Helsinki chooses next rector

An ecologist has been selected as the next rector of the University of Helsinki, the biggest higher education institution in Finland.

Jari Niemelä, who is professor of urban ecology at the university, was appointed by its board on 25 April. He has headed the university’s faculty of biological and environmental sciences since 2004.

Speaking to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Niemelä said he would strive to improve the atmosphere at the university and look after the well-being of staff and students. “I have 14 years of experience as a dean, so I feel the worries and tension that have emerged in recent years,” he told the paper.