Wierenga-Rengerink PhD Award for Bram van Vulpen 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.

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.