PhD and Master’s thesis prizes presented: Erik-Jan Broers Teacher of the Year
The Tilburg University Executive Board annually awards prizes for the best Master’s, Research Master’s, and PhD theses. Renée van Erp wrote the best Master’s thesis, Lennart Sinjorgo won the Research Master’s thesis prize, and Jan de Wit won first prize with his PhD thesis. In addition, the 2022 Teacher of the Year award was presented. It went to Erik-Jan Broers.
Teacher of the Year
Erik-Jan Broers, who was elected Teacher of the Year 2022, teaches European Legal History. The jury: “Erik-Jan is passionate about this subject and that is the reason that many students were able to keep motivated, during the Covid-19 crisis, to continue the Legal History course and to even look forward to it. The lectures felt more like mentor sessions in the comfort of the own home. Students felt at ease and managed to forget about the crisis for a while.”
In collaboration with Fractie SAM, Tilburg University’s best instructor is chosen every year by means of the “Teacher of the Year Election”. There is a cash prize of € 4,000 for the first time this year, given Recognition & Rewards, a program aimed at not only rewarding research achievements, but also researchers’ other talents, in this case excellence in teaching. In addition, the winner is recommended for the national Teacher of the Year election, organized by Dutch National Students’ Association ISO.
PhD and (Research) Master’s thesis prizes
The first Master’s thesis prize went to Renée van Erp. With her thesis entitled Breast cancer treatment planning: A U-net approach, she concluded her Master’s in Data Science and Entrepreneurship at the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science. The jury stated: ”Renée displayed a high level of curiosity and questioning, which are fundamental ingredients for academic research. Her analytical thought, focus on the details and research skills are truly phenomenal.”
The first prize for the best PhD thesis was awarded to Jan de Wit. He defended his thesis cum laude at the beginning of 2022. The jury report: “Jan’s PhD thesis focuses on the role of gestures in child-robot interaction, addressing a range of questions, varying from how robot gestures can best be developed and implemented to what their contribution might be for teaching children words in a second language.”
The Research Master’s thesis prize was awarded to Lennart Sinjorgo. He wrote his thesis, Semidefinite programming and the satisfiability problem, for his Research Master’s in Operations Research at TiSEM. The jury: “Lennart is an exceptional candidate for the best Research Master’s thesis in the academic year 2021-2022. Lennart’s thesis is excellent from a scientific perspective. (…) Moreover, due to the societal relevance of the problem studied, his work has the potential of having a great impact on everyday life.”
Second and third prizes - a list of all winners
Master’s thesis prizes
- 1st prize € 4,000: Renée van Erp - Breast cancer treatment planning: A U-net approach
- 2nd prize € 2,000: Aaron Lennips - Modularity: Increasing continuity of care for children with anorexia nervosa in the Elisabeth-TweeSteden hospital
- 3rd prize € 1,000: Samed Durmus - The criminalization of parental violence in the Netherlands (De strafbaarstelling van kindermishandeling in Nederland)
PhD thesis prizes
- 1st prize € 4,000: Jan de Wit - I like the way you move: Robots that gesture, and their potential as second language tutors for children
- 2nd prize € 2,000: Hannes Rosenbusch - Computational methods in the Behavioral Sciences
- 3rd prize € 1,000: Ruben Vromans - Communicating personalized risks to patients with cancer
Research Master’s thesis prize (first prize only)
- 1st prize € 4,000 Lennart Sinjorgo - Semidefinite programming and the satisfiability problem