Teaching
The Study Voucher

April 4, 2026 • 3 min read • Study Voucher

The Study Voucher

Since I am working at the University of Helsinki (UH), I should probably know a bit more about the upcoming Study Voucher pilot (Finnish: opintoseteli), as UH will offer a lot of courses within this program, including some of mine.
Zotero with 15GB free file storage?

March 12, 2026 • 5 min read • Zotero

Zotero with 15GB free file storage?

I have been using Zotero as my bibliography management software since 2013 (migrating from EndNote) and have generally been happy with it.
How to install the color-blind-safe Nature Color Palette in Inkscape

January 28, 2026 • 1 min read • Technology

How to install the color-blind-safe Nature Color Palette in Inkscape

If you are using the same color palette for the figures in your manuscript (which you should to get a unified look), you might as well cater at the same time to those that are color-challenged.
Still wondering what to study?

December 20, 2025 • 3 min read • Pharmacy

Still wondering what to study?

This is what I would do if I were 20 years old today: I would enter an interdisciplinary study program.
The Finnish Dream: A Pipe Dream?

December 15, 2025 • 10 min read • Study

The Finnish Dream: A Pipe Dream?

A reality check for international students.
Quiz results

November 6, 2025 • 1 min read • Science

Quiz results

GMB-401 (Integrative Health Biosciences), Quiz results of the Clinical Trials session
Academic career

August 3, 2025 • 3 min read • Finland

Academic career

This month, I transitioned from Associate to Full Professor at my university.
Learning and Teaching Materials about Biological Drugs

June 8, 2025 • 3 min read • Teaching

Learning and Teaching Materials about Biological Drugs

Learning and Teaching Materials about Biological Drugs
English or Finnish?

March 26, 2025 • 4 min read • English

English or Finnish?

Even though the University of Helsinki is officially Finnish/Swedish biligual, English is the de-facto working language for most research activities. However, when teaching to Bachelor's students, the language issue is more nuanced.
Teaching ”Biological Drugs” in Finnish

November 1, 2024 • 3 min read • Teaching

Teaching ”Biological Drugs” in Finnish

In 2022, the steering committee for the International Master’s Program in Pharmaceutical Research, Development, and Safety (MPHARM) received the Innoopeli Award as a group for its work in developing teaching at the Faculty of Pharmacy..
Admission interview

May 9, 2024 • 3 min read • Finland

Admission interview

An increasing number of MSc study programs at our university are incorporating an interview into the admission procedure.
Mia Sivén, the world's first professor of sustainable pharmacy

April 5, 2024 • 1 min read • Finland

Mia Sivén, the world’s first professor of sustainable pharmacy

When we were asking our foreign students what made them join the University of Helsinki, several of them mentioned sustainability aspects.
Courses I teach

January 26, 2024 • 3 min read • University of Helsinki

Courses I teach

A more or less up-to-date list of the courses I teach
It’s difficult to grade student’s assignments

December 16, 2023 • 3 min read • Teaching

It’s difficult to grade student’s assignments

I have been reading hundreds of student assignments this autumn.
Bio-Rad fixes our NGC

September 20, 2023 • 8 min read • Teaching

Bio-Rad fixes our NGC

We just survived the DPDR-305 protein purification course.
Turing test with exam answers: Can I sniff out the AI?

December 29, 2022 • 4 min read • Teaching

Turing test with exam answers: Can I sniff out the AI?

In the Finnish daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, GPT-3 and Laura Ketonen from the University of Jyväskylä discuss how AI will affect student assessment (Tekoäly ravistelee opiskelijoiden arviointia, English: Artificial intelligence shakes up student assessment).
Meet the teacher!

December 31, 2021 • 1 min read • Finland

Meet the teacher!

Almost 30 years after starting my academic career, I started to teach at the Faculty of Pharmacy (without much pedagogic experience and education).
Language boost

December 17, 2021 • 4 min read • Finland

Language boost

I am having a new attempt at learning Finnish!
How attractive is Finland for international students?

August 29, 2021 • 5 min read • Finland

How attractive is Finland for international students?

Let’s be honest: how attractive is Finland to international students? For example, for students from other EU countries who’d like to study abroad?
TuKoKe success for our TET interns!

June 9, 2021 • 1 min read • Science

TuKoKe success for our TET interns!

Here in Finland, 8- or 9-graders make a one- or two-week "Introduction to working life" internship at a workplace of their choice (TET, työelämään tutustumisjakso).
Our first OER (Open Educational Resource)

February 3, 2021 • 3 min read • Science

Our first OER (Open Educational Resource)

When I started my new position at the Faculty of Pharmacy, it was clear that I would be going to do more formal teaching than before.
Editing Zoom recordings of teaching sessions with FFmpeg

November 25, 2020 • 4 min read • Teaching

Editing Zoom recordings of teaching sessions with FFmpeg

Based on student feedback, we have been organizing a new course for the TRANSMED MSc program about drug discovery and development.
For Science to Finland

October 26, 2020 • 1 min read • Finland

For Science to Finland

When you think about going abroad to learn or do science, you mostly think of Anglo-American countries.
Protein Drug Discovery & Development

September 9, 2020 • 2 min read • Science

Protein Drug Discovery & Development

Yesterday, I had my first Zoom lecture about protein drug discovery and development.
Bullying from the top

November 22, 2019 • 1 min read • Finland

Bullying from the top

Some numbers from the Nature 2019 graduate survey (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03535-y ) are discomforting.
Protein Purification Course 2019

July 31, 2019 • 1 min read • Finland

Protein Purification Course 2019

We are again hosting the DPBM protein purification course this December in our lab.
Apply successfully to the University of Helsinki

April 28, 2019 • 4 min read • Finland

Apply successfully to the University of Helsinki

What are my chances to be accepted into a Helsinki University Master's Program?
Thus we learn our lessons, not for life, but for the lecture-room

November 27, 2018 • 3 min read • Science

Thus we learn our lessons, not for life, but for the lecture-room

Non vitae sed scholae discimus ("Thus we learn our lessons, not for life, but for the lecture-room").
Cell-based assays (Protein Interaction Biochemistry 2018)

May 14, 2018 • 1 min read • Science

Cell-based assays (Protein Interaction Biochemistry 2018)

A lecture about cell-based assays to determine and quantify protein interactions (part of the 2018 course Protein Interaction Biochemistry).
Strike at the University of Helsinki

February 27, 2018 • 2 min read • Finland

Strike at the University of Helsinki

A strike warning has been issued for tomorrow (28.2.) for the University of Helsinki.
Practical Course: Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Proteins (DPBM-135)

December 10, 2017 • 1 min read • University of Helsinki

Practical Course: Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Proteins (DPBM-135)

DPBM-135 course: Teaching materials, results, etc.

August 30, 2016 • 1 min read • Science

Cloning club - workshop material

Collection of the course materials for the DPBM-organized Cloning Club.
The Staden package on Ubuntu for bioinformatics dinosaurs

July 27, 2016 • 2 min read • Teaching

The Staden package on Ubuntu for bioinformatics dinosaurs

Mostly we use the SnapGene software when we check the sequences of our DNA constructs.
Cloning Club

June 22, 2016 • 2 min read • University of Helsinki

Cloning Club

Together with the Doctoral Programme in Biomedicine (DPBM) we are organizing in autumn 2016 a workshop and a practical course about cloning (course code 921244).
FPLC Protein purification course

January 4, 2016 • 5 min read • Finland

FPLC Protein purification course

Eight postgraduate students registered for the FPLC protein purification course, which took place in December.
Difficult start

August 26, 2015 • 2 min read • Finland

Difficult start

UPDATE: I asked the Academy for the funding rates for the Academy Professor positions, but there are so few of these positions that you don't get any usable statistics out of that data.
2-week Lab Course

December 30, 2014 • 7 min read • Science

2-week Lab Course

I had no idea how much work it is to organize a practical lab course.
Practical Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering

September 8, 2014 • 2 min read • Science

Practical Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering

Collection of the presentation slides for the DPBM course "Practical Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering".

January 4, 2012 • 4 min read • Finland

How I became an “Adjunct Professor” (“dosentti”) at the University of Helsinki

Compared to getting my PhD degree, the "dosentti" thingy was easy.
Adjunct Professor

January 4, 2012 • 2 min read • Finland

Adjunct Professor

Since December 13th, 2011, I am an adjunct professor (Finnish: dosentti) at the University of Helsinki.

October 20, 2011 • 1 min read • Science

Introduction into lymphatic research

A lecture series about lymphatic research/lymphology.
HBGS course

May 10, 2010 • 1 min read • Finland

HBGS course

All documents related the the HBGS course Tags in protein expression, detection and purification.
Storage and Handling of Proteins

October 22, 2008 • 1 min read • Science

Storage and Handling of Proteins

Most life science researchers use proteins on a daily basis, e.g. antibodies or enzymes. Therefore, it is surprising that many don’t know how to store and handle proteins in a way that preserves their properties as much a s possible. Here is a primer for those who need the knowledge.
Tyrosine Kinase Receptors

April 7, 2002 • 1 min read • Science

Tyrosine Kinase Receptors

Seminar presentation about tyrosine kinase receptors within the "Membrane Biochemistry" Series (March 21, 2002).
More posts  
Find me elsewhere

Biochemistry/Molecular biology researcher and teacher