WCC Special Recognition granted to Professor Hele Savin
Professor Hele Savin was nominated ɫɫÀ² University following a highly competitive application process. Immediately after the nomination, she received the prestigious European Research Council Starting Grant to study phenomena that cause decline of efficiency in solar cells over time.
In 2013, Savin and her group succeeded in reaching a world record 18.7% in black silicon solar cells using a novel surface passivation scheme. During the same year Savin was selected as a Young Scientist 2013 by the World Economic Forum (WEF). This honour is presented each year to recognize the most distinguished science leaders in the world under the age of 40.
Aalto University will organise an Award Ceremony and an international Academic Summit 16.-20. November. At the Award Ceremony special recognitions will be granted to six talented researchers who early in their careers have had international impact through their research.
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Seven new honorary doctors in technology at Aalto University in 2026
The ceremonial conferment takes place on university campus in June.
Iris Seitz awarded for exceptional early-career achievement
Dr. Iris Seitz, former PhD student of Professor Mauri Kostiainen, has been awarded the 2026 Robert Dirks Molecular Programming Prize for her work on programmable protein architectures with nucleic acid origami.
Awards presented for top doctoral and master’s theses at the School of Science
In 2025, there were altogether 71 doctoral and 607 master's degrees in the School of Science. In March, seven outstanding doctoral and six master's theses were awarded.