Sebastian Niessen best student of the year

Psychology student Sebastian Niessen (third from the right in the picture) is the best University of Groningen student of the year. He was elected from the nine winners of the GUF-100 prizes, which are awarded to the most outstanding student of each faculty. The winners were announced on Friday 1 July during the Summer Ceremony, the official close of the academic year.

From left to right in the picture: Esther Verhaag (Faculty of Medical Sciences), Sven Schmit (Faculty of Economics and Business), Tim van der Beek (Faculty of mathematics and Natural Sciences), Lieuwe Zijlstra (Faculty of Philosophy), Giacomo Orsini (Faculty of Arts), Sebastian Niessen (Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences), Iris Busschers (Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies), Berend Roorda (Faculty of Law). Myriam Hemsteede (Faculty of Spatial Sciences) is not in the photograph.

Sebastian Niessen

Sebastian Niessen (24) is German and studies Psychology at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. His annual average mark was 8.6 (8.8 excluding the propaedeutic phase). Alongside his studies he has demonstrated a wide range of interests, including in social projects, nature and the environment, and music. Over the course of his degree he has done volunteer work at various locations, for example in work camps in Spain for mentally impaired young adults and drug addicts, in Glasgow in a project aiming at the social integration of immigrants and socially disadvantaged children, and in Sicily as a ‘clown doctor’ for autistic children, orphans, socially disadvantaged children and immigrant children. He was also a member of the organizing committee of an international youth conference on biodiversity, he is actively involved in Friends of the Earth Netherlands, he composes music and conducts extensive research into musical movements in different cultures and eras.

GUF-100 prizes and Excellence Award

The GUF-100 prizes for outstanding students were first awarded in 1993 in honour of the 100th anniversary of the GUF. Until two years ago the prizes were only awarded once every five years, but in 2010 the GUF and the Board of the University have decided to award the prizes annually. The University of Groningen Excellence Award was initiated in 2009, in honour of the founding of the University of Groni006Egen Honours College. The winner of this award is chosen from the winners of the GUF-100 prizes.