The awards ceremony will take place during the Opening of the Academic Year 2025-2026 on 1 September, at the Vereeniging in Nijmegen. The winners of the Study Awards and summaries of the winning theses are:
These are the seven winners of the University Study Prize 2025
Seven (former) students of Radboud University can call themselves winners of the University Study Prize 2025. They receive this prize because they wrote a thesis of exceptional quality during the past academic year.
Thomas Vissers (Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies)
A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Viability of Superdeterminism
Ever since its conception, quantum mechanics has unleashed an intense philosophical debate about the theory’s interpretation. Figures the likes of Bohr and Einstein both accepted the validity of its predictions, yet came to radically different conclusions on what the theory’s results revealed about the fundamental structure of our world. While Bohr accepted quantum mechanics and its apparent randomness, lack of classical realism and ‘spooky action at a distance’ as a complete description of physical reality, Einstein held that quantum systems had definite physical properties determined by as-of-yet undiscovered hidden variables underlying the theory.
While seemingly at a philosophical stalemate, the physicist John Bell came to the realization that these worldviews actually predicted incompatible experimental outcomes. In 2022, the Nobel prize in physics was awarded to several researchers who showed that such experiments provided strong evidence against the view of Einstein. Yet, these experiments are based upon two assumptions: that no information can travel faster than light and that the properties of quantum objects and the measurement settings on one’s experimental device are statistically independent.
A minority of physicists and philosophers favoring hidden-variable models, have therefore opted to reject one of these assumptions. Superdeterminism is a class of such models rejecting statistical independence that recently gained some traction. Proponents such as Dutch physicist Gerard ‘t Hooft argue that it could solve many of the qualms one may have with predominant views of the quantum world. In concrete terms, however, statistical independence is the assumption that allows us to randomly subdivide a group in, for example, a control group and experimental group meant to test if smoking causes cancer, so that we do not put everyone with a genetic predisposition to the disease in one of the groups. Moreover, doing away with statistical independence would imply ubiquitous, often referred to as ‘conspiratorial’ correlations between properties of atoms one measures in a detector and any strategy one may use to pick the measurement settings, be it my choices or the digits of pi. Needless to say, the superdeterministic framework is not without controversy.
In my thesis, I attempted to comprehensively evaluate whether superdeterminism, including critiques thereof, hold up given a number of criteria from the philosophy of science. I conclude that, while it is not my personal cup of tea, it may just be here to stay as one of many contenders in the age-old but ever so exciting interpretation debate of quantum mechanics.
Wieke Metzlar (Faculty of Arts)
Maastricht’s Missing Girls. A research into patterns and determinants of excess mortality among girls, 1864-1930.
In both past and present societies certain groups of girls experience higher levels of mortality than boys, despite female’s pre-determined biological survival advantage. Theoretical explanations argue that excess female mortality is caused by (1) biological factors, like girls having less resistance to certain infectious diseases, (2) gendered roles, where females, caring for sick family members, were more exposed to infections, and (3) gender discrimination, such as an unequal allocation of food and health care. However, these explanations remain untested at the individual level, as the majority of research is conducted at the aggregated level.
My thesis focused on the historical excess female mortality in Maastricht between 1864 and 1930, using a database of all mortality certificates of the population of Maastricht, including the individual cause of death and other socio-economic information, such as their profession and address. This data allows to research someone’s death in relation to their socio-economic and demographic context. The results of my thesis showed that excess female mortality occurred in Maastricht among children between 1 and 15 years old. The pattern of excess female mortality continued to exist until 1930 in Maastricht, while at that point it had disappeared at the national level. Next, I examined the three groups of theoretical explanations to research which underlying factors contributed to this pattern of excess female mortality. An examination of the causes of death showed that girls died more often than boys from long-related infectious diseases, such as lung tuberculosis or pneumonia, and water- and food-related diseases, such as typhus. Girls had a higher exposure to these infectious diseases compared to boys, as they spent more time inside unhealthy houses while taking care of sick family members, potentially leading to severe infections. The research found no indication of unequal treatment between boys and girls, such as differences in vaccination or food allocation. Absence of one or both parents was a higher risk factor to girls compared to boys, as they potentially were given more responsibilities in the household in such situations. Differences in exposure and gendered roles, in stead of biological factors, seemed to be decisive in the higher mortality among girls in the researched period in Maastricht.
Annique Krieg (Faculty of Science)
Towards a correlated quantum simulator - Study of unexpected observations in dense Cs structures on InSb(110) and characterization of the potential substrate GaSb(110)
A goal in material physics is to find new materials with exotic properties, and to understand where these come from. For many of these materials, an exact theoretical description is not known. An example of such a class of materials are materials where electron-electron interactions play a major role. In my master thesis I’ve tried to investigate if it’s possible to simulate this. Not by using a computer, but by building structures of Cesium atoms on the surface of indium antimonide and gallium antimonide crystals. These structures were built and studied using a scanning-tunneling microscope. During this process, I have investigated several hypotheses, and it turned out that electron-electron interactions could be present in these structures. However, also interactions with the substrate could play a significant role. The presence of these phenomena shows that it may be possible to use this platform to gain more insight in the role of electron-electron interactions in materials.
Otis Tromp (Faculty of Law)
Steward ownership in the Netherlands. About the necessity of a specific legal form for Dutch steward owned companies
Steward ownership is a new governance model that is becoming increasingly popular among Dutch entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs who have implemented the steward ownership model do not primarily pursue profit maximization. They primarily pursue the achievement of a mission. To do that, these entrepreneurs implement two principles: ‘self-governance’ and ‘profit serves the mission’. Self-governance means that control normally held by profit-oriented shareholders is now in the hands of mission-oriented stewards. Stewards, for example, are employees of the company. ‘Profit serves the mission’ means that the company spends (a large part of) its profits on its mission. Steward ownership doesn't impose requirements on the content of the mission.
In 2024, the Dutch House of Representatives ('Tweede Kamer') passed a motion on steward ownership. In that motion, the House of Representatives called for research into a legal regulation for a new legal form for steward owned companies. In this thesis, Otis therefore examines the legal meaning of steward ownership and the necessity of a new legal form. In doing so, he focuses on the existing legal form of the limited liability company because most steward owned companies are currently still limited liability companies. Using an analysis of articles of association of twenty steward owned companies, he presents a legal overview of steward ownership in Dutch practice. That analysis shows that current law contains a number of constraints. These constraints complicate the implementation of the two principles of steward ownership. However, Otis shows that these constraints are not insurmountable within the current law. Therefore, he concludes that a new legal form is not necessary.
Esmée Mooren (Faculty of Social Sciences)
“They have made me prouder”: A generational perspective on the collective histories and future of lesbian representation
How have lesbian women in media, like on television and in film, but also on social media, changed? And what impact does this have on lesbian women themselves? For my thesis, I tried to discover this by interviewing 14 lesbian women of all different ages. The youngest was 16, the oldest 91 years old. All generations were interviewed, from baby boomers to generation Z. What does representation mean to them? How important was it for them as a teenager who fell in love with a woman for the first time? We know that the past few decennia a lot has changed in terms of representation. It has increased in frequency as well as a more positive portrayal. How do old women view this change, seeing that they might have missed it in their past? Do young lesbian women really have it easier, because they have had increasingly more positive role models? And who are the most important lesbian women in media according to them? I have tried to answer all these questions by conducting in depth interviews. The results? Representation plays a huge role in the lives of these women, both positively and negatively. They need representation the most when they are experiencing a difficult time, for example when they were insecure and still in the closet. Both young and older lesbian women enjoy that representation has become more frequent and more positive. It also plays a big role in the sharing of their histories: the women from now stand on the shoulders of the elderly women and that is something that should be discussed more frequently in our contemporary lesbian community.
Jesper Pillen (Nijmegen School of Management)
Harvesting Value: “Unveiling Supplier Strategies to Inward Sourcing in the Socio-Economic Landscape of Sub-Saharan Africa”
In today’s global economy, international production chains have become increasingly fragmented. This offers firms and farmers from emerging economies, such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa, greater opportunities to participate in these networks. While this expansion has positive effects on the economy, exports, and employment, not all participants benefit equally. Many African firms remain stuck in simple, low-value activities, leaving them trapped in a dependent position within the chain.
My research focuses on how these firms can nonetheless progress towards activities with higher added value, enabling them to become more autonomous and profitable. To explore this, I conducted a case study of a Tanzanian company engaged in cashew nut processing. The findings reveal that the company succeeded in upgrading within the chain by targeting international market opportunities, fostering strong local collaborations, and effectively responding to the local context. Despite operating within a weak institutional environment, the company managed to evolve from a dependent actor into a pioneer within the production chain. This demonstrates that strategic decision-making and strong local embeddedness can be essential for fostering sustainable growth in challenging environments — allowing firms in Sub-Saharan Africa to move beyond captive participation and position themselves as trailblazers in value chain upgrading.
Lisa Verhoeven (Faculty of Medical Sciences)
Enhanced Nuclear Factor Kappa-B Signaling Drives Liver Colonization by Mutant Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Cells
There are various subtypes of breast cancer, of which the ER+/HER2- subtype comprises the vast majority (~75% of the cases). Patients with this subtype of breast cancer initially receive treatments that kill the cancer cells. Despite initially favorable results, the majority of patients develops resistance to these treatments, meaning that the cancer cells to become irresponsive and the treatment loses its effect. Usually, therapy-resistance is caused by mutations in the cancer cells. The appearance of these resistant, mutated cancer cells is often accompanied by metastasis to other organs. Interestingly, mutated breast cancer cells specifically metastasize to the liver, suggesting that these cells have a preference to metastasize there. Until recently, our understanding of the processes underlying this preference was very limited and insufficient to adequately treat these aggressive metastases. To address this knowledge-gap, we combined in vitro experiments with preclinical mouse models.
To our knowledge, we are the first to experimentally confirm that mutated ER+/HER2- breast cancer cells preferentially metastasize to the liver. We showed that this metastatic preference is caused by an increased pro-inflammatory signal within the cancer cells that is specific for the mutated cancer cells, and does not occur in the non-mutated cancer cells – which explains why the liver metastatic preference is specific to mutated breast cancer cells. Moreover, we found that the liver metastatic burden can be decreased by silencing a specific type of immune cell that turns off inflammatory processes.
Taken together, these findings open up novel avenues for therapeutic interventions aimed at preventing liver metastasis in patients with ER+/HER2- breast cancer that receive standard-of-care treatments.
Attending the award ceremony
The award ceremony will take place on Monday 1 September during the Opening of the Academic Year at De Vereeniging concert hall in Nijmegen. You will receive a personal invitation by email.