Doctoral education

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.
  • 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.

Past recipients of the thesis awards

Thesis Awards 2023

(for doctoral theses published in 2022)

School of Arts, Design and Architecture

DA Hella Hernberg: Architects as ‘Mediators’: Socio-political roles in mediating the ‘temporary use’ of vacant spaces, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi
DA Ilan Manouach: Estranging Comics – Towards a novel comics praxeology, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi 

School of Business

Doctoral thesis awards at the School of Business will be awarded in the autumn 2023.

School of Chemical Engineering

D.Sc. (Tech.) Janne Naapuri: Biocatalytic and chemoenzymatic synthesis of O-heterocycles from allenols, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi
D.Sc. (Tech.) Katariina Solin: Nanocellulose Interactions with Protein and Water in Advanced Sensing Systems, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi
D.Sc. (Tech.) Anna Vanderbruggen
Lithium-ion batteries recycling with froth flotation – A study on characterization and liberation strategies, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi

School of Electrical Engineering

D.Sc. (Tech) Juha Heinonen: High-sensitivity photodiodes using black silicon and induced junction, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi
D.Sc. (Tech) Jens Lundell: Towards Robust 6-DoF Multi-Finger Grasping in Clutter with Explicit Scene Understanding, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi
D.Sc. (Tech) Grigorii Ptitcyn: On Electromagnetics of Time-Modulated Structures, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi
D.Sc. (Tech) Elias Raninen: Contributions to the Theory and Estimation of High-dimensional Covariance Matrices, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi

School of Engineering

D.Sc. (Tech) Matias Heino: Susceptibility of global crop production to climate variability and change, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi
D.Sc. (Tech) Kaisa Jaalama: 3D geovisualizations in human-centered quality assessments of urban and green spaces — from point clouds to nonabsolute spaces, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi
D.Sc. (Tech) Antti Surma-aho: The role of empathy in design practice - Theoretical development and empirical exploration of an integrated model, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi 
D.Sc. (Tech) Xiaolei Yuan: Optimization of row-and-rack level airflow management in data centers, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi

School of Science

Bayan Karimi, Department of Applied Physics

Antonis Matakos, Department of Computer Science

Topi Paananen, Department of Computer Science

Joosef Valli, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

Julian Weigt, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

Hanna Halme, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering

Doctoral education
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