PhD Supervisor of the Year Award 2022 for Sancia van der Meij

Dr. Sancia van der Meij has been awarded the PhD Supervisor of the Year Award 2022. She is Assistant Professor Tropical Marine Evolutionary Ecology at the Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES). From 2018 onwards, the GSSE PhD Council, in collaboration with the sounding board, annually awards the PhD Supervisor of the Year Award within the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

The winner has been announced during the faculty opening of the academic year on Monday, September 5. According to her students, Sancia is very approachable. She helps and guides her students in a way that works for them creating a comfortable atmosphere. She gives them constructive feedback on the scientific content: rather than telling them what is wrong, she tries to understand the perspective of the student and looks at problems from their end too. She also is very supportive in creating a professional network and a future career. Next to Dr. Sancia van der Meij, the top four nominees consisted of Dr. Laura Govers – GELIFES, Dr. Zoe Christoff - Bernoulli Institute, and Prof. Katja Taxis - GRIP.

A picture of Dr. Sancia van der Meij will soon join that of Prof. Lucy Avraamidou, Prof. Filippo Fraternali, Prof. Jan Anton Koster and Prof. Reinoud Gosens in the PhD Supervisor’s hall of fame, in the Faculty Room in the Bernoulliborg.