7 September 2025  From Glamour to Groundbreaking CodeThe sparkle of Viennese-born Hollywood star and inventor Hedy Lamarr once lit up the big screen. Today, her name shines on Austria's research landscape through the Hedy Lamarr Prize of the City of Vienna, awarded annually since 2018 to women who push the boundaries of information technology. Hedy Lamarr, celebrated for her pioneering work on frequency-hopping technology – a foundation of modern Wi-Fi and Bluetooth – is now a symbol of innovation and inspiration. Past winners include Maria Eichlseder of TU Graz, recognized for her work on cryptographic standards for secure data in IoT and medical devices, and Laura Koesten, whose "Talking Charts" project promotes inclusive digital communication.Nominees for 2025: Blockchain, Cryptography, AI – and BeyondToday, the Austrian Press Agency announced the seven nominees for the 2025 Hedy Lamarr Prize, most of whom are active researchers and educators at Austria's leading universities.Among them is Georgia Zeta Avarikioti, Assistant Professor at TU Wien, who focuses on security and privacy in distributed systems. Her research explores blockchain scalability, interoperability, and the cryptoeconomic incentives that make decentralized systems robust and trustworthy. Karen Azari, Assistant Professor at the University of Vienna, is a member of the research group Theory and Applications of Algorithms. She specializes in cryptography, developing secure group messaging protocols, proof systems for decentralized systems, and resource-restricted cryptography. In the classroom, she teaches algorithms, data structures, and the foundations of cryptography, helping shape the next generation of cybersecurity experts. Unlike most of the nominees, Maria Wimmer conducts research outside a university environment at VRVis, Austria's leading COMET Competence Center for Visual Computing. Wimmer develops AI-assisted solutions for medical imaging, creating machine learning models that detect and classify anatomical structures in MRI, CT, and X-ray data, supporting radiologists in responsible digital diagnostics. Alongside them, the shortlist includes Anna Beer (University of Vienna), who researches fairness and evaluation in density-based clustering of high-dimensional data; Lisette Espín-Noboa (TU Graz), whose work explores algorithmic fairness and network inequality; Anela Lolić (TU Wien), advancing formal logic and automated theorem proving for stronger AI reasoning; and Andrea Ortiz Jiminez (TU Wien), developing innovative algorithms to make wireless networks more resilient and reliable. More Than a Prize – A Signal for SocietyThe nominated projects span diverse fields – from finance and cybersecurity to medicine, data fairness, and wireless network resilience. Their societal impact is far-reaching: securing online communication, making decentralized systems more efficient, and improving early disease detection. An independent jury of past winners and leading scientists, coordinated by FWF, FFG, and WWTF, now faces the challenge of selecting the 2025 laureate. While each nominee is already a winner through recognition, the €10,000 prize money remains an important incentive. The award ceremony will take place during the Digital Days 2025 on October 15, 2025, at the Technisches Museum Wien – bringing together science, industry, and the public to celebrate women shaping the digital future.Image: The AI-generated visualizer for the article about the nominees for the 2025 Hedy Lamarr Prize shows a woman interacting with a large, transparent holographic display. The screen displays complex mathematical formulations, computer science architecture, glowing data visualizations, and interconnected networks. The woman, viewed from behind, is dressed in dark attire and reaches out to touch the screen, which emanates a soft blue light. The background is blurred, suggesting an indoor setting with warm and cool light sources. Photo: © Fashion.at generated with Imagen, Google AI Studio |