RelEx Core Team
Based at Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland, the RelEx Core Team leads the project’s research efforts and sets its strategic agenda. They are responsible for coordinating the research activities in Finland and across the various countries involved in RelEx, ensuring the project’s goals are met through a collaborative and cross-cultural approach.
Peter Nynäs
Project Director of the RelEx CoE
Peter.Nynas@abo.fi
Peter Nynäs is Professor of the Study of Religions and director of the RelEx CoE. His primary areas of research include contemporary religious change, methodology, worldview studies, psychology and sociology of religion, and religion, sexuality and gender. He previously led the Centre of Excellence in Research “Young Adults and Religion in a Global Perspective” and recently edited Researching Global Religious Landscapes: A Methodology between Universalism and Particularism (Equinox 2024, with R. Illman, N. Novis-Deutsch, and R. Fernández Hart).
Marcus Moberg
Vice-director of the RelEx CoE
Marcus.Moberg@abo.fi
Marcus Moberg is a Professor in the Study of Religions at Åbo Akademi University and Vice-director of the RelEx CoE. His primary areas of research include the sociology of religion, the discursive study of religion, religion and digital culture, religion and young adults, and mixed-method approaches in the study of religions.
Måns Broo
Senior Lecturer
Mans.Broo@abo.fi
Måns Broo is a senior lecturer in the Study of Religions at Åbo Akademi University and part of the core team of the RelEx CoE. His research primarily focuses on Indian religions, both in history and contemporary times, but also on ritual, yoga and the ethnography of religion.
Linda Annunen
Post-doctoral Researcher
Linda.Annunen@abo.fi
Linda Annunen is a post-doctoral researcher at Åbo Akademi University and is a member of the Relex core team. Her research interests include ritual studies, religion and embodiment, contemporary religious change, as well as new spiritualities. Methodologically she is interested in different forms of ethnographic research and research ethics in the study of religions.
Clementine Nishimwe
Post-doctoral Researcher
Clementine.Nishimwe@abo.fi
Clementine Nishimwe is a postdoctoral researcher in the Study of Religions at Åbo Akademi University and a member of the RelEx CoE research project. Her research centers on religion, gender, migration and ethnographic research approach to the study of religion.
Ali Ali
Post-doctoral Researcher
Ali.x.Ali@abo.fi
Ali Ali is a postdoctoral researcher in gender studies and politics at Åbo Akademi University. Ali’s research is on kinship and community relations. It traces the change of faith, values and modes of connection and mobilization in the lives of the racialized and non-citizens.
Karoliina Dahl
Project Researcher
Karoliina.Dahl@abo.fi
Karoliina Dahl is a project researcher in the Study of Religions at Åbo Akademi University, conducting research in Finland for the RelEx CoE. Her primary research interests include religion, life views, and young adults, with a focus on mixed-method approaches and social psychology in the study of religions.
Islam Sabry
Project Coordinator of the RelEx CoE
Islam.Sabry@abo.fi
Islam Sabry is the project coordinator for the RelEx project at Åbo Akademi University. With an MA in Social Exclusion, his research centers on the social exclusion of ethnic minority groups, focusing on understanding exclusion dynamics in diverse social contexts.
Andrew Armstrong
Project Statistician
Andrew.Armstrong@helsinki.fi
Affiliated Researchers
Aminkeng Alemanji
Aminkeng.Atabong@abo.fi
Aminken Alemanji is head of the Social Exclusion Masters Programme and a Senior University Lecturer. His research focuses on race, racism, antiracism, and antiracism education – in and out of schools.
Khushal Naik
Khushal.Naik@abo.fi
Khushal Naik is a doctoral researcher in the Study of Religions at Åbo Akademi University. His research focuses on migration policy discourse within and between the EU and AU.
