‘Zilveren Zandloper’ for Dirk-Jan Scheffers

Professor of molecular microbiology and Programme Director of the Life Science and Technology bachelor Dirk-Jan Scheffers received the ‘Zilveren Zandloper’ last Tuesday October 4. Scheffers receives this prize in the 'education' category, for his efforts for the newly established Bachelor's degree programme in Life Science and Technology in 2020. The prize was awarded during the Netherlands Biotechnology Congress in Leiden.

Modern biotechnology is undergoing a rapid change. More knowledge and interdisciplinarity are needed to find solutions for current and future issues. To respond to this, the Faculty of Science and Engineering decided a few years ago to set up a new bachelor's degree programme in Life Science and Technology (LST). Scheffers is the director of this programme.

Scheffers and his team have worked hard to set up an attractive and new LST bachelor's curriculum from scratch, together with stakeholders from the core disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Pharmacy. This was successful, with 61 students at the start in 2020. According to the jury, “the English LST programme offers students a varied and in-depth integrative programme”. In addition, “each of the three majors connects seamlessly with a master's degree programme, so that students are excellently prepared to progress towards a doctoral research or professional career”. Scheffers (and team) are praised for their special commitment, vision on inter- and multidisciplinary education, management and organizational capacity.

“I see this award mainly as an appreciation for all the hard work that has been done in recent years by everyone involved in the LST programme. This would never have been possible without the work of the education team and all the teachers involved. At the same time, it is a great encouragement to keep improving this degree programme, which is still in its infancy.”

Zilveren Zandloper

The ‘Zilveren Zandloper’ is a prize for innovative biotechnological projects in the field of innovation and education. One year the prize is awarded to a project in the field of innovation and the next year to a project in the field of education. The prize consists of a statuette and a cash prize of EUR 2,500.