These are the nominees for the 2026 Teacher Awards

The contenders for the title of Teacher of the Year 2026 are the geologist João Trabucho Alexandre, the linguist Marijke de Belder and the communication scientist Karin Fikkers. Utrecht University announced the nominees for its Teacher Awards on Thursday. The panel of judges is chaired by the social geographer Gery Nijenhuis.

This is the 31st edition of the awards, which aim to recognise teachers who inspire and motivate students. Candidates must have a clear educational vision and interact positively with students. By handing out these awards, Utrecht University hopes to emphasise the importance of education. The 2026 winners will be revealed on 5 March at the Education Festival. The annual event will be held in the Utrecht University Hall.

The panel of judges also unveiled the nominees for the Teacher Talent Award, which is given to outstanding lecturers with less than five years of teaching experience. The nominees are AI scientist Jeroen Ooge, educational scientist Kim Borsen and historian Mette Bruinsma.

Dossier
To become a nominee for one of the two categories of the Teacher Awards, a lecturer must first be recommended by a study association. The associations prepare a dossier with information from students, the lecturers themselves, and the lecturers' colleagues. 

This year, six associations saw their recommended teachers get nominated. The two study associations that have historically nominated the most winners (Alcmaeon, from Psychology, and UBV, from Biology) are not among them.

The candidates for the 2026 Teacher Awards were nominated by U.A.V. (Earth Sciences), Awater (Dutch) and SV Contact (Communication & Information Sciences), respectively. As for the nominees for the Teacher Talent Award, they were nominated by Sticky (Computer Science and Information Science), SV Vocus (Educational Sciences) and UHSK (History).

Over the next couple of months, these six associations will have to provide the jury with additional information to strengthen their case. They will also have to defend their candidates with a presentation. 

In total, study associations have submitted 33 recommendations to the jury. Seventeen of those were for the Teacher of the Year Award and sixteen for the Teaching Talent Award.

The nominee João Trabucho Alexandre (centre) with two members of the U.A.V. study association, Lucas van Dortmont, and Kira Bielderman. Photo: courtesy of the depicted

Earth scientists delighted
U.A.V. couldn't have been happier, says its secretary, Lucas van Dortmont. The news of João Trabucho's nomination came a day after the study association celebrated its 80th anniversary. "I was truly euphoric when I read the email."

Lucas was responsible for the nomination, alongside Education Commissioner Kira Bielderman. When DUB spoke with the study association on Thursday morning, the news was still fresh, and they hadn't had a chance to talk to the lecturer yet. They were eager to do so. "We have put a lot of time into this, as did João, and we are all very excited. Now, we're going to do everything we can to win."

If they do, that will be U.A.V's second win in a row: Lennart de Groot, who was also indicated by the association, was named Teacher of the Year in 2025. The association even scored a double victory, as the teacher they had indicated for the Teacher Talent Award, Alissa Kotowski, ended up winning the award as well. 

The study associations also get prize money if "their" teacher wins. Last year's double win made for a great end-of-year barbecue on the Oog in Al beach. If it wins again, U.A.V. intends to use the money to celebrate its anniversary in style, with additional activities. "A lot of members are involved, which is really nice," says Lucas.

Prize money
The Teacher of the Year wins 5,000 euros and a trophy, while the winner of the Teacher Talent Award receives 3,000 euros. All non-winning teachers get a cash prize of 1,000 euros, the same amount awarded to the study associations that recommended the winning teachers. They get 1,000 euros each. The associations that recommended the other nominees each get 500 euros.