UG awards various prizes during the Ceremony of Merits

The UG awarded various prizes to excellent researchers and students during the Ceremony of Merits on 21 May 2024. The Wierenga-Rengerink PhD Award for the best UG dissertation was awarded to Dr Bram van Vulpen (Campus Fryslân). The Gratama Science Award was presented to Léonie de Jonge (Faculty of Arts). In addition, the best student of each faculty was presented with a GUF-100 prize worth €2,500, intended for study or research purposes.

Wierenga-Rengerink PhD Award

Bram van Vulpen received the Wierenga-Rengerink PhD Award for his dissertation entitled Politics out of Place. Understanding the Geography of discontent in the Netherlands from a Spatial Justice Perspective, for which he was awarded a PhD from Campus Fryslân. Van Vulpen used a theoretically innovative approach for his research, which involved linking the case of the Netherlands to the more broadly emerging international scientific discourse about spatial justice. Van Vulpen’s original work represents a step forward for the academic field of discontent and geography.

The Wierenga-Rengerink PhD Award is awarded to the UG PhD student who has submitted the best dissertation over the past calendar year. Each faculty chooses its own winner, from which a jury of former rectors appoints the ultimate winner. Only exceptionally good theses are eligible (at least with the cum laude honours predicate). The Wierenga-Rengerink family funds the prize. The winner receives €7,500 to be spent on further academic development.

Gratama Science Award

Léonie de Jonge received the Gratama Science Award for the huge significance of her diverse, in-depth publications, and her active role in social debate. She is researching the ideology and influence of extreme right-wing parties and actors in Europe. She demonstrated how media and public opinion contributed to the triumph of the PVV in the Dutch elections by giving airspace to extreme right-wing views. De Jonge features regularly in local media to explain political current affairs. Despite regular threats and intimidation as a result of her work, she remains an impassioned academic researcher.

The Gratama Science Award is intended as an incentive for young, promising, and active academics who distinguish themselves through innovative, striking, and societally relevant research. The Award is presented either to a staff member of the University of Groningen or of Leiden University, alternating each year. This year, it was the turn of Groningen. The nominees are proposed by the faculties and selected by the Board of the Groningen University Fund. The board of the Gratama Foundation ultimately selects the winner.

GUF-100 prizes

Finally, excellent students from the 11 UG faculties were chosen for the GUF-100 prize, comprising a grant worth €2,500 for each student, intended for study or research purposes. These prizes are funded by the Groningen University Fund. The following students were awarded a prize:

• Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences - Giulia Quagliozzi
• Faculty of Arts - Quinten Jansen
• Faculty of Economics and Business - Sabine van de Beek
• Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society - Joëlle Fennebeumer
• Faculty of Medical Sciences - Anouk Mathijsen
• Faculty of Law - Ron van der Horst
• Faculty of Spatial Sciences - Bauke van der Kooij
• Faculty of Philosophy - Jona Janssen
• Faculty of Science and Engineering - Mink Sieders
• University College Groningen - Adam Bahelka
• Campus Fryslân - Mandipa Lecha

Read more about all the students who were awarded a GUF-100 prize in 2024.

About the Ceremony of Merits

The annual Ceremony of Merits focuses on accomplishments. Everybody who has significantly contributed to the UG in the past year is given the spotlight, whether they are an academic, support staff member, or student. In addition, the prizes mentioned above are awarded. The Ceremony of Merits was held for the first time in 2022. The prizes have existed for longer, and were previously awarded during the annual UG Summer Ceremony.