In 2011 Foundation Gebroeders De Jong’s Leen existed 90 years. With respect to this anniversary the foundation initiated in cooperation with the Wageningen University the Tjeerd de Jong contest. This contest is named after Tjeerd de Jong, the survivor of the three De Jong brothers. The contest will be held anually from 2011 onwards in the autumn at the university.
Mr Tjeerd de Jong
The award explained
The Tjeerd de Jong contest is a contest in the field of research of Animal live stock and Economics and should encourage outstanding students Master of Science at the Wageningen UR for conducting or deepening special research projects or ideas.
Each year a maximum of three students will be nominated. These students are active in the field of Animal Science of the Wageningen UR and have reached the final stages of the masterclass Research Mastercluster. They write a proposal regarding a research project they are willing to carry out. The nominees compete each other with their research project and their proposal of implementing the project. The winner will receive a cash prize. All the nominees will also receive a souvenir.
There are flyers available with information about the foundation and the Tjeerd de Jong contest.
The Jury
The jury contains of four members. Two scientific members of the jury are professors or (head) teachers with a scientific background who are involved in the Animal Science Group of the university. Professor dr ir Johan van Arendonk is one of them. The other two members of the jury are members of the board of the foundation. These are Herre Kingma, chairman of the foundation and Eelco de Graaf, responsible for monitoring the study progress of the persons who receive grants.
The award ceremony
The prize is annually awarded in autumn at the Wageningen UR. The ceremony is open for people invited by the foundation and the university e.g. staff, students and family and friends of the nominees.
The award ceremony has a fixed protocol. After the introductory speeches the nominees take the floor. Each nominee will give a lecture of several minutes in which they describe their research plan. After each performance the guests and the jury may ask questions to the nominees. When all the questions are answered the jury retires for deliberation. The winner of the Tjeerd de Jong contest receives a cash prize of 2,000 euro. This prize is presented during the ceremony by a symbolic cheque. All nominees will receive a souvenir, a cup made of Makkumer pottery. After the official ceremony everyone has the opportunity to mingle and have a chat and a drink.
