Ben Feringa Impact Award awarded to Michelle Bruijn and to a student team from the Faculty of Arts

This year, Michelle Bruijn won the Ben Feringa Impact Award of the University of Groningen. Bruijn, assistant professor at the Faculty of Law, won the award in the category for researchers for her research project entitled ‘The Administrative War on Drugs’. In the category for students, the award was given to a student team of the Faculty of Arts for their research project entitled ‘Cultural Engagement of Young Adults in Het Hogeland’.

The Ben Feringa Impact Award was set up in 2020 to reward research projects with a demonstrable social impact. This year, the Award was presented by jury chair and Commissioner of the King of the Province of Drenthe, Jetta Klijnsma.

The Administrative War of Drugs

As part of her research project entitled ‘The Administrative War on Drugs’, Bruijn studies combating drug-related crime from a civil law perspective in an innovative manner. This is a highly relevant topic, in which she collaborates with partners from the field. The jury was impressed by the way in which she developed a practical tool which is already being used in workshops and training courses in the field.

Michelle Bruijn was awarded a cheque in the amount of €5,000, which she may use towards further knowledge building. The ‘Language awareness in Dutch classes’ project conducted by Jeroen Steenbakkers, PhD student at the Faculty of Arts, received an honourable mention.

* Also read our interview with Michelle Bruijn, 'The mayor should not be a sheriff'

Cultural Engagement of Young Adults in Het Hogeland

In the category for students, the award was given to students Ydwer Hoekstra, Stefan Ivanov, Roos Gielen, and Joren Arkes of the Faculty of Arts. In their research project entitled ‘Cultural Engagement of Young Adults in Het Hogeland’, commissioned by the municipality of Het Hogeland, the students explored the cultural engagement of young adults in the municipality. The jury was impressed by the practical impact of the project, including the mind shift that the research triggered in the organizations involved and the newly established Cultural Youth Network. The students are supervised by Sjamila Boulil, lecturer, and Saskia Visser, staff member of the Science Shop, and they received a cheque in the amount of €2,500, to be spent at their discretion. The prize was contributed in part by the Ubbo Emmius Fonds.

The research project entitled ‘Integration Despite Isolation’ conducted by Eline Heikamp, student at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, received an honourable mention.