Alcmaeon could become frontrunner for Teacher of the Year prize

Every year, Utrecht University organises a party to honour education and teachers. The event includes workshops and lectures about the latest developments in education. Though its name has changed twice (from Education Master to Education Parade and now Education Festival), one thing remains the same: the election of the Teacher of the Year. In the year 2000, UU added another prize for young talent to the event. The Education Festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary on March 6.

Study associations are responsible for suggesting the nominees for both Teacher of the Year and Teaching Talent. They must compile a file for the panel of judges, showing why their candidate deserves to win. They must also explain this orally. After that, the judges select three finalists for each category and the winners are announced at the festival. Both the winning teachers and the study associations that nominated them get a cash prize. The prize for associations has increased to 1,000 euros this year.

Alcmaeon and UBV are in the lead
Over the past 29 years, Alcmaeon, the study association for Psychology, and UBV, the study association for Biology, have gotten the most prizes. Each of them has helped a teacher win six times.

Alcmaeon has three Teachers of the Year titles and three Teachers Talents. The last time they won these awards was in 2016 when they had a double whammy. That year, Marleen Rijkeboer was named Teacher of the Year and Haza Rahim was the Teacher Talent.

UBV has helped five teachers win the title of Teacher of the Year and one teacher be crowned Teacher Talent. The last time they won was in 2018 when microbiologist Margot Koster was named Teacher of the Year. The first time UBV won the prize was in 1998. They also won in 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

UBV's room has a display case containing the certificates of Teacher of the Year and Teacher Talent. Photo: DUB

UHSK and Mebiose in second place
The Biology and Psychology students are closely followed by the History students. UHSK nominated the Teacher of the Year three times and the Teacher Talent twice. Mebiose, the association of Biomedical Sciences, has also won five awards. Like UHSK, Mebiose has three Teachers of the Year and two Teacher Talents. Two associations share the third spot: JSVU, from Law, and Sams, from Medicine, each of which has won three awards.

Disclaimer
Alcmaeon could take the lead in the rankings this year. They could even score a double win, as they have a finalist in each category. UBV, Mebiose and UHSK have not been as successful this year. UAV, from Earth Sciences, could also score a double win, as they too have a norminee in each category.

Certain things should be taken into consideration regarding this ranking. First, not all study associations are as old as Alcmaeon and UBV. Some associations have been around for less time. Another thing to take into consideration is that programmes with fewer students have a smaller pool of teachers to choose from.

Education Festival 2025
The Education Festival will take place on March 6. The Teacher of the Year and the Teacher Talent will be announced at the end of the event. The three contenders for the Teacher of the Year award are Lennart de Groot (Earth Sciences, nominated by UAV), Daantje Meuwissen (Art History, nominated by Art) and Chris Paffen (Psychology, nominated by Alcmaeon). The nominees for Teaching Talent are Rabia Bacaksiz (Psychology, Alcmaeon), Vera Cup (Interdisciplinary Social Science, Versatile) and Alissa Kotowski (Earth Sciences, UAV).

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