The Opening of the Academic Year took place on Monday 31 August, from 2.00 pm until approximately 3.15 pm, at De Vereeniging theatre. The programme centred on the theme ‘Connecting’.
The Opening of the Academic Year featured speeches, award ceremonies and a range of cultural contributions, including performances by former campus poet Jet Sterkman and new campus poet Koen de Vries, musical performances by Sebastiaan Bijlsma and student orchestra Collegium Musicum Carolinum, and a dance performance by Julia and Hamiro from the Beatwise Foundation.
During the Opening of the Academic Year, José Sanders gave a speech centred on the theme ‘Connecting’.
Seven recent graduates received a University Study Prize. This annual prize is presented to students who have written a graduation thesis of exceptional quality. The winners are Mila Burger, Auke van Meer, Kiki Nabers, Sophie van den Broek, Lotte de Groot, Emma van Heeswijk and Eline Senders.
At the University Education Awards ceremony, the senior prize went to Gabriela Contreras, Associate Professor of Business Economics at the Faculty of Management Sciences. The talent prize went to Justine Bakker, programme coordinator for Comparative Religion at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies.
Both winners received a certificate and €3,000 in prize money. Two-thirds of the €3,000 prize money is intended to be used to improve education, while the remaining third may be spent at their own discretion.
This year, the Executive Board presented the Radboud Team Science Award for the fifth time. There were two winning teams: FAIR Data Stewards (Radboud university medical center) and the Center for the History of Philosophy and Science (Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies).
The FAIR Data Stewards team brings together the principles of team science and open science and applies the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). In doing so, the team aims to accelerate scientific discoveries, improve understanding of rare diseases, shorten the diagnostic process for patients, facilitate the sharing and reuse of data, and help reduce the costs associated with fragmented data.
The other winning team, the Center for the History of Philosophy and Science (CHPS), is a research unit that combines the history of philosophy with the history of science. The team, which now comprises around 25 researchers, focuses on the development of what is known as natural philosophy, from Antiquity through to the early modern period, and the subsequent emergence of the modern natural sciences. A key aspect of its research is the development and dissemination of scientific ideas within institutional, political and religious contexts.
Both teams received €5,000, which they can use to further strengthen team spirit.
News article Team Science Award 2026