National Supervisor of the Year award

On Friday, May 29, the PhD Network Netherlands (PNN) presented the annual Supervisor of the Year award to Dr. Mónica López López, associate professor at the University of Groningen. PNN presents this award annually to recognize excellent supervision of PhD candidates. Prof. Bert Meijboom (Tilburg University) and Prof. Nathaniel Martin (Leiden University) were also nominated for the award, earning them an honorable mention as excellent supervisors.

Dr. López López impressed the jury with the versatility of her supervision. She helps her PhD students in all sorts of aspects: not only with successfully completing their PhD programs, but also in building a network and gaining relevant experience. She also pays close attention to work-life balance and closely monitors the mental well-being of her PhD students. At the same time, she is not only concerned with the well-being of her own PhD students but also advocates for PhD students in general and is a welcome speaker at local PhD events.

Dr. López López was honored to receive the award. She thanked her PhD students profusely: "If I'm a good supervisor, it's mainly because of their kind feedback and the many lessons about academic solidarity they teach me every day." (Translation: PNN).

The expert jury, consisting of Prof. Eric Eliel (Leiden University, co-creator of the Golden Rules of Supervision), Prof. Mike Jetten (University of Leiden and former SotY Award winner), Marishka Neekilappillai (PhD representative of Leiden University and co-creator of the Golden Rules of Supervision), and Lucille Mattijssen (chair of PNN), had the difficult task of selecting a winner. Mattijssen: "The quality of the supervisors submitted was very high. We had to deliberate for a long time to determine a winner, but we finally succeeded."

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Supervisor of the Year award ceremony took place online, featuring the nominees and their nominees. The ceremony can be viewed here.