Vliegenthart Thesis Award
The Vliegenthart Thesis Prize was instituted to mark Prof Dr Hans Vliegentharts retirement as chairman of the Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Fund in 2004. The idea was and is to show a talented student to the world outside and especially the alumni community. The award consists of €1,500 and is awarded in turn in the disciplines of the Humanities, Life Sciences, Science and Social and Behavioural Sciences.
Pepijn de Koning
For the academic year 2024-2025, the Vliegenthart Thesis Prize in the discipline of Humanities was awarded to Pepijn de Koning. He wrote his thesis for the Research Master Dutch language and culture:
Through his research, he contributes to ongoing reflection on our culture of remembrance, a subject of obvious social importance.
Read more about the award ceremony and the jury's verdict in this news item.
Selection criteria Best UU Master's Thesis
From nominations for the best UU master's thesis, a separate jury will annually select a winner in one of the four aforementioned categories, alternating each time. The criteria for selection are primarily:
- Quality (approach, structure and coherence in the way the research question has been addressed and conclusions drawn)
- Scientific relevance and innovation
- Originality and creativity
- Readability: grammar, style and spelling.
In addition, topicality and social relevance, as well as interdisciplinarity, are important. Next year (2025/2026) it is the turn of the Life Sciences category.
Previous winners of Vliegenthart Thesis Prize
2023: Marien Raat Marien's thesis addresses the problem Turing once described: The computational power of computers is finite and stops at the halfway point.
2022: Sisi Chen Peer acceptance and victimization in the classroom: The role of student ethnicity, socioeconomic status and teacher-student relationship.
2021: Oxana Garritsen A systematic meta-analysis approach to identify novel microRNA-132 targets at the interface between adult hippocampal neurogenesis and Alzheimer’s disease
2020: Liselotte Podda Negotiating a Sea of White: Whiteness and Diversity in Dutch Opera Practices
2019: Özge Algül Pursuing peace: The Return of Bosnian War Refugees from ‘Paradise Lands’ to ‘Home’
2018: Felix Kümmerer On the Molecular Determinants of Modal Gating Shifts in Potassium Channels
About Hans Vliegenthart
Prof Hans Vliegenthart was Chairman of the Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Fund from 1999 until 2004. His chairmanship was of great significance for the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ and the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Fund alike. Starting in the 1990s, Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ and the Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Fund made significant efforts to achieve good contacts with graduates. The guiding principle was the need for a joint alumni policy. Since 1999, the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ-wide alumni policy and the duties of the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Fund have been integrated in a single organisation. Hans Vliegenthart is an eminent scientist, who has published hundreds of articles, especially in the field of organic chemistry. He has achieved multiple awards for his scientific achievements, including:
- Membership of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1990);
- Honorary doctorates at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Debrecen, Hungary (1992), ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ for Science and Technology in Lille, France (1993) and ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Stockholm, Sweden (1997);
- Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (1998);
- Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Silver Medal (2003).