Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award

In honour of Krijn Rietveld (1956 – 2018), Leiden University Fund and Royal DSM have created the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award. This annual award was launched in 2020 and is organised to recognise and reward excellence in innovative research that contributes to a more sustainable world.

Award for the best thesis or dissertation

This prestigious award accompanies a cash prize of €10,000 and will be handed out annually for the best thesis (MSc), dissertation (PhD) or post-doc research from the Faculty of Science in the field of biosciences in combination with data sciences. The winner may use the cash prize freely but will be encouraged to use it to make the all-important connection between his or her scientific achievement and commercial success.

About Krijn Rietveld

Krijn Rietveld was a scientist and business leader who dedicated his life to biosciences. In 1985 Krijn received his PhD from Leiden University, after which he started his life-long career at Royal DSM. Always optimistic and with a great sense of humour, Krijn knew how to build bridges between business and the academic world. For Krijn, science and innovation were all about looking at the world we live in, studying the challenges we face and working together across disciplines to deliver innovative solutions that contribute to our planet and the people living on it. These behaviours and beliefs underpin the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award.