Dr. Jari Lavonen is a Professor of Physics and Chemistry Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is a director of National Teacher Education Forum and the chair of the Finnish Matriculation Examination Board. He is a visiting professor at the  University of Johannesburg. He has been researching science and technology education and teacher education for the last 31 years and his main research interests are science and technology teaching and learning, curriculum development, teacher education and use of ICT in education. He has published altogether 170 refereed scientific papers in journals and books, 140 other articles and 160 books for either science teacher education or for science education. He has been active in international consulting, for example, involving the renewal of teacher education for example in Norway, Peru and South Africa.