Bauke van der Kooij

Bauke van der Kooij is currently following two Master’s programmes, one at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences (Population Studies) and one at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences (Sociology: Work and Employment Relationships). He was nominated for the prize by the coordinator of the degree programme in Population Studies in a very kind letter that aptly concluded: ‘I know Bauke as a social and sociable student, a good networker with original ideas, who is not afraid of speaking up and also gets high marks, and who, through the columns he writes, already has an influence in the social field early on in his career. I do not know a student who deserves to win the GUF-100 prize more than Bauke.’ This is obviously a wonderful recommendation! Before simultaneously starting his two Master’s degree programmes, Bauke completed a Bachelor’s programme in Sociology (average mark: 8.2) and the Honours College.

Bauke was and still is very active alongside his studies. Among other things, he worked as a student assistant for Gather Town (a virtual environment where students and lecturers can meet, which turned out to be particularly helpful during the coronavirus pandemic) and a student assessor at the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences), he served on the board of the KEI Foundation —organizing the introduction week for starting students—and the editorial board of Sociology Magazine, and he worked as a columnist for the Universiteitskrant. Although, as apparent from his CV, Bauke did some interesting research, in his fascinating pitch, he chose to explain the background of his rather exceptional study choices.