Jari Koskinen was awarded The Order of the White Rose of Finland
Professor and Head of the department for chemistry and materials science, Jari Koskinen, has been awarded The Order of the White Rose of Finland. The Dean for the School of Chemical Engineering, Kristiina Kruus, presented the order in a coffee occasion on the 20th of January 2020.
In her motivation speech, the dean thanked Koskinen for his excellent work as the head of the department, where he has actively evolved the practices of the department. She also made a special mention of his efforts to make chemistry education more accessible, and for raising interest in chemistry teaching in Finland. Koskinen's discursive management style works well in the university environment, she said, where collegial means of decision-making has a long tradition.
Koskinen accepted the honorary medal with gratitude. During the coffee occasion, he had the chance to reflect on his own career at Aalto University. He was chosen for the job at the then TKK and has since had the chance to see the changes that have gone through Aalto since the beginning.
“I’ve been 11 years at the university and the change that has happened during this time has been remarkable. It feels like I've been here for a long time simply because so much has happened within a short space of time. Also, the campus has changed during the years. There are so many dimensions to the change and, of course, the future as Aalto's new strategy keeps us alert.â€
The School of Chemical Engineering congratulates Koskinen for his fine achievements and wishes him the best in his work as professor and head of the department.
Read more news
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.