And the winners of the 2023 EGSH PhD Excellence Awards are...

In between award presentations, Miranda Lutz held an interesting talk about the hot topic of reward and recognition, but from the PhD candidate's perspective.

Also the EGSH PhD council were invited to speak at the event and took the opportunity to introduce the current members of the 2023-2024 council and to present the status of their project for the development of the Golden rules for supervision. For this item, the audience was invited tot take part in a short Mentimeter. At the end, they mentioned that they are looking for PhD candidates from ESPhil 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. 

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 2023!:

And the award for Best article 2023 went to Lise Zurné and Hager Hussein!

First, the article by Lise offers a unique reflection on the historical representation of gender. Applying a combination of anthropological techniques, she studied how women in so-called enactment groups and on their Instagram pages employed diverse strategies to perform femininity in WWII. In our view, Lise’s study deserves an award for both the intriguing topic and the use of creative methodology.

The award also goes to Hager, whose paper offers a multi-method reflection, using the innovative Q-methodology, to understand the needs of a traditionally hard-to-reach group, which are older people with a migrant background. Hager
specifically focused on older people of Moroccan descent, and she investigated how they felt about the importance of particular resources in their neighbourhood, such as social networks, shops, and public transportation.

Congratulations, Lise and Hager!

The award for Best Societal Impact 2023 went to Tim van Meurs! 

Tim, with his thesis' No Appetite for Meddling: The role of anti-institutionalism in educational differences in the receptivity to nutrition interventions' has gained a lot of national and international media attention, both mainstream media but also from more practice-oriented media. Also, it has been picked up by important institutions in health: Het Voedingscentrum, the RIVM, and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport have reached out to Tim to improve their own health interventions. His thesis is also used more widely to improve the way health-promotion professionals deal with citizens who do not share their cultural background. For example in a study program for general practitioners and in a master's program on healthy behaviors and lifestyles. It is even one of the core readings for new employees of a large consultancy agency focusing on sustainable and healthy living.

Congratulations, Tim!

The award for Best Poster 2023 went to Ho Ying Chuck!
After evaluating all the submissions for this award, we felt Ying’s poster stood out for several reasons. First of all, her poster clearly communicates what her study is about without using too much text, and thus sticks to the principle
of “show don’t tell”. The poster also combines nice and lively colors in a balanced way, making it look really professional. And lastly, unlike some other posters, Ying's poster had no typos or inconsistencies in the language or visuals.

Congratulations, Ying!

The award for Best PhD Colleague 2023 went to Annalisa Costella!
Annalisa has been nominated 10 (!) times! Her colleagues admire her for her efforts to tighten the PhD community at ESPhil by organising social events, workshops and reading groups, sharing interesting information with her peers and her support to others by proofreading, listening, giving substantial, critical but constructive feedback, her interest in others, but also sharing her own struggles. She is simply considered an amazing colleague!

Thank you, Annalisa!

All nominated supervisors, your PhD candidates told us that they bring time, effort, and enthusiasm to the table; they say they create a warm and supportive environment for them; they recognise that they help them with their extensive networks; and, very importantly, they deeply appreciate how they support them in times of personal hardship and give them time to recover.

The award for Best PhD Supervisor 2023 went to Conrad Heilmann!
Conrad Heilmann is an associate professor of philosophy at the Erasmus School of Philosophy, a co-director of the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics (EIPE), and a member of the core team of the Erasmus Initiative "Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity". He was nominated six times and praised for his warm, relatable, empathic and supportive manner. Also, the PhD candidates perceive that he is very good at giving positive but also constructive feedback. Lastly, he is encouraging and enthusiastic on a professional and personal level! 

Thank you, Conrad! (Conrad was not present and one of his PhD candidates, Ruth Korte accepted the award on his behalf.)

The award for Best EGSH Teacher 2023 went to Jan Pieter Weening!

The students feel that Jan Pieter creates a nice atmosphere during the course. They appreciate that he gives them space to discuss their individual allowing them challenges to reflect on their PhD trajectories. They say he supply them with the necessary skills and resources to address a wide variety of potential challenges in their career trajectories.  

Thank you, Jan Pieter!

The award for Best EGSH Thesis 2023 went to Vivian Visser!

Vivian produced an intriguing dissertation about the idea of “invitational governance”. This type of governance focuses on how the government can help ordinary citizens by initiating and organizing projects that contribute to
tackling societal problems. This idea has become an important and widely discussed theme among politicians, policymakers and professionals, which indicates the timely and relevant nature of Vivian’s research. There are still many questions about this invitational governance. How exactly do governments invite citizens to participate in invitational governance, and which citizens respond to such calls? To answer these questions, Vivian developed an interdisciplinary approach with insights from public administration and sociology, and she employed a range of social science research methods, including document analysis, in-depth interviews, and a vignette survey experiment.

Congratulations Vivian!