Six contenders announced for UU Teacher Awards

"We all screamed when we heard," laughs Rosalie Lakenman, member of the board of the Psychology study association, Alcmaeon. "We still find it hard to believe that we got both of them shortlisted." Alcmaeon managed to get lecturers shortlisted for both categories of the annual Teacher Awards. UAV, the study association for Earth Sciences, did the same.

UU's Teacher Awards have two categories: the Teacher of the Year, for an outstanding teacher; and Teacher Talent, for lecturers who have joined the university recently. The candidates are nominated by student associations, which are then shortlisted by a panel of judges consisting of UU lecturers and students. This year, the study associations nominated 29 lecturers, 16 for Teacher of the Year and 13 for Teacher Talent. The panel of judges is led by Gery Nijenhuis, Education Director for Social Geography & Planning. The judges announced last week that three candidates were shortlisted for both awards (link accessible to those with a Solis ID only, Ed.).

Daphne and Rosalie from Alcmaeon. Photo: courtesy of the students

The finalists
The three contenders for the 2025 Teacher Awards are Lennart de Groot (Earth Sciences), Daantje Meuwissen (Art History) and Chris Paffen (Psychology). The lecturers shortlisted for the Teacher Talent award are Rabia Bacaksiz (Psychology), Vera Cup (Interdisciplinary Social Science) and Alissa Kotowski (Earth Sciences). The jury judged the nominations based on the lecturers' educational vision, their role within the programme and their interaction with students.

Fun
Psychology lecturers Chris Paffen and Rabia Bacaksiz already emerged as the programme's best lecturer and best teaching talent earlier this year, following a student vote, says Alcmaeon board member Daphne de Vries. Daphne and Rosalie were responsible for the successful nominations.

Now, the two students must put together a more comprehensive portfolio for the judges and defend their nominations. "It is so fun and instructive to go through such a process and to get to know teachers more closely,’ says Daphne.

A week to prepare
Thomas van Baare and Reina Schmitz, from UAV, also heard last week that both their nominations had been shortlisted. The two students had already ensured that Lennart de Groot and Alissa Kotowski won the Geosciences Teacher Awards.

"We could only hope that one of them would be shortlisted for the university-wide award," says Thomas. "But now they both stand a chance, which is great." Reina adds: "We also see this as a nice recognition of all the work we and the teachers have put into it." Once the two students come back from a ski trip with the entire study association, they will dedicate an entire week to preparing for the interview with the judges.

The two UAV students are likely to run into their "competitors" from Alcmaeon on the slopes. Both Alcmaeon and UAV have chosen Alpe d'Huez as the destination of this year's ski trip.

Thomas and Reina from UAV. Photo: courtesy of the students

The awards
The winners will be announced on March 6 at the Education Festival, which will be held in the Utrecht University Hall. The Teacher of the Year will get a trophy and a cash prize of 5,000 euros, while the winner of the Teacher Talent Award will receive 3,000 euros. The study associations that nominated the winners get 1,000 euros each. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Teacher Award. The Teacher Talent Award is five years younger. You can see an overview of all previous winners on the university's website.

These are not the only awards that will be unveiled at the Education Festival on March 6. The university will also reveal the winners of the Team Award for Education, a prize to recognise teams which have made exceptional contributions to education at UU. This award was introduced two years ago to promote cooperation at the university. Each faculty can nominate a team and the nominations are then evaluated by a panel of judges.

Three teams have been nominated for the 10,000-euro prize: The Veterinary Extramural Education Team prepares Master's students for their role as veterinarians. Thanks to a collaboration with veterinarians and experts from inside and outside the faculty, students gain more practical experience and a better understanding of a veterinarian's social role.

The second nominee is the Global Justice Investigations Lab, which teaches students how to fight disinformation. The team has contributed to projects from Free Press Unlimited projects, among others.

The last nominee is the School of Digital Art History, which carried out intensive research for a week last summer, while the ceiling vault of Grote Kerk in Naarden was restored.