ɫɫÀ²

News

Päivi Törmä appointed Academy Professor

The results of Törmä’s work are expected to pave the way to the development of room temperature superconductors.

The Academy of Finland has decided to fund eight new research posts as Academy Professor. One of them is Aalto University’s professor and director of the Centre of Excellence in Computational Nanoscience COMPand Päivi Törmä. Professor Törmä is a theoretical physicist whose research interests are in the area of long-range coherence phenomena. The aims of her research project include the theoretical determination of the limits of superconductivity. The results are expected to pave the way to the development of room temperature superconductors. The second stage of the project will involve the experimental realisation of low-energy and nanoscale coherent light sources based on new plasmonic nanoparticle arrays. Törmä effectively integrates computational and experimental research methods. Her project includes new innovative research ideas that will significantly advance the discipline and ultimately open up new technological opportunities.

Other new Academy Professors are Eero Castrén (University of Helsinki), Sara Heinämaa (University of Jyväskylä), Markku Kulmala (University of Helsinki), Matti Latva-aho (University of Oulu), Craig Primmer (University of Turku), Hannu Salmi (University of Turku) and Anu Wartiovaara (University of Helsinki). Their five-year terms commence on 1 January 2017.

A research post as Academy Professor is intended to give cutting-edge scientists and researchers the opportunity to engage in research full-time. Academy Professors are expected to significantly advance research in their field and to develop creative research environments. The Academy currently provides funding for 40 five-year Academy Professorships over a range of disciplines.

More information:

Päivi Törmä
Tel. +358 50 3826 770
paivi.torma@aalto.fi

Photo by Anni Hanén

  • Updated:
  • Published:
Share
URL copied!

Read more news

Two students and a professor sitting around a table, talking and looking at laptop screen.
Research & Art, Studies Published:

Call for doctoral student tutors, September 2025

Sign-up to be a tutor for new doctoral students as part of the Aalto Doctoral Orientation Days!
Abstract image of glowing teal shapes and pink blocks on a striped yellow and green surface, with a dark background.
Research & Art Published:

Researchers turn energy loss into a way of creating lossless photonics-based devices

Turning energy loss from a fatal flaw into a dial for fine-tuning new states of matter into existence could yield better laser, quantum and optical technology.
An illustrative figure comparing disease-induced immunity (left) and randomly distributed immunity (right) in the same network. Illustration: Jari Saramäki's research group, Aalto UIniversity.
Research & Art Published:

Herd immunity may not work how we think

A new study from researchers at Aalto University suggests that our picture of herd immunity may be incomplete — and that understanding how people are connected could be just as important as knowing how many are immune.
AI applications
Research & Art Published:

Aalto computer scientists in ICML 2025

Department of Computer Science papers accepted to International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML)