Four researchers will receive this year’s highest scientific awards in the Netherlands: the Spinoza and Stevin Prizes. The researchers are being honoured for their outstanding, groundbreaking and inspiring work. The laureates will each receive 1.5 million euros for scientific research and activities related to knowledge utilisation.
The main criterion for both prizes is the quality of the researcher. The focus of the Spinoza Prize is on scientific work that addresses fundamental issues, while the Stevin Prize is primarily a recognition of the social impact of the research.
Laureates NWO Spinoza Prize
Professor Bernet Elzinga is professor of stress-related psychopathology at Leiden University. Drawing on insights and methods from a variety of disciplines, she develops low-threshold interventions that help parents and young people and also reduce the risk of intergenerational transmission of mental health problems.
Professor Detlef van Vuuren is professor at Utrecht University and senior researcher at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. His research, based on the IMAGE model developed by his team, provides scientists and policymakers with a tool for assessing the long-term effects of different climate and environmental policy options. His research has played an important role in the Paris Climate Agreement, for example, and has contributed to several reports by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Laureates NWO Stevin Prize
Professor David Abbink, professor of haptic human-robot interaction at the Delft University of Technology, studies ways to better adapt intelligent assistance systems to humans. Using a transdisciplinary approach, he maps the entire work environment into which robots need to fit. This significantly increases the success rate of this type of high-tech innovation. This is important because our ageing society urgently needs the support of robots.
Professor Paul 't Hart, professor of public administration at Utrecht University, has trained thousands of civil servants and advised hundreds of governments and public officials at the local, national and international levels. He has an impressive network and an excellent reputation at home and abroad as a researcher and policy advisor. ’t Hart is one of the most influential public administration scholars in the Netherlands and the initiator of a new movement: positive public administration.
Award ceremony
The Spinoza Prizes and Stevin Prizes will be presented at an award ceremony on Wednesday 2 October 2024. During the event, the Spinoza and Stevin laureates will elaborate on the substance of their research and explain how they intend to use the prize money.
