Prize for best Bachelor’s thesis in Physics awarded to Groningen student Marit Fiechter

Marit Fiechter, Bachelor’s student in Physics at the University of Groningen (UG), has been awarded the SPIN prize for best physics thesis. The prize was presented to her by NNV chairman Diederik Jekel during the FYSICA 2019 conference.

Each year, SPIN (Society of Physics Students in the Netherlands) organizes a competition to find the best Bachelor’s thesis in Physics. The cash prize of €500 is made available by the NNV (Netherlands Physical Society) . All physics associations linked to universities or universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands are invited to submit their best Bachelor’s thesis or project.

Jury members Suzanne van Dam (TU Delft), Rick Bethlem (VU) and Robert Klein-Douwel (UG) selected Fiechter on the basis of the exceptional quality of her thesis and her presentation.

Last year, Marit Fiechter won the GUF 100 Prize for best student of the UG Faculty of Science and Engineering. She was able to use this money to conduct research on cold molecules at JILA in Boulder, Colorado, a leading research institute in this field. Her thesis, entitled 'Towards narrow-line cooling of yttrium monoxide (YO)' , was also about cold molecules. Next academic year, Fiechter plans to do a Master’s in Physics at ETH Zürich.