Eelco Glas new Florentino García Martínez Research Master Scholar

The Qumran Institute of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Groningen is delighted to announce that the second Florentino García Martínez Research Master Scholarship for excellent students has been awarded to Eelco Glas. Prof. Mladen Popovic presented him with the scholarship during the opening of the Academic Year in the Der Aa-kerk in Groningen on 3 September 2014.

The scholarship of € 1,000 is intended to cover some of the expenses of the two-year Research Master's Programme in Religion and Culture at the Faculty’s Graduate School. The scholarship is specifically for students in the fields of the Hebrew Bible, early Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scholarship is intended to support some of the best students in the pursuit of their career.

The Florentino García Martínez Scholarship has been generously made available by Mr Jan Overmeer, a great supporter of the research at the Faculty’s Qumran Institute and a board member of the University’s Ubbo Emmius Fund.

Eelco Glas

Eelco Glas (1991) gained his Bachelor’s degree in Theology at the University of Groningen this summer. When Eelco started his studies in Theology at our Faculty in 2011, he immediately stood out from his peers because of his bright questions, dedication and eagerness to learn.

In addition to his regular curriculum requirements, Eelco took on a lot of extra reading in the field of the Hebrew Bible and the religion, history and culture of ancient Israel. He also participated in archaeological excavations at Tell Abu Sarbut in Jordan, with affiliated researchers with our Faculty’s department of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Origins.

Florentino García Martínez

Florentino García Martínez was Director of the Qumran Institute at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies from 1992-2007. During this period he became a central figure in research on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Judaism. In 2004 he was elected Foreign Member by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2008 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. Florentino García Martínez has had an immeasurable influence on the development of the international study of the Dead Sea Scrolls into an independent academic discipline, and under his leadership the Qumran Institute became world famous. To honour his achievements in the field and for our Faculty, we have named the scholarship after him.

The call for applications for the Florentino García Martínez Scholarship for next year’s cohort in the Faculty’s Research Master in Religion and Culture will be published soon.