicator of the Year Award of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies was presented to Research Manager Juho Pesonen. Pesonen is one of the University of Eastern Finland’s most visible researchers in the media. The pandemic has shaken the tourism sector to its core, and throughout the year, Pesonen has actively commented on the sector’s future in the media. Pesonen is an active science communicator and his use of social media to disseminate his research findings, and information on tourism education, is exemplary.
