These are the nominees for the Student Awards 2025
Utrecht ľϸӰ is proud of its students who make outstanding achievements in the field of their studies or beyond. That is why the Board of Governors presents two student awards each year during the opening of the academic year: the award for the Best Master's Thesis and the student award for Social Impact. The nominees for the Best Master’s Thesis 2025 and Vliegenthart thesis award are: Claudia Ionita, Pepijn de Koning and Bas Kraan. The nominees for the Social Impact Award 2025 are: ‘Rowing Blind’ and Philip Berghoef.
Nominees Best Master's Thesis 2025
Claudia Ionita - A New Three-Body Problem? The EU AI Act, Competition Law, and the Challenge of Modern Bigness

Claudia's thesis starts with an explanation of the history of market forces legislation through the AI Act and then looks at three possible future scenarios, which makes the thesis interesting and innovative. The jury found the thesis to be well written, socially relevant, topical, and engaging. Claudia also explains that she drew inspiration from well-known writers, enjoys writing with rhythm, and set herself the goal of making the difficult rules of the law more understandable for everyone and, with these three points, writing a thesis that invites people to read and learn. The jury agrees that she has certainly succeeded in doing so!
Pepijn de Koning - Limited memories, flexible testimonies. The cultural memory of the deportation from the Apeldoornsche Bosch and the perspective of the patients

In his thesis, Pepijn examines the Nazi evacuation of the Jewish psychiatric institution “het Apeldoornsche Bos” during the war, and concludes that all memories have been recounted from the perspective of the nursing staff. With a tour of the grounds (which are still active as a psychiatric clinic) and his further research into literature, theater, film, and television, he combines the Nazi ideology of Aktion T4 and eugenics with the discrimination that still prevails against this group, and wonders aloud where the perspective of the patient victims has gone, then and now. His thesis is socially relevant, well written, and compelling, and it touches on a sore spot in society. Pepijn drew inspiration for this thesis from the stumbling stones laid in his neighborhood: upon researching the names, one stone was found to belong to a victim of the Apeldoornsche Bos.
Bas Kraan - Closing the Disability Employment Gap: the Role of Labour Market Policies

The jury members were very positive about Bas' thesis: for a layman, his research into the impact of political efforts on people covered by the Participation Act in the EU was easy to read. With the current tight labor market, the efforts of this group are socially relevant and topical. The method and execution of his research are considered excellent, and he arrives at a clear conclusion after a well-formulated research question. His CV shows a driven student with an interest in his environment. Bas explains that the thesis is also personal to him: Although part of society does its best to facilitate people with challenges, not everyone takes into account that not everyone can keep up equally easily, and the conclusion is therefore that there is still considerable room for improvement in the labor market to give as many people as possible the opportunity to work.
Nominees for the Student Award Exceptional Extracurricular Achievements 2025
Philip Berghoef – political reporting via Instagram

For more than five years, Philip Berghoef has devoted a large part of his free time to the Instagram account Politiek Nederland, which he founded. He does this out of a passion for sharing news about current Dutch and European politics. The account has almost 300,000 followers, making it one of the most viewed political news accounts on Instagram.
The account aims to inform people about politics and social developments in a nuanced way. At a time when democracy is under pressure, it is important that people and students receive neutral and nuanced information about politics.
Rowing Blind – rowing for people with visual impairments

Rowing Blind Utrecht is an executive committee within the student rowing association U.S.R. ‘Triton’ and is part of the umbrella foundation Rowing Blind. The committee consists of Raúl Dorsman, Maud Koper, Claire Damen, Philip Heukensfeldt, Roos van Zuiden, Milou Edwards, Janne Nooijen, Mette Verbrugge, and Kaja Hrgota, and is supported by Kiki Schaafsma from the board.
Every year, the committee organizes two programs consisting of eight rowing days. During these days, around ten blind and visually impaired participants receive intensive coaching in rowing. A rowing day starts with a group meal of ‘power food’, followed by a warm-up, rowing training on the Merwede Canal, and finally lunch in the hall.
The mission is to build bridges between students and blind/visually impaired people – not only in terms of sports, but especially in terms of social interaction.
Criteria
Directors of Education or research directors can nominate a student in their programme for the Student Award for the Best Master’s Thesis. The student must satisfy the set criteria. Anyone, regardless of their relationship to Utrecht ľϸӰ, may nominate a student for the Social Impact Award.
Announcement
The winners will be announced during the Opening of the Academic Year ceremony in the Dom Church on Monday 1 September 2025.