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Chair of the focus area 1: Markku Penttonen, markku.penttonen@jyu.fi 

Research in this focus area aims to clarify the fundamental mechanisms in the central and autonomic nervous systems that underlie the success and permanence in goal-directed behaviour change.  

The focus area brings together researchers in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and sport and health sciences, and applies advanced research methods, such as brain electrophysiology and machine learning. It focuses on understanding the nervous system functions and dynamically changing states involved in learning, physical activity, decision making, cognitive control, motivation and social interaction.  

The research is supported by infrastructure and facilities including the Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research and research laboratories in the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences and Faculty of Psychology and Education.   

Associate Professor Miriam Nokia was appointed by the Faculty of Education and Psychology and the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences in 2021 to work in the Focus area 1.

Miriam Nokia studies the basic mechanisms of the central and autonomous nervous system underlying behavioral changes. Nokia leads a research team funded by the Academy of Finland and studies how experiences become stored in memory, to the distributed neural networks of the brain. She is also interested in the effects of physical fitness and training on learning ability. Nokia’s research team also investigates how nearly real-time data on bodily rhythms, such as respiration and heartbeat, can be utilised in the regulation of learning and memory functions.

Chair of the focus area 2: Katja Kokko, katja.r.kokko@jyu.fi  

This focus area aims to identify the individual difference, personality, and motivational determinants of behaviour change. It provides an indication of how individual characteristics drive behavioural decisions and what sorts of considerations interventionists need to account for or target in behavioural interventions. Interdisciplinary research in this area is led by teams of researchers in the fields of exercise science, psychology, and sport science. 

This collaboration focuses on the links between personality traits, motivation, self-regulation, and physical activity. Work in this area aims to systematically examine how behavioural determinants interact with their environment and social context in determining behaviour change in areas like physical activity, learning, and well-being.  

The ultimate goal is to utilize knowledge on individual differences and motivational behavioural determinants to inform the development of effective, appropriately tailored behaviour change interventions together through collaboration with researchers working in focus areas 3 and 4.   

Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences nominated Professor in 2023 as the docent of Behavior Change to work in the focus areas two and three.

Dr. Kyra Hamilton is Professor and Director of Health and Psychology Innovations (HaPI) Research Lab at the School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University, Australia and Faculty member in Health Sciences Research Institute at University of California, Merced. Dr. Hamilton’s research focuses on developing an evidence base of the fundamental theory-driven mechanisms involved in behavior change in laboratory and field experiments as well as the translation of this evidence into interventions that are effective in changing health behavior. The basic, formative stream of her research is aimed at understanding the social psychological processes that underpin the self-regulation of health behavior through the integration of different theories of social cognition and motivation. Her applied stream focuses on testing the efficacy of interventions based on these data in changing behavior. Dr. Hamilton’s research strengthens the knowledge base and competences in intervention research within the University, promote the continuation of her already established collaboration with several Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences researchers, and assist in establishing new cross-disciplinary collaborations in the emerging behavior change area.

Chair of the focus area 3: Juha Holma, juha.m.holma@jyu.fi 

Research projects in this focus area aim to identify and test appropriate theory- and evidence-based techniques and examine their effectiveness in producing behaviour change, particularly in the domains of physical activity, health promotion, relationship satisfaction, and well-being.  

The research draws from multidisciplinary cross-faculty expertise in psychology and psychotherapy, information technology and human-technology interaction, physical activity promotion, preventive and behavioural medicine, health promotion, and health education.   

Research in this focus area leverages knowledge gained from research on the neural correlates, particularly those gained from research in focus area 1, and individual difference and motivational determinants of behaviour, gained from research in focus area 2, to identify the appropriate techniques to be used in interventions to change behaviour.

Associate Professor Virpi-Liisa Kykyri was appointed by the Faculty of Education and Psychology and Associate Professor Keegan Knittle by the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences in 2021 to work in the Focus area 3.

The research field of Associate Professor Virpi-Liisa Kykyri includes the basic processes underlying psychological well-being interventions and behavioral changes. She is also a docent of clinical psychology, especially interaction research, as well as a special psychologist of work and organisational psychology. In addition, she is a qualified vocational teacher. Kykyri leads the Relational Mind research team as well as the PhinGAIN consortium project of the Universities of Jyväskylä and Oulu.

Assistant Professor of Exercise Psychology Keegan Knittle studies motivation for physical activity and digital interventions for behavioral change. Knittle holds a doctoral degree from the University of Leiden, Netherlands, in the field of health and clinical psychology. Before this job in Jyväskylä and the BC-Well- team, he worked in a social psychology unit of the University of Helsinki, as a co-leader of the research team of behavioral change, health and well-being.

Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences nominated Associate Professor in 2023 as the Docent of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health Behaviors to work in the focus areas three and four.

Dr. Mary Hassandra is Associate Professor at the Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, University of Thessaly, Trikala, Greece. Dr Hassandra is a leader in research investigating the pedagogical factors related to behavior change, particularly the role that leaders and educations play in facilitating change. Her work facilitates useful links between researchers working in the broad sub-fields of physical education, exercise psychology, physical activity and health behaviors. Dr Hassandra provides essential cross-disciplinary expertise in the leadership components that facilitate behavior change and how they can be worked in to efficacious behavior change interventions. Her docentship maintains her existing collaborative links with Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ research groups.

Chair of the focus area 4: Martin Hagger, mhagger@ucmerced.edu

Fundamental and applied research on behaviour change techniques and interventions based on work conducted in focus areas 1-3 are essential first steps in developing effective behaviour change. But these interventions need to be scalable, feasible, implementable, cost-effective, and acceptable in order for them to be effectively translated to ‘real world’ solutions that make the necessary large-scale and sustainable changes. 

Research under this theme will bring together experts from multiple disciplines including sport and exercise science, psychology and psychotherapy, and education who are familiar with the theory and evidence-based intervention methods. They will also have the versatility to work with practitioners and stakeholders to ensure behaviour change evidence identified in previous themes is developed into workable interventions for use in practice.   

A founder of the BC-Well profiling area, Dr. Martin Hagger is Professor of Behavior Change at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥, as well as Professor of Health Psychology at the University of California, where he was recently promoted to Distinguished Professor, the highest academic rank in the University of California system. Dr. Hagger is a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher. The

Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list comprises researchers whose research publications are among the top one percent of the most often cited publications in their field.

Martin Hagger’s research applies social psychology theory to the prediction, understanding, and altering of health behavior.

Another Clarivate highly cited researcher Professor worked in the Focus areas three and four two years in 2022–2024 as professor of Exercise Psychology at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. In addition, Dr. Biddle worked as Professor of Physical Activity & Health, Centre for Health Research, University of Southern Queensland, Australia. His research interests center on sedentary behaviour and physical activity correlates and behaviour change strategies, as well as mental health outcomes. He has published extensively in psychology, public health, and behavioural medicine.