And the winners of the 2024 EGSH PhD Excellence Awards are...

In between award presentations, Esther Rozendaal did a Q&A with dr. Igna Bonfrer reflecting on good supervision.

Also the EGSH PhD council were invited to speak at the event and took the opportunity to present the final version of their Golden Questions for supervision. For this item, the audience was invited to speak to each other about which questions they would like to discuss with their supervisor/PhD candidate. The council mentioned they are looking for PhD candidates from ESPhil, DRIFT and IHS to join the council. You can contact them at phdcouncil@egsh.eur.nl if you're interested!

We closed the event with social drinks and bites. Overall, we feel we had a very successful event and were happy and grateful that we were able to share this with the PhD candidates and supervisors from our faculties. If you were present at the ceremony, it would mean a lot if you could rate the event to help us improve!

A special thanks to all who submitted their work, or nominated a colleague or supervisor this year.
It is greatly appreciated and of great value to our school and community.

Here are the nominees and winners for the EGSH Awards for PhD Excellence 2024!:

And the award for Best article 2024 went to Nada Akrouh!

Nada’s article looks at how patient stories can be used to improve healthcare research. It talks about combining computational tools (like technology) with qualitative methods (like analyzing the meaning behind the stories) and involving citizens, including patients and healthcare professionals, in the research process.  

According to the jury her article is unique because it offers a novel interdisciplinary approach to understanding patient experiences. Unlike traditional methods, which may focus solely on quantitative data or qualitative storytelling, this study blends both methods to provide a more holistic view.  

Job van Exel handed out the award to Nada.

Congratulations, Nada! 

The award for Best Societal Impact 2024 went to Beatrice Hati Gitundu! 

In her research, Beatrice wanted to make a real difference by working closely with local groups in Kenya's informal settlements, where people’s voices are often ignored in decisions about disaster safety. She used methods like storytelling, theatre, and fire drills to bring together local community members, fire fighters, and government officials to improve fire safety and reduce tensions between them. This led to the creation of a network of local groups, the first Community Fire Safety week in Kenya, and gave local fire fighters a stronger voice in both the community and academic discussions. 

The jury was impressed by her work and the impact she created. 

Congratulations, Beatrice! 

The award for Best Poster 2024 went to Dyllis De Pessemier! 

Dyllis's poster is not too textual, which is a known pitfall and a general problem in poster presentations. Her poster has a really nice and calm balance between text and visual content which is attractive for her audience, and the content is also clear and structured, which are other aspects that stood out in comparison with other submissions and eventually convinced us that she deserves our award for best poster.  

Congratulations, Dyllis!

From all the nominees we chose Talha Quereshi as the award winner!  

Talha's colleagues not only view him as a dedicated academic, but also as a supportive and engaging team member who enhances both professional collaboration and the overall workplace experience. In the words of his colleagues: “Your selflessness, enthusiasm and team spirit make you an exemplary colleague and a deserving candidate for this award”. 

Congratulations, Talha!

From all the nominees we chose dr. Igna Bonfrer as the award winner!  

Her award was handed out by two of her PhD candidates that nominiated her; Anandita Bardia and Fiorella Parra-Mujica. They spoke beautiful words on their appreciation for Igna's supervision. 
A short recap: “Igna Bonfrer takes a genuine interest in the people she supervises and offers encouragement and support during the ups and downs of the PhD journey. She is deeply committed to the professional and personal growth of her students.”

Congratulations, Igna!

From all the nominees we chose prof. dr. Job van Exel as the award winner!  EGSH thanks Job for offering such a wonderful course to our PhD candidates. The Q-methodology is not an easy approach, but his students said he makes it both accessible and fun!

The feedback from students all showed elements of a great course; good structure, empowering students to use a method by themselves, opportunity to ask questions, discussion of how a method is useful for your own PhD project, good atmosphere – these are all elements that we really like to see in our courses. 

And the fact that his course managed to combine all of them and led to an excellent evaluation by the students is the reason that he won our award for best lecturing performance. 

Congratulations, Job!

We received 13 submissions for our best thesis award. The submissions came from ESSB, ESHPM, ESHCC, ISS and DRIFT.  

The submitted theses covered widely different topics, such as cinema and music, mental health and wellbeing, political engagement, and public values. We were truly impressed by the quality of all the research that is presented in the theses. It was not easy at all to make a shortlist and to select a winner for this award.  

Eventually, however, by looking at multidisciplinary or multimethod excellence, and creativity and innovativeness, we made a shortlist of 6 theses:

• Veerle van Engen from ESHPM, who wrote the thesis with the title: ‘Towards value-based healthcare in hospitals: Dynamic between implementation strategy and healthcare professional.’ 
• Tessa de Geus from DRIFT, who wrote the thesis with the title: ‘Capturing change: Understanding and leveraging capture dialectics in energy for transition management tactics.’ 
• Kayla Green from ESSB, who wrote the thesis with the title: ‘Becoming and Thriving in a Changing World: socioeconomic, social, and neural determinants of wellbeing across adolescence and young adulthood.’ 
• Ulrike Hahn from ESHCC, who wrote the thesis with the title: ‘Imag(in)ing the Climate Crisis  The visual arts to the rescue?’ 
• Eline Linthorst from ESHPM, who wrote the thesis with the title: ‘Maatwerk, van de wet tot aan de keukentafel.’ 
• Chiara Carboni from ESHPM, who wrote the thesis with the title: ‘Broken glass in the clinic: Tracing the performativity of artificial intelligence in clinical practice’ 

All of these theses present more than excellent work. It proved difficult this year to pick the most excellent thesis. So, according to our assessment, we have two winning theses this year which are the ones written by:

Kayla Green and Ulrike Hahn! 

Ulrike's thesis:
Ulrike’s research examines how visual arts represent the climate crisis and whether they can help communicate this complex issue. It explores how artists discuss their climate-related art, how climate change is depicted in artworks, and how the media and audiences perceive them. Through four studies, including artist interviews, artwork analysis, media reviews, and a visitor case study, the research shows that visual arts play a key role in addressing the climate crisis. They balance activism with artistic expression while navigating challenges like audience reach and sustainability. The findings are valuable for researchers, artists, and cultural institutions working with climate-related art. 

Her dissertation presents original research that is both interdisciplinary and methodologically sound, with a well-grounded introduction. The use of a multimethod approach is particularly impressive. The work is creative and refreshing, with the added benefit of your personal engagement in the arts. A strong section on positionality adds depth, and the theoretical contribution is clearly articulated. This is a compelling and well-rounded piece of scholarship.

Kayla's thesis: 
Kayla’s dissertation explores how global challenges, like climate change, poverty, and the COVID-19 pandemic, affect the wellbeing of adolescents and young adults. It focuses on understanding the factors that influence youth wellbeing, including family dynamics and societal influences. The research examines the impact of the pandemic on mood and life satisfaction, how to measure wellbeing in young people, and the role of family in shaping wellbeing. Despite the challenges, youth show resilience, and the research highlights the importance of identifying risks and finding ways to support positive development. 

This is an impressive dissertation, characterized by its interdisciplinary approach and multi-method methodology. Comprising eight papers, it demonstrates significant research effort and contributes to a substantial body of work. The dissertation also addresses issues of great societal relevance, making it a highly impactful contribution to the field. 

Congratulations, Ulrike and Kayla!