UvA Education Awards
For good education
With the annual Education Awards, four Education Ambassadors are being selected across four different categories: innovative, inclusive, activating and collaborative.
To share their experience and expertise beyond the classroom, this year the Education Ambassadors and their students were interviewed recently. The lecturers talk about their teaching methods, the effect this has on students, and provide practical tips for other lecturers and education professionals.
Watch the videos below and be inspired!
In the course Education and Inclusive Development, students and lecturers co-create the teaching from the outset. Associate Professor Mieke Lopes Cardozo and her colleagues invite students to help shape decisions about the content and design of the course. As a result, students are not only participants but also co-creators of the education.
The project Kruk, Koffie, Kop Houden receives the award for Innovative Education. Medical students brought a theater performance to the DeLaMar Theater, sharing their experiences as future doctors. The performance connects art, reflection, and care. It helps students combine personal and professional development.
Sebastian van der Voort receives the award for Inclusive Education. He teaches mathematics and programming and engages students with humor, structure, and empathy. His lessons are clear and accessible. He builds on his own experience with neurodiversity and believes in the potential of every student.
Jeroen Lemmens receives the education award in the category of Activating Education. Students praise his lectures on Entertainment Communication, in which he uses quizzes, films, and interactive teaching methods.
A notable feature is 'The Call': short videos where students make choices through simulated phone conversations. This approach increased engagement in a course with more than 600 students.
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Nomination period
The nomination period falls around May each year and lasts four weeks. This year, it ran from 28 April to 29 May 2026 inclusive.
During this period, all UvA students and employees can nominate an individual lecturer, subject, educational project or team for the UvA Education Awards.
For each nomination, you will be asked to explain why you are nominating this lecturer. This gives the jury a good understanding of how the lecturer creates a positive learning environment. Furthermore, your motivation will determine the category in which the lecturer will be placed. Your motivation also determines in which category the nominee will be placed. The categories are explained at the bottom of this page.
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Nomination process 2026
After the nomination period, a top 6 list will be compiled for each faculty for individual and team awards. The lecturers and teams from this top 6 will be invited to apply for the award. They do this by:
• providing a response to the nominations
• expressing their vision on education
• providing an example of their teaching
• For the team awards, a syllabus must also be submitted.The jury then assesses these submissions on the basis of pre-established assessment criteria.
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Jury
The candidates will be assessed by a jury. The jury is composed of committed UvA staff and students with expertise in higher education. There is a jury for the individual awards and a jury for the team awards (course, project, education team).
Read more about this year’s jury members here.
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Assessment criteria
Individual awards (lecturers)
The jury for individual awards will assess the candidates based on established criteria that are based on the educational vision. The jury will consider, among other things:
• Clarity of choices: Does the lecturer provide clear insight into the educational choices made?
• Educational vision: Does the lecturer demonstrate a compelling vision of education?
• Activating education: To what extent does the lecturer effectively use activating teaching methods? To what extent are students actively involved in the education process?
• Inclusive education: How accessible is education for students with different backgrounds and talents? To what extent does the lecturer ensure equal opportunities in their own teaching?Team awards (subject, project, education team)
The jury for the team awards assesses candidates based on established criteria that are based on the educational vision. The jury pays attention to, among other things:
• Clarity of choices: Does the team provide clear insight into the choices made and the underlying educational vision?
• Educational vision: Does the team demonstrate a convincing vision on education?
• Collaboration: To what extent does collaboration take place outside the subject itself (for example, with other disciplines or social partners)? To what extent does this collaboration contribute mutually to increasing knowledge and/or solving complex issues?
• Innovation: How innovative is the education offered? To what extent does this innovation have the potential to contribute to a strong learning environment?
The different categories help the jury to make careful decisions based on clear, predefined criteria. -
Award ceremony
The UvA Education Awards are presented annually during the UvA Education Day. This year, the event will take place on 29 October 2026.
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Previous awards
Recipients of the UvA Education Awards 2025:
- Student Activating Teaching: Dr Jeroen Lemmens
- Inclusive Teaching: Sebestian van der Voort
- Collaborative Teaching: course Education and Inclusive Development
- Innovative Teaching: projectteam Kruk, Koffie, Koppie houden
Recipients of the UvA Education Awards 2024:
- Student Activating Teaching: Dr. F. (Farid) Boussaid (finalist 'Lecturer of the Year 2025')
- Inclusive Teaching: Dr. G. (Giorgia) Romagnoli
- Collaborative Teaching: Computational Social Science (teaching team)
- Innovative Teaching: Science, Technology & Innovation: Biomimicry (minor)
Previous years, the UvA Lecturer of the Year were: Jan Aten (2022), David Bos (2021), René Smits (2020), Elio Baldi (2019), Frank Nack (2018), Antoinette Muntjewerff (2016-2017), Bas de Bruin (2015), Joris Marée (2014), Mieke Mulder (2013), Jan van Maarseveen (2012), Gerben Moerman (2011), Sander Bais (2010), Peter Starreveld (2009), Mathieu de Bakker (2008) and Maria Bonaria Urban (2007).
Until 2022, the UvA Lecturer of the Year award was organised. The format of this award was then discussed. This led to an evaluation resulting in a new format: UvA Education Awards.
Organisation
The UvA Education Awards 2026 are organized by a project group of Teaching & Learning Centre (TLC Central).