In 2022 the teaching prize was awarded to two candidates, University Lecturer Iryna Herzon and Associate Professor Lassi Ahlvik.
Iryna Herzon has worked actively and persistently to improve teaching. In her own teaching, she strives for coherence and deep learning, and seeks to engage and motivate her students. Herzon is also actively involved in teaching development and planning at the curriculum level and in national and international networks and projects.
Lassi Ahlvik's teaching emphasises student-centredness and continuous development of his own teaching based on feedback from students. He is thanked for his ability to adapt his teaching methods when necessary. Ahlvik's own enthusiasm and interest in what he teaches is also passed on to the students.
Research prize to Associate Professor Hanna Tuomisto
The 2022 research prize was awarded to Associate Professor Hanna Tuomisto for significant scientific production during the past year. She has published several studies related to the life cycle and sustainability assessment of new foods of the future, especially proteins produced by cell culture.
Two publications under her direction have appeared in the prestigious Nature Food journal. The first of these deals with ovalbumin production using Trichoderma reesei culture. The second article assesses the impacts on global warming, water use and land use when animal-based foods are replaced by novel or plant-based foods in European diets.
In addition to these, Tuomisto's review of the environmental benefits of eating mycoprotein was published in the News and Views section of the journal Nature, and she has also published three articles in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
The award committee points out that Hanna Tuomisto's research field and expertise are absolutely central to the development of future food systems. In addition, she is thanked for her extensive cooperation with experts in various fields.
Galina Kallio awarded the Community Relations Prize 2022
The community relations prize was awarded to Postdoctoral Researcher Galina Kallio, whose research interests include regenerative agriculture and food collectives. Kallio herself says that she is both a researcher and an activist.
Galina Kallio is a highly active science communicator on several platforms. Among other things, she is active on Twitter, visits schools to talk about her research topics, does the UNTAME podcast together with Eeva Houtbeckers and has been an occasional visitor on Yleisradio's programmes.
The award committee also thanks Galina Kallio for her active cooperation with the University of Helsinki’s communications team. She has appeared in a video talking about city and partnership farming, and at the end of the autumn's ‘How to popularise science and research’ theme week, she spoke about her own work in societal interaction. Kallio is also one of the panelists at the faculty's Beginnings of Research event, which is part of the Night of Science programme to be held in January 2023.