Best doctoral dissertations awarded
The City of Tampere’s Research Grant Committee has awarded three doctoral researchers whose dissertations Tampere University had deemed to be the best among the dissertations defended in 2023. Each dissertation received the grade ‘approved with distinction’ from their respective Faculty Council.
The winning dissertations were chosen by Tampere Institute for Advanced Study. The awarded dissertations are of high quality, ambitious and international. The prize is €5,000.
The prizes were awarded in a ceremony that was organised at the Tampere City Hall now for the first time.
On Tuesday 1 October, the prizes were presented to PhD Paula Rauhala, DSc Markus Hiekkamäki and PhD Julia Fadjukov.
The awarded dissertations
PhD Pauliina Rauhala’s dissertation Marx in the West and in the East: Reading Capital in the Divided Germany investigated how researchers in East and West Germany approached Karl Marx’s foundational theoretical text Capital during the cold war. According to the justifications, the dissertation in the field of philosophy offers an in-depth and comprehensive study of an influential period in the history of Marxist thought.
In his dissertation Quantum Interference in Transverse Spatial Modes of Photons, DSc Markus Hiekkamäki studied two-photon interference effects. According to the justifications, the dissertation in the field of experimental quantum optics has produced important research results in experimental physics. The new findings are relevant for quantum communication and information processing. The examiners of the dissertation found the work to be pioneering in its field.
In her doctoral dissertation Electrical communication and its physiological relevance in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), PhD Julia Fadjukov studied the ion channel machinery of retinal pigment epithelium. Fadjukov found that there are daily changes in ion transport, which are important for the regeneration of retinal photoreceptor cells. According to the award criteria, the dissertation in the field of biomedical engineering is of excellent quality and highlights the variety and complexity of the methods used and demonstrates scientific excellence in its field.
