Joen­suu is a good place to live and work

A laid-back city and ambi­tious research work have made Roman Cal­pe feel right at home in Joen­suu.

Ori­gi­nal­ly from Hami­na, 28-year-old phy­sics stu­dent Roman Cal­pe is cur­rent­ly wor­king on a pho­to­nics-rela­ted doc­to­ral dis­ser­ta­tion at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Eas­tern Fin­land. He’s no roo­kie when it comes to Joensuu—he moved to the city in 2016 to stu­dy. And accor­ding to Cal­pe, he’s been enjo­ying his time the­re immen­se­ly.

“Joen­suu is much big­ger than my home­town. The atmosp­he­re here is warm, and people are out­going.”

When you need help, you don’t have to ask for it — it’s offe­red wit­hout hesi­ta­tion

Dai­ly life is also made easier by how quickly you can get anyw­he­re in the city—you need a car much less than you would in Hami­na, for example. Cal­pe also has prai­se for the locals.

“People in Joen­suu are real­ly easy­going. When you need help, you don’t have to ask for it—it’s offe­red wit­hout hesi­ta­tion. The vibe is relaxed, and the cost of living is rela­ti­ve­ly low. Joen­suu is a good place to live and work.”

The pho­to­nics bug bit in high school

Roman Calpe’s inte­rest in pho­to­nics began in high school, whe­re his fasci­na­tion with science and phy­sics led him to take cour­ses rela­ted to the sub­ject.

After high school, Cal­pe moved to Joen­suu to pur­sue his mas­ter’s degree. His curio­si­ty grew along the way, and now his tit­le is that of a doc­to­ral researc­her.

After high school, Cal­pe moved to Joen­suu to pur­sue his mas­ter’s degree

“A doc­to­ral dis­ser­ta­tion can be eit­her theo­re­tical or more prac­tical. The process invol­ves a lot of inde­pen­dent stu­dying and gat­he­ring infor­ma­tion. One requi­re­ment is that you need to publish three articles as part of the dis­ser­ta­tion. So, there’s a lot of wri­ting invol­ved.”

But doc­to­ral research isn’t just about burying your nose in books—or screens. There’s also a lot of hands-on work in the lab.

“In the lab, we stu­dy things like how light inte­racts with cer­tain mate­rials and how light beha­ves in dif­fe­rent sys­tems.”

Strong foun­da­tions for inter­na­tio­nal col­la­bo­ra­tion

One of the best aspects of doing a PhD at UEF, accor­ding to Cal­pe, is the long-stan­ding tra­di­tion of pho­to­nics research the­re, as well as the university’s glo­bal recog­ni­tion among stu­dents and researc­hers in the field. The­se fac­tors pro­vi­de excel­lent oppor­tu­ni­ties for inter­na­tio­nal col­la­bo­ra­tion.

Chal­len­ges are una­voi­dable in such deman­ding research work. Some­ti­mes, results don’t match the ori­gi­nal theo­ry.

“This hap­pens, for example, in expe­ri­men­tal research. It can also mean that the research takes lon­ger than plan­ned. Then you start dig­ging into pos­sible explanations—was the­re somet­hing wrong with the theo­ry, or were the mea­su­re­ments some­how flawed?” Cal­pe explains.

He’s gra­te­ful for the sup­port he’s recei­ved during his research jour­ney.

“The super­vi­sors help a lot. When you start going over things with them, pieces begin to fall into place.”

Chess for balance

After a day of research, Roman Cal­pe unwinds with his favo­ri­te hob­by: chess. He’s an acti­ve mem­ber of the Joen­suu Chess Club. Foun­ded in 1945, the club is one of the lar­gest and most success­ful in the count­ry.

Cal­pe says he got hoo­ked on chess through You­Tu­be.

Over the years in Joen­suu, he’s for­med seve­ral friends­hips — many of which have las­ted to this day

“I star­ted watc­hing chess videos, and then thought—this could be the kind of game I’d like to try myself. I had lear­ned the rules when I was youn­ger, which made it easier to start. At first, I played onli­ne, but over time I rea­lized it would be more fun to play face to face.”

Cal­pe usual­ly plays with the same regu­lar group once a week, though new faces are always welco­me.

“Even total begin­ners can come learn the rules and get into the dee­per aspects of the game. For more expe­rienced players, the club orga­nizes tour­na­ments.”

Cal­pe says that over the years in Joen­suu, he’s for­med seve­ral friendships—many of which have las­ted to this day. That means a lot to him.

This mate­rial was pro­duced as part of the acti­vi­ties of the City of Joen­suu Inno­va­tion Eco­sys­tem Agree­ment (ERDF), co-fun­ded by the Euro­pean Union and the city of Joen­suu.

Arti­ficial intel­li­gence has been used in the trans­la­tion of the article.