We are pleased to announce that our TUM-IAS Hans Fischer Fellow Professor Camilla Hollanti, who is currently on sabbatical leave from Aalto University, was awarded the Väisälä Prize in Mathematics. The prize is given to one to three young and active, already well-established researchers in mathematics and natural sciences every year - congratulations!
Camilla Hollanti was nominated as a professor at Aalto University in 2011. She obtained her doctoral degree at the University of Turku in 2009, investigating applications of algebraic number theory in wireless communications. Her fascination for algebraic number theory has already started during her Master’s studies and opened up the path to her doctoral studies.
Hollanti is leading a research group working on algebra, number theory, combinatorics, coding and information theory, and in particular on their applications in wireless communications and cloud storage. She has been the principal investigator of several Academy of Finland research projects which helped her building wide international networks, both within science and industry. “Working in these kind of fast progressing research areas is a constant race. Collaboration is easy due to the interdisciplinary nature of the research, and it is indeed close to impossible to master all the required fields and techniques on one’s own”, Camilla Hollanti describes the nature of her research.
Possible applications for the methods developed by Hollanti’s group are improving transmission efficiency and stability in wireless communications as well as obtaining reliable and secure data storage. Her recent research has concentrated, among other things, on physical layer security, where the security is not relying on the limited computational power of the eavesdropper, in contrast to cryptography. Hollanti’s research has both scientific and societal impact.
Hollanti is a co-author of 90 scientific peer-reviewed publications and has been supervisor of eight doctoral dissertations, five of which are ongoing. She also has been invited as a speaker to several international conferences.
Hollanti summarizes her future dreams as follows: “My biggest dream is to go to space. I hope that return tickets instead of just one-way tickets to Mars will be available during my lifetime, so that I get to see this amazing planet!”