What the Research Institute’s networks do
Uniarts Helsinki’s Research Institute hosts three thematic research networks. These networks focus on artistic research, research into the history of the arts and cultural life, and research in artist-pedagogy and arts education.
History Forum (HiFo)
The key mission of the University of the Arts Helsinki History Forum (HiFo) is to deepen researchers’ understanding of historical methods, current perspectives on history, and new ways of working with a wide range of source materials in the study of the history of the arts.
Our research environment is closely connected to the arts community and artistic practice. One of our central concerns is how the arts and artists can contribute to society as enriching and socially responsible actors.
We promote responsible and forward-looking historical research on music, other art forms and the arts sector. We support researchers in building connections with national and international history communities by encouraging participation in interdisciplinary and cross-artistic projects, visits and events. We also serve as a peer community for the preparation of research projects.
HiFo was established in 2012, initially as a network for music historians and later expanding its focus to encompass the history of the arts more broadly. Our network is collegial and agile: it responds to the needs of its members by providing relevant resources, guest speakers, training opportunities and peer support.
Our vision is that historical research and historical understanding will be embedded throughout the University of the Arts Helsinki, from degree education to the most advanced research structures and knowledge production.
Activities of the History Forum
- Monthly Thursday Forum meetings, open to doctoral researchers, postdoctoral researchers and other professionals in the field from both the University of the Arts Helsinki and other organisations.
- Organisation and coordination of events and training that serve the community, in collaboration with other units of the University of the Arts Helsinki (for example, training on databases and historical handwriting).
- Providing a supportive community for the preparation of research projects.
- Nationwide dissemination of current information in the field through a mailing list, including conferences, lectures, grants, doctoral defences and publications.
- An international conference on music history organised approximately every two years.
Read more about the activities of the History Forum on the network’s blog: Dynamic Interpretations of the Past
The planning group of History Forum
- Saijaleena Rantanen
- Anne Kauppala
- Kaarina Kilpiö
- Markus Mantere
- Jukka von Boehm
- Marianne Mieskolainen
The Network for Artistic Research (NfAR)
The Network for Artistic Research NfAR fosters artistic research across the arts and connects it with humanities and other sciences. It is an open platform for sharing ideas, building community, and advancing research within and beyond Uniarts Helsinki both nationally and internationally.
While acknowledging that artistic research is an evolving and heterogeneous field, NfAR highlights that artistic activity is constitutive for the progression of this form of research and a central mode of shaping and sharing skills and knowledge.
Artistic research is situated within both academic and art world contexts, and its purpose includes advancing the arts, arts education and research in the arts, as well as contributing to addressing social and societal challenges.
The network’s activities arise from and serve the interests of artist-researchers and other researchers in their different stages concerned with the processes, methodologies, theories and societal implications of artistic research.
NfAR’s activities
- Regular Artistic Research Circle meetings in which doctoral candidates and researchers forwarding artistic research can present and discuss about their work in different formats and media.
- Artistic research opportunities for doctoral candidates and researchers to collaboratively develop their research publications in writing workshops and plan new research project proposals.
- Publishing opportunities of artistic research through direct dialogues with editors of international journals and publishing houses.
- Gathering artist-researchers across different national institutions and environments together and aiming to establish an international symposium every five years.
Read more about NfAR activities on the blog: Artistic Research
If you are interested in the activities of NfAR and are not a member of Uniarts Helsinki, please send us an email at nfar@uniarts.fi to be included in an email list.
The planning group of NfAR
Pedagogies, education, arts, research (PEAR)
PEAR is the network for research in Arts Education, Artist Pedagogies, and Artistic Thinking. It was founded in 2026 by merging Uniarts Helsinki’s thematic research networks CERADA and Artist Pedagogy and Artistic Thinking, forming a broader, inter- and transdisciplinary platform for research on how the arts, artistic thinking, education, and pedagogies intersect and evolve.
PEAR nurtures research on arts education, artist pedagogies, and artistic thinking across diverse and broad educational and societal contexts, with the aim of generating possibilities for transformation within and beyond higher arts education.
The network supports dialogue across art forms, disciplines, pedagogical practices and positions, and institutional frameworks. We foster new connections between artistic and pedagogical practice, research, and education while creating spaces for institutional reflection, renewal, and change.
PEAR values epistemological and methodological plurality, embracing knowledge creation that both draws from and moves beyond artistic and arts pedagogical practice. The network welcomes collaboration with national and international partners from various fields.
By situating arts education and artist pedagogy within broader social, cultural, and political contexts, PEAR advances research that critically examines how artistic and pedagogical practices engage with, respond to, and shape contemporary societal challenges.
Modes of operation
- Regular network meetings.
- Thematic working groups and reading circles.
- Research collaborations, including joint preparation of research funding applications, with network members and external partners such as other universities and cultural institutions.
- Workshops, seminars, and symposia.
- Research-informed pedagogical development in arts education and artist pedagogies, including curriculum development and pedagogical practices at all levels of education and beyond.
- Institutional development and reflection, contributing to internal dialogues, policy, and institutional change at Uniarts.
- Engagement with governmental bodies, institutions, schools, cultural institutions, and communities.
- Participation in international networks and conferences.
- National and international partnerships.
- Visiting scholars.
- PEAR public lecture series.
- Joint publications.
Read more about the PEAR activities on the network’s blog: Art makes a difference.