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OIKOS Thesis Award

Every two years OIKOS presents two awards for the best Research Master's theses written in the previous two academic years. One award is offered to the best thesis in the disciplines of Greek, Latin and Ancient Philosophy, the other for the best thesis in the disciplines of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology.

How to nominate candidates

Each participating university may nominate one thesis per discipline (i.e. every university may nominate a maximum of five theses). The nominations will be assessed by an independent international jury and the theses must therefore be written in English. The winners will be announced in January and the awards will be presented on the subsequent annual OIKOS Day in May. The award consists of a prize of €500,-. In addition, the winners will be invited to present a brief summary of the topic of their dissertation during the OIKOS Day.

For the OIKOS Thesis Awards 2024, Research Master's theses completed between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2023 are eligible. Supervisors may nominate their candidates until 1 November 2023 by digitally sending the papers to oikos rug.nl, stating the name of the candidate and supervisor(s), the title of the thesis, and the institution.

Winners Thesis awards 2022

The Jury of the Thesis Awards 2022 (Martin Hose, professor of Classical Philology, University of München, and Emily Hemelrijk, emeritus professor of Ancient History, University of Amsterdam) had a difficult choice, for all nominations were excellent. They awarded the two awards for 2022 to:

Greek and Latin Language and literature: Jikke Koning (UL) for her thesis Nature and Cultural Progress in Prometheus Bound. An ecocritical analysis of the role of the non-human world in relation to the human condition. Jikke was praised for the innovative character of her research, her mastery of scientific terminology and scientific tools and her originality and courage in challenging traditional interpretations.

Ancient History and Archaeology: Rik Jansen (UG) wrote the thesis The uncomfortable Third. Changing notions of eunuchs and hermaphrodites as a third gender within the late antique Roman and Byzantine Empire. His thesis stands out for its broad perspective, its theoretical discussions and the innovative way in which it studies the changing notions on the ‘third gender’ in the late antique and Byzantine world.

Laureates

2022 - Jikke Koning (UL), Rik Jansen (UG)
2020 - Patriciate Kret (UL), Marije Derksen (RU), Caterina Fossi (VU)
2017 - Tom Grijspaardt (UL) & Leonie Henkes (UL)
2016 - Ivo Wolsing (ACASA), Kay Boers (UU) & Sam van Dijk (UG)
2015 - Rens de Hond (RU) & Martje de Vries (UL)


Last modified:11 October 2023 12.20 p.m.