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People
Pekka Orponen

Pekka Orponen

Professor
Department of Computer Science

Background:

Pekka Orponen is Professor of Computer Science at the Aalto University School of Science. He received his MSc and PhD degrees in Computer Science at the University of Helsinki in 1983 and 1986, respectively. After a postdoctoral period at the University of Toronto, he held assistant and associate professorships at the University of Helsinki, before moving first to the University of Jyväskylä (1996-2001) and then to the Helsinki University of Technology, now Aalto University (2001-present). He served as the founding Head of the Aalto Department of Information and Computer Science for 2008-2014, and then as Vice-Head for Research of the newly-established Aalto Department of Computer Science for 2015-2016.

His general research area is algorithms and complexity, with specific contributions spanning computational complexity theory, foundations of neural network and analog computation, stochastic algorithms and distributed sensor networks, and the computational theory and algorithmic design of nucleic acid nanostructures. His Nature 2015 article on the algorithmic design of 3D wireframe DNA nanostructures (with co-authors in Aalto and at the Karolinska Institutet) is currently listed as an ISI highly-cited paper, i.e. within the top 1% from its publication year in the areas of biology and biochemistry.

In addition to his academic activities, Pekka Orponen served in 2003-2021 on the Association and Supervisory Boards of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, one of Europe's largest private foundations for arts and science, and in 2018-2024 on the Board of Informatics Europe, the association of European Computer Science departments. He is also a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, and served in 2015-2022 as the founding Chair of the Academies' joint National Committee for Research Data, representing Finland in CODATA, the Data Committee of the International Science Council. He was awarded Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland in 2021.

 Research interests:

  • DNA and RNA nanotechnology
  • Algorithmics of self-organisation
  • Computational complexity theory

Research group page:

Personal web page:

Full researcher profile
Email
pekka.orponen@aalto.fi
Phone number
+358500819491

Areas of expertise

Algorithms, Complexity, DNA nanotechnology, 113 Computer and information sciences, Theoretical computer science

Honors and awards

Algorithmic design methods and tools for DNA nanotechnology

Granted funding (personal grants) Department of Computer Science Feb 2023

Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland

Award or honor granted for academic or artistic career Computer Science Professors Dec 2021

Best Paper Award, UCNC 2018

Award or honor granted for a specific work Professorship Orponen P. Jun 2018

Research groups

  • Computer Science Professors, Professor
  • Computer Science - Computational Life Sciences (CSLife) - Research area, Professor
  • Professorship Orponen P., Professor
  • Computer Science - Algorithms and Theoretical Computer Science (TCS) - Research area, Professor

Publications

Wen Wang, Abdulmelik Mohammed, Rong Chen, Antti Elonen, Silian Chen, Mengfan Tian, Junhao Yang, Ye Xiang, Pekka Orponen, Bryan Wei 2025 Nature Communications

Antti Elonen, Abdulmelik Mohammed, Pekka Orponen 2024 Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation - 21st International Conference, UCNC 2024, Proceedings

Antti Elonen, Pekka Orponen 2024 30th International Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming, DNA 30 2024

Antti Elonen, Leon Wimbes, Abdulmelik Mohammed, Pekka Orponen 2024 Nucleic Acids Research

Małgorzata Nowicka, Vinay K. Gautam, Pekka Orponen 2024 Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation - 21st International Conference, UCNC 2024, Proceedings

Sami El-Mahgary, Eljas Soisalon-Soininen, Pekka Orponen, Petri Rönnholm, Hannu Hyyppä 2023 Journal of Intelligent Information Systems

Antti Elonen, Ashwin Karthick Natarajan, Ibuki Kawamata, Lukas Oesinghaus, Abdulmelik Mohammed, Jani Seitsonen, Yuki Suzuki, Friedrich C. Simmel, Anton Kuzyk, Pekka Orponen 2022 ACS Nano

Mehdi Saman Booy, Alexander Ilin, Pekka Orponen 2022 BMC Bioinformatics

Pekka Orponen, Irina Kostitsyna 2021

Hong Thanh Vo, Dani Korpela, Pekka Orponen 2021 Journal of Computational Biology

Vinay Gautam, Shiting Long, Pekka Orponen 2020 Proceedings of the 13th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies

Ian T. Hoffecker, Yunshi Yang, Giulio Bernardinelli, Pekka Orponen, Björn Högberg 2019 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Pekka Orponen 2019 Kaikenlaista rohkeutta

Erik Benson, Abdulmelik Mohammed, Daniel Rayneau-Kirkhope, Andreas Gådin, Pekka Orponen, Björn Högberg 2018 ACS Nano

Abdulmelik Mohammed, Pekka Orponen, Sachith Pai 2018 Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation

Pekka Orponen 2018 Natural Computing

Erik Benson, Abdulmelik Mohammed, Alessandro Bosco, Ana I. Teixeira, Pekka Orponen, Björn Högberg 2016 Angewandte Chemie

Erik Benson, Abdulmelik Mohammed, Johan Gardell, Sergej Masich, Eugen Czeizler, Pekka Orponen, Björn Högberg 2015 Nature

Eugen Czeizler, Pekka Orponen 2015 IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology

Amotz Bar-Noy, Thomas Erlebach, Magnus M. Halldorsson, Sotiris Nikoletseas, Pekka Orponen 2014 Theoretical Computer Science

Amotz Bar-Noy, Thomas Erlebach, Magnus M. Halldorsson, Sotiris Nikoletseas, Pekka Orponen 2014 Theoretical Computer Science

Mika Göös, Tuomo Lempiäinen, Eugen Czeizler, Pekka Orponen 2014 Journal of Computer and System Sciences

Lauri Ahlroth, André Schumacher, Pekka Orponen 2013 Operations Research Letters

Eugen Czeizler, Pekka Orponen 2013 2nd International Conference on the Theory and Practice of Natural Computing (TPNC 2013), Cáceres, Spain, 3-5 December 2013

Lu-Lu Wu, Hai-Jun Zhou, Mikko Alava, Erik Aurell, Pekka Orponen 2013 Physical Review E

Lauri Ahlroth, Pekka Orponen 2012 MFCS 37th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2012) MFCS, Bratislava, Slovakia, August 27-31, 2012

Thomas Erlebach, Sotiris Nikoletseas, Pekka Orponen 2012

Eugen Czeizler, Tuomo Lempiäinen, Pekka Orponen 2011 FNANO Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference on Foundations of Nanoscience: Self-Assembled Architectures and Devices (FNANO11) FNANO, Snowbird UT, April 2011

Eugen Czeizler, Tuomo Lempiäinen, Pekka Orponen 2011 Proceedings of the Workshop on Language Theory in Biocomputing

Mika Göös, Pekka Orponen 2011 The 16th Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA16) DNA, (Hong Kong, China, June 2010)

Tuomo Lempiäinen, Eugen Czeizler, Pekka Orponen 2011 DNA Computing and Molecular Programming - 17 th International Conference, DNA 17, Pasadena, CA, USA, September 19-23, 2011. Proceedings

Tapio Elomaa, Heikki Mannila, Pekka Orponen 2010

Harri Haanpää, André Schumacher, Pekka Orponen 2010 Wireless Networks

Mika Göös, Pekka Orponen 2009 arXiv.org

Mikko Alava, John Ardelius, Erik Aurell, Petteri Kaski, Supriya Krishnamurthy, Pekka Orponen 2008 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Pekka Orponen, Satu Elisa Schaeffer, Vanesa Avalos Gaytán 2008

Shreyas Prasad, André Schumacher, Harri Haanpää, Pekka Orponen 2008 The 21st International Conference on Information Networking (ICOIN'07)

Andre Schumacher, Pekka Orponen, Thorn Thaler, Harri Haanpää 2008 5th European Conference on Wireless Sensor Networks, EWSN 2008, Jan 30-Feb 1 2008

Harri Haanpää, André Schumacher, Thorn Thaler, Pekka Orponen 2007 The 3rd International Conference on Mobile Ad-Hoc and Sensor Networks (MSN'07, Beijing, China, December 2007)

Maarit Hietalahti, Mikko Särelä, Antti Tuominen, Pekka Orponen 2007

Pekka Orponen 2007 °Õ¾±±ð³Ù´ÇÂá±ð²Ô°ìä²õ¾±³Ù³Ù±ð±ô²â³Ù¾±±ð»å±ð

André Schumacher, Harri Haanpää, Satu Elisa Schaeffer, Pekka Orponen 2006 Mobile Ad-hoc and Sensor Networks Second International Conference, MSN 2006 Hong Kong, China, December 13-15, 2006

Patrik Floréen, Petteri Kaski, Jukka Kohonen, Pekka Orponen 2005 Theoretical Computer Science

Patrik Floréen, Petteri Kaski, Jukka Kohonen, Pekka Orponen 2005 IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications

Evan Griffiths, Pekka Orponen 2005 Information Processing Letters

Pekka Orponen, Satu Elisa Schaeffer 2005 4th International Workshop on Efficient and Experimental Algorithms, Santorini, Kreikka, 10.-13.5.2005

Sakari Seitz, Mikko Alava, Pekka Orponen 2005 Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment

Sakari Seitz, Mikko Alava, Pekka Orponen 2005 8th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing, St. Andrews, Skotlanti, 20.-23.6.2005

Emil Falck, Patrik Floréen, Petteri Kaski, Jukka Kohonen, Pekka Orponen 2004 ALGOSENSORS'04, First International Workshop on Algorithmic Aspects of Wireless Sensor Networks, Turku, Suomi, 16.7.2004

Patrik Floréen, Petteri Kaski, Jukka Kohonen, Pekka Orponen 2003 DIALM-POMC '03 Joint Workshop on Foundations of Mobile Computing, San Diego, CA, USA, 19.9.2003

Pekka Orponen 2003 °Õ¾±±ð³Ù´ÇÂá±ð²Ô°ìä²õ¾±³Ù³Ù±ð±ô²â³Ù¾±±ð»å±ð

Pekka Orponen 2003 Tietoa

Sakari Seitz, Pekka Orponen 2003 IEEE LICS'03 Workshop on Typical Case Complexity and Phase Transitions, Ottawa, Canada, June 2003

Sakari Seitz, Pekka Orponen 2003 Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics

Jiri Sima, Pekka Orponen 2003 Neural Computation

Jiri Sima, Pekka Orponen 2003 Theoretical Computer Science

Jiri Sima, Pekka Orponen 2003 Neural Computation

Tommi Ronkainen, Hannu Oja, Pekka Orponen 2002 Developments in robust statistics : International Conference on Robust Statistics ICORS '01, Stift Vorau, Itävalta, heinäkuu 2001

Jirí Síma, Pekka Orponen 2001 Proceedings on 33rd Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, July 6-8, 2001, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Jirí Síma, Pekka Orponen 2001 Artificial Neural Networks - ICANN 2001, International Conference Vienna, Austria, August 21-25, 2001 Proceedings

Jirí Síma, Pekka Orponen, Teemu Antti-Poika 1999 SOFSEM '99, Theory and Practice of Informatics, 26th Conference on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Informatics, Milovy, Czech Republic, November 27 - December 4, 1999, Proceedings

Wolfgang Maass, Pekka Orponen 1998 Neural Computation

Wolfgang Maass, Pekka Orponen 1997 Electronic Colloquium on Computational Complexity

Pekka Orponen 1997 Advances in Algorithms, Languages, and Complexity - In Honor of Ronald V. Book

Pekka Orponen 1997 Theoretical Computer Science

Pekka Orponen 1997 Arkhimedes

Pekka Orponen 1997 SOFSEM '97: Theory and Practice of Informatics, 24th Seminar on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Informatics, Milovy, Czech Republic, November 22-29, 1997, Proceedings

Harry Buhrman, Pekka Orponen 1996 Journal of Computer and System Sciences

Russell Greiner, Pekka Orponen 1996 Artificial Intelligence

Wolfgang Maass, Pekka Orponen 1996 Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 9, NIPS, Denver, CO, USA, December 2-5, 1996

Pekka Orponen 1996 Logiikka, matematiikka ja tietokone

Pekka Orponen, Frédéric Prost 1996 7th Finnish Artificial Intelligence Conference, Vaasa, Finland, August 20-23, 1996, Proceedings

Pekka Orponen 1996 Neural Computation

Pekka Orponen, Martin Matamala 1996 4th Workshop on Physics and Computation, PhysComp 96, Boston, MA, USA, November 22-24, 1996, Proceedings

Harry Buhrman, Pekka Orponen 1994 Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Structure in Complexity Theory Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 28 - July 1, 1994

Patrik Floreen, Pekka Orponen 1994

Pekka Orponen 1994 Nordic Journal of Computing

Pekka Orponen, Ker-I Ko, Uwe Schöning, Osamu Watanabe 1994 Journal of the ACM

Patrik Floréen, Pekka Orponen 1993 Neural Computation

Pekka Orponen 1993 Automata, Languages and Programming, 20nd International Colloquium, ICALP93, Lund, Sweden, July 5-9, 1993, Proceedings

Patrik Floreen, Petri Myllymäki, Pekka Orponen, Henry Tirri 1992 °Õ¾±±ð³Ù´ÇÂá±ð²Ô°ìä²õ¾±³Ù³Ù±ð±ô²â³Ù¾±±ð»å±ð

Petri Myllymäki, Pekka Orponen, Tomi Silander 1992 5th Finnish Artificial Intelligence Conference, Espoo, Finland, June 9-11, 1992, Proceedings

Pekka Orponen 1992 Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science 1992, 17th International Symposium, MFCS'92, Prague, Czechoslovakia, August 24-28, 1992, Proceedings

Russell Greiner, Pekka Orponen 1991 Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR'91). Cambridge, MA, USA, April 22-25, 1991.

Patrik Floréen, Petri Myllymäki, Pekka Orponen, Henry Tirri 1990 AI Communications

Pekka Orponen 1990 Artificial Intelligence

Pekka Orponen 1990 Proceedings: Fifth Annual Structure in Complexity Theory Conference, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, July 8-11, 1990

Pekka Orponen, Russell Greiner 1990 Proceedings of the Third Annual Workshop on Computational Learning Theory, COLT 1990, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA, August 6-8, 1990.

Henry Tirri, Petri Myllymäki, Pekka Orponen, Patrik Floréen 1990 Parallelization in Inference Systems, International Workshop, Dagstuhl Castle, Germany, December 17-18, 1990, Proceedings

Patrik Floreen, Pekka Orponen 1989 Complex Systems

Ronald V. Book, Pekka Orponen, David A. Russo, Osamu Watanabe 1988 SIAM JOURNAL ON COMPUTING

David A. Russo, Pekka Orponen 1987 Mathematical Systems Theory

Ronald V. Book, Pekka Orponen, David A. Russo, Osamu Watanabe 1986 Automata, Languages and Programming, 13th International Colloquium, ICALP86, Rennes, France, July 15-19, 1986, Proceedings

Ker-I Ko, Pekka Orponen, Uwe Schöning, Osamu Watanabe 1986 Structure in Complexity Theory, Proceedings of the Conference hold at the University of California, Berkeley, California, June 2-5, 1986

Pekka Orponen 1986 Theoretical Computer Science

Pekka Orponen, David A. Russo, Uwe Schöning 1986 SIAM JOURNAL ON COMPUTING

Pekka Orponen, Uwe Schöning 1986 Information and Computation

Pekka Orponen, David A. Russo, Uwe Schöning 1985 Automata, Languages and Programming, 12th Colloquium, Nafplion, Greece, July 15-19, 1985, Proceedings

Pekka Orponen, Uwe Schöning 1984 Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science 1984, Praha, Czechoslovakia, September 3-7, 1984, Proceedings

Pekka Orponen 1983 Automata, Languages and Programming