Centre of Excellence for Human Diversity through Contacts (HuDi-Con)

Lummaa, Virpi UT; Laippala, Veronika UT; Onkamo, Päivi UT; Vesakoski, Outi UT

The human biological, linguistic and cultural diversity has developed through continuous contacts between populations. The Centre of Excellence for Human Diversity through Contacts (HuDi-Con) will bring together researchers of genetics, lifecycle research, computational historical linguistics and digital language research.

The CoE will create a new perspective on how contacts between people have shaped human diversity as we know it now, and how they will continue to shape future generations. The team includes evolutionary biologists and demographers, linguists, AI specialists and archaeologists. The research will utilise unique data that do not exist elsewhere in the world. The research results of the CoE will help develop better policies on migration and social integration and public health research. The results will also enhance the forecasting of how our genomes, cultures and epidemiology will change in the future.