UU awards student combatting polarisation regarding conflict in Gaza

Noa, a Jewish student at UU, joined forces with another Jewish student and two Muslim students to show that respectful conversations about the conflict in Gaza are possible despite Hamas' terrorist attacks and Israel's brutal response. Only Noa studies at UU, the others are from other universities. 

The initiative was launched on Humberto Tan's TV show, followed by gatherings in educational institutions and companies. The four students went to the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and the Dutch public broadcaster NOS, for example.

The jury describes Noa as a "role model for us all". Her laudation says: "Her work reminds us that we can always choose understanding and collaboration, regardless of the complexity and difficulty of the challenges before us."

In a video alongside the other nominees, Noa states: "When we talk to each other, we discover more things in common than we initially assume. This enables us to create more solidarity and connection in Dutch society." 

The other nominee for the Social Impact prize was the Biology student Kjeld Werther, who has worked to protect the oceans in many different ways.

Noa Duizend wordt geïnterviewd door vice-voorzitter Margot van der Starre, foto DUB

De jury  vindt Noa “een rolmodel voor ons allemaal”. “Haar werk herinnert ons eraan dat we, ongeacht de complexiteit en de moeilijkheid van de uitdagingen waarmee we worden geconfronteerd, altijd kunnen kiezen voor samenwerking en begrip”, zo staat in een laudatio te lezen. 

Zelf zegt Noa in een video met de twee genomineerden die voorafgaand aan de prijsuitreiking werd getoond: “Door met elkaar in gesprek te gaan, ontdek je meer overeenkomsten dan je in eerste instantie denkt. Hierdoor kunnen we meer saamhorigheid en verbinding creëren in de Nederlandse samenleving.”

De andere genomineerde was biologiestudent Kjeld Werther. Hij zet zich op verschillende manieren in voor de bescherming van de oceanen.

Bilyana Manolova, winner of the Best Master's Thesis Award. Image taken from the livestream of the ceremony. 

Spectacular insights
Bilyna Manolova was visibly surprised to win the Best Master's Thesis Award. She is a Master's student in Comparative Literary Studies and researched autobiographical texts and life stories from Bulgaria, Russia, and Ukraine. These texts reveal that the transition from socialism to capitalism deeply influenced society and individuals. The jury describes Bilyna's thesis' perspective as "spectacularly new". 

In the jury's view, her thesis contributes to a better understanding of the consequences such drastic changes had in the countries analysed. Manolova got a 9.0 for her thesis. Thanks to financing from the Dutch Research Council, she will now expand this research as a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam.

Three students were nominated for the Best Master's Thesis prize. They too were introduced in a video shown at Dom Church. The other nominees were the Medicine graduate Femke Lenderink and Marien Raat, a graduate of Computing Science and History & Philosophy of Science. The latter received the Vliegenthart Thesis Prize from the Utrecht University Fund for his research into the limits of computers' computing capacity. This prize was also awarded this Monday.

The winners of the two student prizes will each receive a certificate and a cash prize of 1,500 euros.

Marien Raat krijgt de Vliegenhart Scriptieprijs, foto DUB

Er waren drie genomineerden voor de prijs voor de beste masterscriptie. Ook zij werden in de Domkerk in  een video gepresenteerd. Geneeskunde-alumnus Femke Lenderink en alumnus Computing Science en History & Philosophy of Science Marien Raat maakten eveneens kans op de prijs. Laatgenoemde ontving voor zijn onderzoek naar de grenzen van de rekencapaciteit van computers wel de Vliegenthart Scriptieprijs van het Utrechts Universiteitsfonds. Ook deze prijs werd maandag uitgereikt.

De winnaars van de twee studentenprijzen krijgen elk een oorkonde en een geldbedrag van 1500 euro.