UU scientist wins Het Klokhuis Science Prize

The study “Hand in Hand Against Stress”, conducted by the Dutch Touch Society, has just won a prize from the children's TV show Het Klokhuis. Scientists from several Dutch universities and research institutions collaborate in this study.

Together, they developed a cuddly robot and tested it at Lowlands Festival. The participants were first shown a short, scary film. Then, the researchers measured whether they felt less stressed when holding another person's hand or a cuddly robot with an artificial heartbeat.

DUB recently interviewed Keizer about this research. She explained that this is an important topic for children and one that has been receiving increasing attention in recent years. "It's about questions like: How do you ask for consent? How do you give consent? How do you set your boundaries, and how do you respect those of others?" 

Record number
The Klokhuis Science Prize awards research projects that are relevant to children aged 9 to 12. This was its tenth edition. 

Ten studies were nominated from 118 entries — a record number of applications. The winner is chosen by children, who can vote on their favourite research through Het Klokhuis' website. A total of 9,328 votes were cast, of which 2,206 went to the winning study. 

The prize was presented by Het Klokhuis presenter Tirsa With at the InScience Film Festival in Nijmegen. The TV show will soon air a whole episode about the winning research project. This episode will premiere at the InScience Film Festival in March 2027.