Awards for undergraduate theses

The City of Helsinki grants thesis awards each year to authors of exemplary academic theses that explore Helsinki-related themes.

Thesis awards 2026

Recommendations can be submitted until 1 October.

The City of Helsinki grants awards each year for exemplary academic theses that explore Helsinki-related themes. The award can be granted to authors of relevant theses completed towards a master’s degree or equivalent during the 1st of August 2025–31st of July 2026 academic year. 

The award criteria include the quality of the thesis, a link to Helsinki and the university-awarded grade. Innovative approaches and new perspectives are also appreciated. There are no restrictions on the theses’ subject matter or scientific discipline. Each year, the city seeks to award theses that represent a wide variety of academic fields. 

A total of EUR 4,000 is divided among the selected recipients of the award. Between 4–10 theses are granted a share of the total each year in December. 

We kindly request that universities, faculties and departments recommend theses they feel are deserving of the award. Please attach the following material to the recommendation: 
- thesis abstract 
- link to electronic version, if available 
- information on the grade awarded to the thesis and the associated evaluation and the date of approval 1st of August 2025–31st of July 2026
- author’s contact information (phone number, postal address and email) 
- name of thesis supervisor.

Please submit the recommendations by 1 October 2026 to the following address:

City of Helsinki Registrar’s Office
Thesis awards
P.O. Box 10
00099 CITY OF HELSINKI
or: helsinki.kirjaamo@hel.fi 

Questions about the awards can be directed to Research Director Katja Vilkama at tel. +358 9 31078396 and Planning Secretary Nina Weurlander at tel. +358 9 310 36555, email: firstname.lastname(at)hel.fi. 

Thesis awards 2025

On Thursday 18 December, the City of Helsinki granted awards to eight authors of excellent Helsinki-related theses.

The award is granted each year to theses with a topic related to Helsinki, Helsinki residents or the city’s services. The City of Helsinki aims to reward theses from several academic disciplines. This year, the recipients of the awards were picked from among 18 candidates that met the application criteria, and the awards granted were worth EUR 500 each.

The award criteria include the quality of the thesis, a link to Helsinki and the university-awarded grade. Innovative approaches and new perspectives are also appreciated. The City of Helsinki has granted thesis awards since 1992.

This year’s thesis awards were presented to:

Helmi Anttila: Helsinki’s horrible creatures: Medieval and fantasy images in Helsinki’s Art Nouveau ornamentation, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Humanities, Master’s Programme in Cultural Heritage.

Roban David Colyer: Allowing Cultures to Take Root: Tales from a Diverse Foodscape in East Helsinki, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Master’s Programme in Urban Studies and Planning.

Anna Lehtonen: Understanding pluvial flood risk and adaptation through a social-ecological-technological systems (SETS) approach: The case of the city of Helsinki, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Master’s Programme in Environmental Change and Global Sustainability.

Emmi Volanen: Online calibration of microscopic traffic simulation — with integration of intersection-based near real-time floating cardata, Aalto University, School of Engineering, Master's Programme in Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering.

Haiyu Dongfang: Perceived Traffic Safety Assessment for Pedestrians and Cyclists in Helsinki Using Street View Imagery, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Science, Master’s Programme in Geography.

Lucas Magnusson: Urban forestry and tree databases: The role of airborne laser scanning for individual tree parameter extraction and its limitations, Aalto University, School of Engineering. Master's Programme in Geoinformatics.

Saana Neulasniemi: Traffic safety of school journeys in Helsinki - Assessing the traffic environment of school surroundings, Aalto University, School of Engineering. Master's Programme in Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering.

Pasi Okkonen: Spatial distribution and associations between socioeconomic disadvantage and electronic gambling machine accessibility and expenditure in the Helsinki metropolitan area, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Science. Master’s Programme in Geography.