The €50,000 Alfred Kordelin Prize is one of the most significant annual awards presented in Finland. The prizes are awarded for socially impactful and topical contributions to science, the arts and public education.
The Alfred Kordelin Foundation awards people at the forefront of culture, education, and science each year. The award recipients are at the top of their field and contribute to the diversity, skilfulness and internationality of Finnish society through their work. In 2025, the prize is being awarded to professor Tuomas Sandholm, composer Outi Tarkiainen and docent Timo Miettinen.
”In order to build a sustainable and better future, we need top-level science, high-quality art as well as carefully considered perspectives, thinking and discussion that help maintain society”, states Chair of the foundation Mikko Kosonen. ”This year’s award recipients all share a distinct topicality and success in international arenas.”
Algorithms for the good of society – professor Tuomas Sandholm
Professor Tuomas Sandholm (born 1968) combines artificial intelligence, economics and operations research into groundbreaking solutions that benefit society. Sandholm works as a professor of computer sciences at the Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. He focuses especially on computational game theory and decision-making optimisation in so-called incomplete information situations.
Sandholm’s algorithms have run the national kidney exchange programme in the US since 2010. He has created AI that finds the optimal combination of exchange chains and clusters of donor-patient-pairs in which the donor and patient are not compatible in terms of blood or tissue type. His algorithm has saved numerous human lives and has also been applied to other organ transplants.
Sandholm is one of the leading researchers in his fields and he has published over five hundred peer-reviewed articles. He has also received a number of highly commended awards, including the AI for the Benefit of Humanity award granted by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), which advances research into and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
In addition to his scientific contributions, Sandholm has also developed his research further in the form of commercial solutions. He has founded companies that have developed AI software for defence applications and carried out large-scale combinatorial auctions which have enabled considerable cost savings for organisations. Sandholm’s scientific work and entrepreneurship prove to demonstrate how top-level research produces practical benefits and contributes to the common good.
Read more: Professor Tuomas Sandholm Develops AI That Saves Lives
Bridging art, nature and humanity – composer Outi Tarkiainen
Composer Outi Tarkiainen (born 1985) is one of the internationally most successful and artistically original Finnish composers. She has risen rapidly to the forefront of contemporary music, and her works have been commissioned and performed by the world’s leading orchestras, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic and Boston Symphony.
Tarkiainen’s style of composition combines the multivocality of arctic nature, formative human experiences and a perspective that reforms the traditions of art music. In her works, she moves fluently between western art music and jazz and brings out perspectives that widely touch a variety of audiences. In her works, natural phenomena are often parallelled with parenthood and moments of birth, for example.
Tarkiainen highlights northern nature and the experiences of northern people in her works in a way that strengthens the cultural diversity of Finnish society. Her work advances ecological awareness, cultural dialogue and equality through art.
Tarkiainen’s works have been nominated for several prestigious international awards. Her work has significantly contributed to the position of Finnish musical art on the international stage.
Read more: Outi Tarkiainen Composes from the Shared Language of Nature and Humanity
Deeper perspectives in social discussion – docent Timo Miettinen
Docent Timo Miettinen (born 1981) receives the award for his work in advancing and deepening social discussion.
Miettinen works at the Helsinki University Centre for European Studies, and he specialises in European philosophy, history of ideologies and politics. In addition to his research, Miettinen is known for being a clear communicator and commentator of EU- and Europe-related issues in international media as well as in Finnish media.
Miettinen’s work demonstrates that high-quality research can be both scientifically distinguished as well as socially impactful. He clarifies complex phenomena in a skilful, understandable and interesting manner and makes science more accessible to a wider audience through his books, public appearances and active media communication – his book Demokratian aika (”The Time of Democracy”) (Teos, 2024) is a perfect example of this.
The strong interdisciplinarity of his approach is especially remarkable: he deepens current political and political history issues in a way that highlights the underlying perspectives of philosophy and history of ideologies, thus consolidating the educational foundation of Finnish society.
Read more: Philosopher Timo Miettinen Talks About Europe in a Way That Connects
Suggestions from eighty nominators
The awards process resembles that of the Nobel Prize: 80 nominators, including Finnish universities and arts and cultural organizations, may submit candidates. The candidates are reviewed by a board which this year comprised the General Director of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet Gita Kadambi, Sitra President Atte Jääskeläinen, Chair of the Alfred Kordelin Foundation board of directors Mikko Kosonen, professor Kirsi Tirri, journalist Markus Leikola and professor Jukka Seppälä.
The Alfred Kordelin Prize has been awarded for over a hundred years. The very first prize was awarded to composer Jean Sibelius in 1923. Awardees have since included actress Seela Sella, president Martti Ahtisaari, writer Kaari Utrio and professor Olli Vapalahti, among others.
The winners are announced each year on November 6th, Alfred Kordelin’s birthday.