Department of Applied Physics

Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize

The Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize is awarded once every three years to scientists who have made outstanding contributions to advances in low temperature physics and related fields.
Olli V. Lounasmaa in Argonne in 1962.
Olli V. Lounasmaa in Argonne in 1962.

The Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize is awarded once every three years(1) to scientists who have made outstanding contributions to advances in low temperature physics and related fields. The prize, which was first awarded in 2004, is a tribute to the founder of the strong Finnish research tradition in low temperature physics and its applications.

The establishment of the Prize Fund owes to the generosity of Kiti Müller (daughter of Lounasmaa) and the members of The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters for the endowment of the revenues obtained upon publishing the Memoirs of Olli V. Lounasmaa. Since 2016 the Fund also receives an endowment from Bluefors, a 2008 spin-off company from the Low Temperature Laboratory (established by Lounasmaa in 1965). Today the company is the world’s leading manufacturer of ‘dry’ ultra-low temperature (dilution) refrigerators.

(1) Until 2020, the prize was presented every four years. The award cycle was shortened from four years to three years, aligning with the Conference on Low Temperature Physics, which is held every three years.

Members of the 2025 Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize committee:

  • Mika Sillanpää (chair, Aalto University)
  • Anssi Salmela (Bluefors)
  • Bill Halperin (Northwestern University)
  • Christian Enss (Heidelberg University)
  • Hervé Courtois (Université Grenoble Alpes)
  • Hiroshi Fukuyama (The University of Tokyo)
  • Jeevak Parpia (Cornell University)
  • Silke Bühler-Paschen (Vienna University of Technology)

A letter of nomination should state the basis for the proposed prize, and assessment of the impact to the low temperature community. Letters (no more than 4) from knowledgeable colleagues supporting the nomination are welcome and should be submitted along with the nomination material. Nominations and supporting letters should be sent (electronically in .pdf format) to the Chair of the Prize Committee:

Prof. Mika Sillanpää
Aalto University School of Science
Department of Applied Physics
[email protected]

The deadline for the receipt of nominations and supporting letters is January 15, 2025.

The prize is presented at the 30th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (LT30), Bilbao, Spain, August 2025.

J.C. Seamus Davis
JC Séamus Davis

JC Séamus Davis 2020

The fifth Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize was awarded to Professor JC Séamus Davis at the University of Oxford (UK), University College Cork (IRL), and Cornell University (USA) for his pioneering investigations and applications of exquisite scanning probe techniques for visualization of electronic quantum matter at the atomic scale.

Read more: Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize awarded to Professor J.C. Séamus Davis

Michel Devoret
Michel Devoret

Michel Devoret 2016

The fourth Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize was awarded to Professor Michel Devoret from the Yale University (New Haven, USA) for his pioneering investigations and applications of macroscopic quantum phenomena at low temperatures.

Read more: Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize 2016 awarded to Michel Devoret

Alexander Andreev
Alexander Andreev

Alexander Andreev 2012

The third Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize was awarded to Academician Alexander Andreev the Director of the Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, Moscow, Russia, for his pioneering research on the theory of superconductivity and quantum crystals.

Seiji Ogawa
Seiji Ogawa

Seiji Ogawa 2008

The second Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize was awarded to Dr. Seiji Ogawa from Tohoku-Fukushi University in Sendai, Japan, for his pioneering observations that have led to the emergence of functional magnetic resonance imaging of human brain function.

John Clarke
John Clarke

John Clarke 2004

The first Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize was awarded to Professor John Clarke from University of California, Berkeley, USA, for his pioneering research and development work on ultra sensitive magnetometers called SQUIDs.

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