Professor Tarja Knuuttila’s research concerns the epistemology of scientific modelling, the relation of scientific models to the real world, and the connection between simplicity and generality of models, with varied fields of application including ecology, economics, and engineering.

She has developed a particular interest in the relevance of mathematical in complex scenarios, including biology, but also the economy. She is the principal investigator of the Possible Life project of the European Research Council, which studies the philosophy of hypothetical types of biochemistry including synthetic biology and astrobiology. In 2021 she was elected to the Academia Europaea.