FASoS students and staff succesfully awarded prizes at Dies Natalis

Thesis Prize

In the morning, the prizes for the best bachelor’s theses of 2016 were awarded.

The bachelor’s students wrote the following theses:

• Robin Jos Schormans (Bachelor Arts and Culture): Proving Einstein right: Making sense of scientific discovery before the fact. Supervisor: Dr. Mirko Reithler.
• Laura Dohmen (Bachelor European Studies): Influential in the crisis or a crisis of influence? The European Parliament’s legislative influence in the wake of the economic crisis. Supervisor: Dr. Paul Stephenson.

The master’s students who received top marks for their final thesis in 2016 were awarded with the Student Award 2016 during the academic ceremony in the afternoon.

The master’s students wrote the following theses:

• Denise Petzold (Master Cultures of Art, Science and Technology): (Im)Materiality in the museum: Shaping the lives of performance artworks through documentation. Supervisor: Dr. Peter Peters.
• Marie-Therese Heß (Master European Studies on Society, Science and Technology): Smart Grid: A smart solution: The adoption of the smart grid technology by the residential consumers in Germany. Supervisor: Dr. Jens Hanson, Hanne University of Oslo.

Dissertation Prize

Each year, Maastricht University awards a prize for the best dissertation defended in that calendar year, rotating between the inner city and the Randwyck faculties. The 2016 award was for the best inner city PhD defended in 2014 or 2015. Five dissertations were nominated by the faculty deans this year and the winner was Jess Bier with her dissertation titled, ‘Mapping Israel, mapping Palestine’. Dr Bier was part of the Department of Technology & Society Studies at FASoS, with her promoter being Prof Sally Wyatt and co-promoter Dr Bas van Heur.

Dr Bier examined how the segregated landscapes of Jerusalem and the West Bank influenced the way this region has been mapped since 1967. She studied how knowledge can change space and time, for example through urban planning and landscape management, and the development of international standards like time zones. According to the jury, this topic was researched in an entirely new and unique way. Much of her data was collected through extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Israel and Palestine. Dr Bier currently works as an assistant professor of Urban Sociology at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Wynand Wijnen Education Prize

The prestigious Wynand Wijnen Education Prize is awarded annually in commemoration of the late professor of Educational Theory, Wynand Wijnen. In addition to being the founder of Problem-Based Learning at Maastricht University, Wijnen was celebrated for his numerous achievements in educational reform. The winner of the Wynand Wijnen Education Prize 2016 is Dr Jeanette Hommes. Among the nominees was Elisavetta Radulova, which is considered a big honour.