Winners Bekader Thesis awards 2025-2026

Bekader Thesis Awards

In November, the annual Bekader Thesis Awards took place, an evening during which six talented graduates presented their thesis research to alumni, students, and other interested attendees. The academic level was high, and the presentations offered valuable insights with clear connections to practice.

After each presentation, there was room for sharp and substantive questions from the audience. This interaction added an extra layer of dynamism and made the evening not only educational but also particularly lively. The winners were determined based on a combined voting system: half of the result came from votes cast in advance (pre-votes) on the website, using short video pitches, and the other half from the votes of those present during the evening.

Within the Business Administration (BA) track, the competition was exceptionally close. The pre-votes resulted in exactly equal numbers of votes for all three candidates, meaning that the live presentations ultimately made the difference. The victory went to Milan te Velde, who presented his research with an original and accessible approach. He not only provided insight into his research, but also into how to make the graduation process itself interesting and successful.

The candidates in Industrial Engineering & Management (IEM) were also very close. After a strong series of presentations, Jeroen Assink emerged as the winner. With his research on staff scheduling at KLM, he managed to convince both academically and practically, and completed his graduation with the exceptional final grade of 10.

We warmly congratulate all finalists on their achievements and thank them for their inspiring contributions. We look back with great pleasure on this successful edition and are already looking forward to the next Bekader Thesis Awards.