2020 University Education Awards for Simon Tans, Jojanneke Huck, and Robbert Rademakers
Simon Tans, lecturer of International and European Law, has been awarded the Radboud University 2020 University Education Award. Jojanneke Huck, lecturer of Physiology, and Robbert Rademakers, lecturer of Economic Theory and Policy, have been awarded the University Teaching Prize for Talent. The aim of the Executive Board is to reward and encourage excellent educational quality with these awards. They consist of a certificate and a sum of €3,000. Rector Magnificus Han van Krieken presented the awards during the Education Days.
2020 University Education Award
Dr Simon Tans, lecturer of International and European Law, Faculty of Law
Simon Tans is a committed, approachable, and inspiring lecturer with an infectious enthusiasm for his profession. He ensures there is a relaxed atmosphere during his lectures and interacts with his students to see if the material has “sunk in”. In his faculty, Simon Tans is involved with the supervision of students. Outside the faculty he is actively involved in the further development and innovation of university education.
Simon Tans is a forerunner in the development and innovation of education at the university. He provides colleagues with examples to inspire them to start implementing new ideas and innovations. In his own field, he is a driving force behind a successful ICT in Education experiment Atlas van het internationaal recht (atlas of international law). This is a digital education innovation based on his didactical conviction that learning is a combination of study, repetition, and application. As a result of its success, several colleagues have already adopted this concept. Tans also demonstrated his innovativeness and inspirational abilities during the coronavirus pandemic. In his search for a remote examination method that would not require proctoring he developed a new method that his colleagues dubbed the “Tans method”.
2020 University Education Award for talent
Dr Jojanneke Huck, lecturer of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences
Jojanneke Huck is an approachable, inspiring, and committed lecturer and colleague. She knows how to connect current affairs to her professional field in her teaching. In this way, she connects to the experiences of the students and guides them by first determining what knowledge the student has mastered and then builds on that.
She is continuously improving the education at her faculty through her enthusiasm and skills. In her teaching appointment she is developing new exercises for students that connect to current affairs and scientific knowledge. She is also involved in the development of new educational formats and in innovating the curriculum. In this, Jojanneke Huck clearly follows her vision on educational innovation: innovation arises from collaboration and in dialogue with students and colleagues. She retains what works well and, in addition to all her innovations, still regularly draws kidneys on the blackboard to support her explanation.
Robbert Rademakers, lecturer of Economic Theory and Policy, Nijmegen School of Management
Robbert Rademakers has also worked at Radboud University as a lecturer for the past few years. His vision on education is characterised by his personal approach. Using charisma and humour, he creates a safe learning environment for students to ask questions, regardless of whether there are 20 or 300 students present in his lecture. He positions his teaching in the larger context of the programme and always knows to provide an interesting example from current affairs to illustrate abstract models or theories. Using the latest scientific publications, he enthusiastically shows his students how science and practice come together.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Robbert has encouraged his students to continue to meet each other digitally when meeting in person was no longer possible. When there was a need for support, he offered students the option to approach him by Skype, and he invited his students for an online games evening. Particularly during the coronavirus pandemic he has ensured that the university community remained close to his students.