• National centre of excellence in university education 2010-2012 

In November 2008, the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council (FINHEEC) selected the Department of Computer Science to be one of ten national centres of excellence in university education 2010-2012. The evaluation was carried out for the fifth time on the mandate of the Ministry of Education.

• Finnish Academy centre-of-excellence programme 2012-2017

In June, the Finnish Academy selected the Finnish unit for computational inference (COIN) to be a national centre-of-excellence programme during 2012 - 2017. The COIN unit is lead by professor Erkki Oja (Aalto university), and Petri Myllymäki with his group from the department of computer science is a part of this unit.  The unit for research of cancer genetics lead by Lauri Aaltonen (UH, Faculty of medicine) was selected as a national centre-of-excellence programme during 2012-2017. Veli Mäkinen with his group from the department of computer science is a part of this unit.  In addition to this, Aapo Hyvärinen with his group is collaborating with the unit for inversion problems lead by Lassi Päivärinta  (UH, Department of mathematics and statistics) that was also chosen as a national centre-of-excellence programme during 2012-2017.

• Finnish Academy centre-of-excellence programme 2008-2013

On 12 December 2006, the Finnish Academy selected the unit for algorithmic data analysis (Algodan) to be a national centre-of-excellence programme during 2008-2013. Professor Esko Ukkonen heads the Algodan unit, a collaboration with the Aalto University comprising several research teams. The unit continues the work of the FDK centre of excellence (2002-2007).

• The 2009 health and safety award of the University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki awarded the Department of Computer Science with the 2009 health and safety prize. According to the award diploma, the staff of the department has cooperated to improve the quality, safety and comfort of its working environment with determination and good results.

• National centre of excellence in university education 2007-2009

The Department of Computer Science is one of the national centres of excellence in university education that the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council presented to the Ministry of Education for 2007-2009. The assessment is based on peer evaluation, and both past results and the long-term improvement of education were considered in the screening process. The diverse selection criteria include the connection between education, research and social interaction; strategic management of education; improvement of pedagogical aspects; and relating syllabus content planning with the structural reformation of degrees. The Department of Computer Science was found to be equally strong in all these fields.

• The computer science discipline assessment of the Finnish Academy 2007

In the Finnish Academy's assessment of computer science in 2007, an international panel stated in its assessment report Computer Science Research in Finland 2000-2006 (8/07) that the department is the leading research facility for computer science in Finland.

• The Medix prize 2007

At the monthly meeting of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, Chancellor Kari Raivio of the University of Helsinki awarded the 20,000-euro Medix prize to the research groups headed by Professor Jussi Taipale and Professor Esko Ukkonen. The prize was conferred for 20th time in 2007. This year, the best article on bio-medicine or clinical research published in 2006 was awarded. The prize is presented by Oy Medix Ab. The Minerva foundation is the principal owner of Medix.

• Research assessment 2005

The department received the top grade (7) in the evaluation of research in the whole of the University of Helsinki in 2005. In its report, the evaluation panel stated that a large part of the research carried out at the department keeps to a high European standard, some of it on a globally high level, and that the department is on the cutting edge of data analysis research in the world.

• The Microsoft Technologies in Practice and Theory of Software Engineering prize 2005

The project collaboration between the computer science departments of the universities of Helsinki and Petrozavodsk, where groups of students implemented software over the Internet, did very well in the Microsoft Technologies in Practice and Theory of Software Engineering competition organised in St Petersburg in March. The Finnish-Russian DaCoPAn project (Data Communication Protocol Animation) was one of four first-prize winners in the competition that was attended by over three hundred student projects from various parts of Russia.

• Award for quality teaching 2004

On 1 December, the Rector rewarded the department for its high standard of teaching with 27,000 euros in profitability monies. The profitability monies were divided among six units, three of which received the grade 'excellent.' By distributing these monies the university wants to encourage the units to report dependably with a focus on relevant quality factors. Teachers, students, and other members of the staff were expected to participate in the self-assessment of the unit. They had to justify their claims about the quality of their work on the basis of the principles of portfolio assessments.

• The Prime Minister's commendation for the most innovative web service in 2004

On 23 November 2004, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen rewarded the portal MuseoSuomi – Finnish museums on the semantic web with a commendation for the most innovative web service as a part of the government's IT society programme competition Laatua verkkoon (quality on the web). The competition was organised by the Ministry of Finances and it is a part of the reward process called the Prime Minister's best practices.

• Semantic Web Challenge Award 2004, 2nd place

On 11 November, MuseoSuomi – Finnish museums on the semantic web, a web service developed by the Department of Computer Science and Helsinki Institute for Information Technology came second in the competition Semantic Web Challenge Award 2004 in Hiroshima, Japan. Semantic Web Challenge Award is a highly valued application reward in the international research community for the semantic web.

• Finnish Academy centre of excellence programme 2002-2007

The unit From Data to Knowledge (FDK) was elected one of the national centres of excellence in Finnish research for the years 2002-2007.

• Evaluation of research quality and standards 1999

The department received the top grade (7) in the evaluation of research in the whole of the University of Helsinki in 1999. The evaluation panel stated that, in spite of its short existence, the department is a first-class academic institution.

• Evaluation of information-industry education programmes 1999

The international panel of the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council stated in its report for the assessment of education programmes in the information industry in 1999 that the department has identified and developed its specialisation programmes so that they concur with the needs of the industry, that the department has a joint IT research institution with Helsinki University of Technology, that the department also attracts female students, and that the department has a tradition of allowing its students to work on personal projects while studying for their degrees.