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Aalto doctoral thesis awards

Aalto University rewards the most meritorious doctoral thesis by the annual Aalto University Doctoral Thesis Awards. The core criteria for the awards are academic quality, impact and originality.

The Schools grant Aalto University Doctoral Thesis Awards according to
the following principles:

  • Each school rewards doctoral theses which are among the most meritorious top ten percent of the doctoral theses of the school.
  • The awards are granted annually every calendar year.
  • The awards granted are 3000 euro each. (In the School of Engineering, 1000 euro.)
  • The core criteria for the awards are academic quality, impact and originality.
  • The recipients of the awards are selected among the doctoral students / graduated doctors whose doctoral thesis has been approved within the previous calendar year of the award in question.
  • Award decisions take into account the statements given by the preliminary examiners and opponents.
  • The decisions are made by the Dean of the School on the proposal of the School's Doctoral programme committee.
  • Joint Aalto University Certificate of Honour is given to the recipients of the awards.
  • The Schools present the awards in a ceremonial event.

The scheme of Aalto University Thesis Awards and the related rewarding criteria are valid from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2025 and concern the recognition of the doctoral theses approved during the years 2021–2024. During the period the scheme is evaluated and revised for continuation if it is deemed appropriate.

The aim is to encourage doctoral students to good performance and to reward the doctoral students at different Aalto University Schools according to uniform principles. In addition to these awards, the Schools may also
reward their doctoral students otherwise in accordance with the School's objectives and strategy.

Recipients of the thesis awards

Thesis Awards 2024

(for doctoral theses published in 2023)

School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Rebecca Close, Department of Art and Media: Post-internet queer reproductive work and the fixed capital of fertility – The interface, the network and the viral as themes and modes of artistic response, supervising professor and advisor Mira Kallio-Tavin

Kaisu Savola, Department of Design: ’Disrespectful thoughts about design’ – Social, political and environmental values in Finnish design, 1960–1980, supervising professor Guy Julier and advisor Pekka Korvenmaa

School of Business

Doctoral thesis awards at the School of Business will be awarded in the autumn 2024.

School of Chemical Engineering

Muhammad Awais, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems: Hyperspectral Imaging and Chemometrics to Investigate the Chemical Wood Modification, supervising professor Lauri Rautkari and thesis advisors Dr. Michael Altgen, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Prof. Mikko Mäkelä, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Dr. Tiina Belt, Natural Resources Institute Finland.

Karl Alexander Henn, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems: Scalable Surface Chemistry for Lignin Modification - Creating Value for a Forest-Based Society, supervising professor and thesis advisor professor Monika Österberg.

Sofia Julin, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems: DNA Origami as a Tool for Assembling Functional Biohybrid Nanomaterials, supervising professor and thesis advisor professor Mauri Kostiainen and thesis advisor assistant professor Veikko Linko, University of Tartu.

School of Electrical Engineering

Henri Hentilä, Department of Information and Communications Engineering. Secret Key Generation for Secure Wireless Internet of Things. Supervising professor and thesis advisor Visa Koivunen.

Lassi Hällström, Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering. Computer simulations for designing green energy solutions. Supervising professor and thesis advisor Ilkka Tittonen.

Henrik Kahanpää, Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering. On atmospheric pressure measurements and dust devils on planet Mars. Supervising professor and thesis advisor Esa Kallio.

Elli Leppänen, Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation. Exploring the complex and diverse world of carbon electrochemistry: Unraveling the interplay between structure-property relationships.Supervising professor and thesis advisor Tomi Laurila.

Alec Wright, Department of Information and Communications Engineering. Neural Modelling of Audio Effects. Supervising professor and thesis advisor Vesa Välimäki.

School of Engineering

Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen, Department of Built Environment. Waste nutrients harvested: Design and evaluation of nitrogen and phosporus recovery processes utilizing membrane contactor and absorption techniques, Supervising professor Anna Mikola

Joonas Lehtovaara, Department of Civil Engineering. Takt production and decentralized decision-making: improving construction production flow with novel planning & control approaches, Supervising professor Olli Seppänen

Zhenkun Li, Department of Civil Engineering. Bridge health condition assessment using instrumented moving vechiles, Supervising professor Weiwei Lin

Milad Omidi, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Material Properties of Planar Lattices, Supervising professor Luc St-Pierre

Malith Prasanna Rupasingha Arachchige, Department of Mechanical Engineering: Combined experimental and numerical study on ice block breakage, Supervising Professor Arttu Polojärvi

School of Science

Kukka-Emilia Huhtinen, Department of Applied Physics: Superconductivity and normal state properties in flat bands, supervising professor and thesis advisor: Professor Päivi Törmä

Lassi Meronen, Department of Computer Science: Uncertainty Quantification in Deep Learning, supervising professor and thesis advisor Professor Arno Solin

Juho Roponen, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis: Computational models for adversarial risk analysis and probabilistic scenario planning, supervising professor and thesis advisor: Professor Ahti Salo

Sebastian Szyller, Department of Computer Science: Ownership and Confidentiality in Machine Learning, supervising professor: Adjunct Professor N. Asokan and thesis advisor: Research Fellow, Dr. Samuel Marchal, WithSecure

Viliam Vaňo, Department of Applied Physics: Designing quantum matter in two dimensions, supervising professor and thesis advisor: Professor Peter Liljeroth

Sorrachai Yingchareonthawornchai, Department of Computer Science: Vertex Connectivity via Local Computation: Breaking Quadratic Time, Poly-logarithmic Max-flows, and Derandomization, supervising professor: Professor Parinya Chalermsook and thesis advisor: Professor Danupon Nanongkai, Max Planck Institute for Informatics and Saarland University, Saksa

Koos Zevenhoven, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering: Unconventional MRI scanner technology and intelligent dynamics, supervising professor: Professor Lauri Parkkonen and thesis advisor: Professor (emer.) Risto Ilmoniemi

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