Spotlight on academic talent: prizes for cancer research and best thesis
On a sunny Saturday, 15 nominees came to the Kamerlingh Onnes building to hear who had won the Schild-de Groen Research Prizes and the Leiden University Thesis Prizes. The stunning Lorentz Hall filled with family, friends, donors and thesis supervisors.
The Schild-de Groen Research Prizes were first awarded in 2024, which meant this was the third edition. Jaap Koster – who used to live in ’t Heerenhoeckje, a student house for members of the Minerva student association – once again awarded the prizes.
First prize went to Floor Ansing for her research into immune resistance in triple-negative breast cancer. She focused on the interaction between tumour cells and Natural Killer (NK) cells. ‘Being shortlisted for the Schild-de Groen Research Prize is such an honour, and I’m really grateful for the recognition. It makes me even more determined to keep working in cancer immunology.’
The winners of the second and third prizes (2x) – Annemieke Boeringa, Kawtar Mandil and Rachel Hoorntje – each went home with a certificate, a bunch of flowers and a cash prize.
| First prize | Floor Ansing
Uncovering Gene-Resistance Mechanisms to NK Cell Anti-Tumor Activity Using Candidate Gene Knockdown |
| Second prize | Annemieke Boeringa
T-Cell Receptors for the Hematopoietic-Restricted Minor Histocompatibility Antigen LB-IL10RA-1R |
| Third prize | Kawtar Mandil
The Impact of Concomitant Corticosteroid Use on the Survival of Stage IV NSCLC Patients Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors |
| Rachel Hoorntje Role of Cancer Associated Fibroblasts in Response to Chemotherapeutic Treatment in Esophageal Cancer |
Leiden University Thesis Prizes
This was the first time that the new President of the Executive Board, Luc Sels, awarded the Leiden University Thesis Prizes. He praised the nominees, ‘Your theses are all of an exceptionally high standard. You should be very proud of yourselves.’
After the honourable mentions, it was the moment of truth. Second and third prizes went to Xi Chen and Sergio Oñate Gimeno, proudly representing the Faculties of Science and Archaeology.
First prize went to Kaat Lageman. She explored whether different well-being profiles could be identified among participants in the Haagse Instapeconomie project. This project enables long-term welfare recipients to do community work for a small allowance without losing their benefits. The jury praised her thesis as ‘very well written and accessible’ and described her research as ‘extremely relevant, academically and, perhaps even more so, societally: a well-deserved first prize’.
| First prize |
Kaat Lageman (Public Administration: Economics & Governance, FGGA) |
| Second prize | Xi Chen (Data Science: Computer Science, Faculty of Science) Is Chain-of-Thought Faithfully Reasoning in Large Language Models? |
| Third prize | Sergio Oñate Gimeno (Archaeological Sciences (Osteoarchaeology), Faculty of Archaeology) Which Shoulder Bear the Burden? A Skeletal Analysis of Wooden Yokes, Milk Transport, and Gender Roles in Post-Medieval Middenbeemster |
The Leiden University Fund would like to congratulate the winners and nominees on this special achievement. On behalf of them and Leiden University, we would like to thank all donors to the Minerva Class of 1957/1961/1965/1973 Alumni Fund and the Schild-de Groen Fund.
See the photos of the ceremony in our online album.
Photos: Monique Shaw