Ceremony of Merits

All kinds of employees make exceptional contributions to our university every single year. With the new Ceremony of Merits, we recognize those employees and honor them.

A small group of people who have made exceptional contributions to the university will be invited to the Ceremony. This concerns academic staff, support and administrative staff, as well as students: all of them contribute in their own way to the standing of the UG as a top university. The ceremony will not be an academic ceremony with professors in toga's.

The Ceremony of Merits is the successor to the annual Summer Ceremony and the yearly December Diner. This year, the following awards will be presented:

• GUF-100 prizes
• Gratama Science Award
• Wierenga-Rengerink Dissertation Prize

The new Alumni Ambassadors for 2022 will also be installed during the Ceremony of Merits. Two of them will hold a speech.

There will also be a musical interlude during the ceremony by Sabina Koch and Wouter de Vries. Poet-in-residence Laura van Meijeren will recite a poem written specifically for the event. Frank den Hollander is the host during the Ceremony of Merits and will be presenting it in his own way.

During the event, photographer Pjotr Wiese will be taking photos and beaming them live on the screens. A few days after the event, these pictures will be available to download free of charge from the website of the photographer.

The event is private and will take place in and around the Academy Building. Before the events starts, UG carillonneur Bob van der Linde will play the bells of the Academy Tower from 3.15 p.m. onwards. Afterwards there will be a festive banquet in the garden, accompanied by live music from Small Town Bandits. Personal invitations have been sent.

GUF-100 prizes

The GUF-100 prizes for excellent students were first awarded in 1993, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the Groningen University Fund (GUF). Each prize, awarded to the most excellent student from each faculty, comprises a one-off grant in the amount of €2,500 to be spent on studies or research.

Wierenga Rengerink Dissertation Award

The Wierenga Rengerink Dissertation Award comprises a €7,500 prize and a medal, and it is awarded since 2015 to the PhD student who writes the best dissertation UG-wide. The winner for this year is known and will be announced during the Ceremony of Merits.

Gratama Science Award

The Gratama Science Award is for young scientists who stand out for their innovative, socially relevant and important research. The award is given to young and active researchers, affiliated with Leiden University and the University of Groningen (one year the award is given to a researcher from Leiden University and the next year to one from the UG). They receive the award based on their research achievements in a period of up to five years after obtaining their PhD.

Read more about this year's nominations in this news article.

Alumni Ambassadors

Each year, thousands of alumni graduate from the UG. The Ceremony emphasizes the importance of the alumnus and encourages future alumni to keep in touch with their alma mater. In addition, the group of Alumni Ambassadors of the coming year will be installed.