The Gust. Komppa Award 2024 was announced on 13.12.2024 at the Christmas meeting of the Finnish Chemical Society at the National Theatre. The Komppa Prize is awarded annually for the best chemistry dissertation from the previous year. The selection committee suggested to divide the 2024 Gust. Komppa award between Dr.Tech. Sofia Julin from Aalto University and PhD Christina Jäger from the University of Helsinki. Read the statement below. (Read in Finnish here.)

​

Christina Jäger & Sofia Julin. Photos © Maarja Kotkas.

​

The Gust. Komppa award review board met on October 10, 2024 to make a selection of the best chemistry dissertation of 2023. Nominations for the award were solicited from each department of chemistry, and all of them were allowed to nominate up to three candidates. A total of 13 proposed high-quality dissertation theses arrived from the universities. 

The evaluation board would like to once again thank in general the particularly high standard of all proposed works. The works broadly represented chemistry research and its social relevance. The selection board reached its consensus decision after detailed discussion and consideration.

The basis of the evaluation was the scientific merit of the dissertations, the broad scope of the research and related methodological expertise, the focus of the narrative of scientific information, the possible scientific effectiveness of the works, the role of the researcher’s own work in the implementation of the work, and the visuality and readability of the dissertation work. 

The selection board proposes that the Gust. Komppa award in 2024 be divided between two chemistry doctoral studies. The selection committee suggests to divide the 2024 Gust. Komppa award between Dr.Tech. Sofia Julin from Aalto University and PhD Christina Jäger from the University of Helsinki.

In Sofia Julin‘s Doctoral thesis “DNA Origami as a Tool for Assembling Functional Biohybrid Nanomaterials”, the goal was to build functional biohybrid materials with high structural order. The “DNA origami” technique enables tailor-made, well-defined and highly reproducible DNA-based structures, and could therefore help develop more advanced functional nanomaterials. In particular, the research investigated how DNA origami can be used to control higher-order self-organization by customizing the local electrical charges of structures, the size and shape of the building units. At the same time, information is obtained on the effect of different DNA origami configurations on the dynamic, electrical and structural properties of bionanomaterials, which are involved in the self-organization of structures, the selective dismantling of structures, or the possibilities of using external stimuli to reorganize structures. 

The dissertation consisted of 4 articles published in international publication series and a high-quality summary. Various chemical structural analysis methods were widely applied in the doctoral research. As a whole, the dissertation research demonstrates excellent scientific competence and a fluent written description of the goals, results and impact of the research.

In Christina Jäger‘s Doctoral thesis “C-N Bond Formation via Ene Reactions and Cycloadditions of Enzymatically Generated Nitroso Compounds” enzymatic tools were developed that open new avenues for the formation of C-N bonds in organic synthetics. Expanding the range of available reactions with biocatalytic tools and enzymes is currently a hot topic in the field of biocatalysis. The findings of this Doctoral dissertation research reveal a particularly chemically favorable and functionally simple biocatalytic method that is widely applicable as a stand-alone tool, but can also be implemented in multistep and sequential reactions yielding valuable structural compounds in organic synthetics. A particular scientific breakthrough is the use of enzymes related to iron and copper to catalyze nitrosoene or nitroso-Diels-Alder reactions.

The dissertation is based on three high-level scientific publications, in addition to which the dissertation contains a particularly meritorious literature summary. The experimental part of the work includes a large collection of organic syntheses, with the help of which it has been possible to find out usable reaction conditions – and paths, but also reaction mechanisms. The results are essential in the further application of enzymes in, for example, biocatalysis and medicinal chemistry, especially in the development of stereoselective synthetics.

Both dissertations represent a very high scientific level, and they consist of several highly influential research articles representative of their field. In addition to this, the review board was very pleased that the work reflects a very broad methodological expertise, as a result of which various methods have been widely applied in the work for the development, production and analysis of the chemical objects under investigation.

The topics of the research selected for the award strengthen the view of the importance of basic research in chemistry as a basis for future applications. Award-winning works also demonstrate the high quality of chemistry research conducted at universities in Finland and the meaningful creation of new knowledge. The award committee hopes that the researchers who are now being awarded and their research work will also serve as role models, inspirers and encourage future chemists to delve deeper into the realization of chemical phenomena and solutions for sustainable development.

The award committee hereby unanimously proposes the shared awarding of the Gust. Komppa Award 2024 to Dr.Tech. Sofia Julin and PhD Christine Jäger.

​