On Friday 30 October 2015 for the fifth time in history the Tjeerd de Jong award was presented at Wageningen. Place of ceremony was the Zodiac building of the Wageningen university.
A large audience was gathered to enjoy the ceremony. Together with a large delegation from the side of the foundation, family members, friends and students attended the ceremony also. The jury this year consisted of three people. Chairman of the jury was Henk Bovenhuis acting on behalf of the university. On behalf of the foundation Herre Kingma and Eelco de Graaf took part in the jury deliberations.
Three nominees of the Tjeerd de Jongprijs originate from the group of students who followed the Research Master Cluster course held a pitch in which they presented their research project. In particular order the three nominees for the year 2015 were:
- Ruben Groot with his research project in which he wants te research the variability between fish species in their ability to digest chitin.
- Kikkie Poels with her research project in which she amongst other things wants to study how molecules like vitamin B3 influence metabolism and impact barrier function in colonic cells.
- Lieske van Eck with her research project in which she wants to study the empathy of pigs with the goal to gather information about the transfer of emotions between pigs.
After the nominees had answered questions by the audience, the three headed jury retreated for deliberation. It was expected it would take the jury a lot of time because how do you chose a winner from these three excellent candidates who all did an excellent pitch? In the end the jury declared a winner: Lieske van Eck could take home the Tjeerd de Jong award 2015. Herre Kingma handed out to her the cheque of 2,000 euro. Two second prizes were awarded. Ruben Groot and Kikkie Poels finished in joint second place and received a sum of 1,000 euro each. All three contestants received as a momento the foundation’s ‘cow’ cup and a bouquet of flowers.
The fifth edition of the Tjeerd de Jongprijs 2015 was a successful event. The event was made possible by effort of professors and co workers of the university, the jury, the audience, and the commitment of the students who participated with great dedication in the Research Master Cluster course. The board of the foundation therefore would like to thank everyone warmly for their contribution to the ceremony and wishes all the contestants success in their future careers.
