The faculty has extensive regional, national and international networks, and we engage in multidisciplinary collaboration with scientific and artistic organisations as well as with the industry. Issues concerning the Arctic are central to our research, yet our partners and research sites are found in all directions.

Research groups 

There are four research groups in the Faculty of Art and Design. The research groups collaborate on research projects and publications. All research groups include doctoral supervisors, doctoral researchers and researchers who have completed their doctorates, artist-researchers and designer-researchers.

LUX – Lapland User Experience Research Group

This research group conducts state-of-the-art research combining experience design, rapid prototyping and user-centric design methods.

Service Design Research Group Co-Stars

The main objective of the multidisciplinary research team is to address social, geographical and technological challenges of local and global relevance through service design, arts-based research and participatory approaches.

NACER – Northern Art, Community and Environment Research

NACER conducts research in the academic discipline of art education, including visual art education in schools, educational institutions and universities. Research interests also include visual art of traditional Indigenous and other-than-Indigenous arts and contemporary collaborative art forms.

Artistic research group

Within the Faculty of Art and Design, several researchers pursue projects that fall within the field of artistic research. The group does not have a fixed composition; rather, it is a dynamic community whose members participate in a variety of national and international networks and projects in artistic research. The Faculty of Art and Design is an institutional member of the international organisation Society for Artistic Research.

Doctoral research

The Faculty of Art and Design is one of the university units in Finland offering education in the arts. The faculty's research focuses broadly on design, visual arts and media. Doctoral researchers are part of the faculty's multidisciplinary and internationally networked research community.

The Faculty of Art and Design offers doctoral degrees in the following arts and design-related fields: 

  • applied arts
  • art education
  • art expertise
  • art history
  • audiovisual media culture
  • design
  • fashion and textile design
  • graphic design
  • service design
  • other arts and crafts fields 

Postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Art and Design always have scientific objectives. In addition, the dissertation may include an artistic production. A doctoral degree cannot be completed solely on the basis of artistic objectives.

Instructions for applying to doctoral studies at the University of Lapland can be found on this page.

  • University Researcher Ashley Colley, interaction design, human computer interaction
  • Professor Jaana Erkkilä-Hill, fine arts, artist education, artistic research
  • Professor Mirja Hiltunen, art education
  • Associate Professor Maria Huhmarniemi, art education, applied art, Arctic art, sustainability
  • Professor Jonna Häkkilä, design, user experience, human-computer interaction
  • Professor Anniina Koivurova, art history, visual culture, art pedagogy
  • Professor Satu Miettinen, service design, social design, arts-based research
  • Associate Professor Mari Mäkiranta, visual culture, media studies, artistic research
  • Professor Ana Nuutinen, fashion, clothing, and dress
  • Professor Heidi Pietarinen, arts-based methods (arts-based research), textile art, textile history, bio-art
  • Professor Leena Raappana-Luiro, graphic design, visual culture and communication, practice-based research, illustration

Docents 

  • DA Ashley Colley, Docent in Creative Technologies
  • MA Glen Coutts, Docent in Applied Visual Art Education
  • D.Soc.Sc. Jari Ehrnrooth, Docent in Cultural Sociology
  • DA Mika Elo, Docent in Media Aesthetics
  • PhD Päivi Fernström, Docent in Textile Design Research
  • DA Päivi Granö, Docent in Art Education
  • PhD Aki-Mauri Huhtinen, Docent in Philosophy of Media and Information Technology and Docent in Societal Consequence Research
  • PhD Ilkka Huovio, Docent in Industrial Art Education
  • PhD Kari Immonen, Docent in Cultural History
  • PhD Hanna-Kaisa Isomäki, Docent in Applied Information Technology
  • DSc (Tech) Satu Jumisko-Pyykkö, Docent in Anthropocentric Technology Design
  • PhD Ritva Koskennurmi-Sivonen, Docent in Fashion Research
  • PhD Annakaisa Kultima, Docent in Game Design and Art
  • PhD Altti Kuusamo, Docent in Art and Media Semiotics
  • PhD Veli-Pekka Lehtola, Docent in Cultural History of the North
  • Prof. Kathryn Lipke, Docent in Sculpture
  • EdD Kaarina Määttä, Docent in Pedagogy, especially Teacher Training
  • PhD Juha Pentikäinen, Docent in Northern Ethnography and Culture
  • DA Päikki Priha, Docent in Textile Art Research
  • Dr. Phil. Tom Sandqvist, Docent in Art History
  • PhD Melanie Sarantou, Docent in Arts-Based Research in Social Design
  • PhD Jukka Sihvonen, Docent in Media Aesthetics
  • PhD K. S. Sitaram, Docent in Intercultural Communication
  • DFA Jyrki Siukonen, Docent in Visual Arts and Visual Art Writing
  • DA Mari Suoheimo, Docent in Participatory and Systemic Service Design
  • DA Juha Suonpää, Docent in Art, Environment and Representation of Nature
  • DA Pia Tikka, Docent in New Narrative Forms
  • DA, Ph.L. Eija Timonen, Docent in Children’s Media Culture
  • PhD Marja Tuominen, Docent in Cultural History
  • PhD Jarmo Valkola, Docent in Audiovisual Observation
  • PhD (Soc. Sc.) Hannu Vanhanen, Docent in Visual Communication Design and Research
  • DA Susann Vihma, Docent in Design Semantics and History

If you are interested in applying for the title of docent at our faculty, please see the instruction PDF in English. 

Last updated: 15.9.2025