An academic researcher anad developer in the field of management and organizations.

From an international perspective, Kuoppakankaa has extensive experience in international cooperation. She has participated and been in numerous international research projects as a researcher and networked with international researchers. She has also spent two years teaching international MA and BA degrees in the UK (degree awarding university based in the USA) and interim Dean at School of Business in the UK.

Over time, the content of her work has become increasingly focused on co-value creation, public management and well-being. Before joining the academia, Kuoppakangas has worked in administrative positions in the EU, among others. He has also been awarded the Researcher of the Year Award at the Pori University Centre in 2013.

Her recent research themes have focused on issues such as change processes and the relevance of education and work in universities and public organisations, management challenges in public organisations including social and health sector. Service users' experiences and value co-creation. Managing meaningful work and the challenges of digitalisation, AI technology and utilization of BigData in organisations . Some of the publications focus or contextualise on public or private welfare services, while most of them focus more broadly on public services, such as municipal or urban management and academia. 

Päivikki supervises PhD, Master’s and Bachelor thesis works. She teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in management and organisation