D.Sc. (Econ.) Eini Haaja is Research Manager at the Pan-European Institute (PEI). Haaja has been working at PEI since 2008 in various research, teaching and administrative positions. She has specialised in International Business with an emphasis on sustainable business development in international business networks. She has been involved in several research projects and has published articles concerning business opportunities, risks and collaboration dynamics, most recently focusing on internationalisation, innovation and network orchestration in the maritime sector. In her new research, she explores how geopolitical turbulence influences the competitiveness and sustainability enhancement of Finnish industries. Based on her research, she currently teaches the course "Geopolitics and geoeconomy in Northern Europe" at Turku School of Economics.

Haaja conducted her postdoctoral research project at Turku Institute for Advanced Studies in 2022-2025 focusing on sustainability enhancement in shipbuilding industry networks. At the same time, she was the Principal Investigator in MUUTOS-project funded by the Foundation for Economic Education, researcher in SusFlow-project funded by Business Finland, and Fulbright Finland visiting scholar at Florida International University, USA. As an example of her other prior research projects, she successfully coordinated the project application process for ECOPRODIGI project (2017-2020, 4,2 million EUR, co-financing and the flagship status from the EU Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme) for increasing eco-efficiency in the maritime sector processes through digitalisation.

Haaja's current research focuses on understanding how different actors in business networks drive, and could drive, the whole industry ecosystem more sustainable. Of particular interest is how the sustainability enhancement proceeds along with geopolitical changes and rapidly growing security concerns. Besides business studies, she seeks to benefit from new, multidisciplinary approaches, including futures research methods.

Through her previous positions at Turku School of Economics, Haaja has years of experience in supervising bachleor and master's thesis students. She has also organised and taught basic and advanced-level courses in International Business concerning the business environments in the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe and the Arctic region. Haaja has also completed the Basic Studies in Teacher's Pedagogical Studies at the University of Turku to strengthen her teaching skills. Currently Haaja teaches the course "Geopolitics and Geoeconomy in Northern Europe" at Turku School of Economics and acts as a doctoral supervisor.