The Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation

Wednesday 20th June, 2007 Professor Peter York receives Doctor of Pharmacy award from University of Helsinki

In May 2007, Prof. Peter York was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree of the University of Helsinki, Finland having been proposed by the Faculty of Pharmacy as their first awardee.

The prestigious award was conferred at a special ceremony which lasted three days. The conferment ceremony included a rehearsal dinner, official ceremony in a hall, banquet, cathedral service, boat trip to an island for a picnic, and concluding ball. During the conferment ceremony, Professor York received a hat (to represent academic wisdom) and a sword (representing sharpness of mind).Hat_and_sword.jpg

The University’s conferment ceremony in Finland dates back to 1643 in the city of Turku and was moved to the new capital of Helsinki, along with the University, in 1828. The University of Helsinki is one of the 12 Universities that have been ranked as the European leaders in basic research and are thus included in the League of European Research Universities (LERU).