ECHO Award 2025 Application Guidelines

Deadline

The deadline to apply for the 2025 ECHO Award is 1 June 2025 at midnight. Students can either apply themselves or be nominated by someone else. 

Criteria

To be considered for the ECHO Award, nominees must meet the following core and practical criteria:

General criteria

Social impact: You make a meaningful contribution to positive change, both within your educational institution and beyond, by addressing socially relevant issues.

Policy and systemic change: You are involved in initiatives aimed at tackling structural inequalities, and you show a clear vision and strategy to create policy-level or systemic change.

Leadership qualities: You demonstrate inspiring leadership, and you know how to engage and motivate others in processes of social transformation.

Practical criteria

You are part of an underrepresented group, with a specific focus on Dutch students with a non-Western or refugee background.*

• You have strong academic results (as a guideline, an average of 7.5 or higher).
• You have excellent proficiency in English.
• You are available to participate in the ECHO Ambassadors Academy on September 6, 2025.
• You are available for an interview with the ECHO Award jury.
• You are available to attend the ECHO Award Ceremony in December 2025 (exact date to be announced).

Applications

To apply or nominate a student, please submit the following documents to the Diversity & Inclusion Office at diversity rug.nl by the deadline:

• A completed application form (filled out by the student or together with the nominator)
• A personal motivation letter from the nominated student (see guidelines)
• The student’s CV

A selection committee at the UG, coordinated by the D&I Office, will choose which students to nominate to ECHO. The final selection is made by ECHO.

For any questions, feel free to contact the Diversity & Inclusion Office.