Gerda Van Woudenberg
The Van Woudenberg Dissertation Prize is awarded once every 2 years by the Friends of the KNIR. This biennial prize is named after Gerda van Woudenberg, translator and teacher of Dutch Language and Literature at the University of Rome La Sapienza. On her death, she left a considerable amount of money to the Friends of the KNIR. The prize is paid from the proceeds of this bequest.
The Van Woudenberg Dissertation Prize is awarded to a researcher who recently obtained his or her doctorate and who has used a stay at the KNIR in an inspiring way for his or her PhD research. The prize consists of a cash prize of €3,000, of which €1,000 is free to spend. The remainder of the amount ( €2,000) is intended for the organization of a workshop at the KNIR, either on the topic of the dissertation or on follow-up research; all this, of course, in consultation with the KNIR staff members.
Requirements
• Candidates for the Van Woudenberg Dissertation Prize have completed and successfully defended a dissertation on a subject within Italian studies in the broadest sense of the word and no later than two years before the deadline of the prize. This may involve original historical research, special archaeological fieldwork or original art-historical material study – but these are only examples. The prize is not tied to a specific discipline and the research achievement may have been delivered in any field.
• The candidate stayed at the KNIR for their study.
Procedure
The most recent Dissertation Prize has been awarded in 2024. The next deadline and information on how to apply will be published here, announced in our monthly newsletter, and circulated via the Friends of the KNIR.
Previous Laureates
2024 Dr. Niels Graaf, Judicial Influencers: Scholarly Use of Foreign Law and the Convergence of German, Italian and French Ideas on the Position of National Constitutional Courts in the EU Legal Context (Universiteit Utrecht, 2022)
2022 Dr. Anna-Luna Post, ‘Claiming Fame for Galileo: Reputation and Scholarly Credibility in Early Modern Italy’ (Universiteit Utrecht, 2020).
2020 Dr. Dina Titan, ‘The origins of instrumental diminution in Renaissance Venice: Ganassi’s Fontegara’ (Universiteit Utrecht, 2019).
2018 Dr. Anne Huijbers, ‘Zealots for Souls. Dominican Narratives of Self-Understanding during Observant Reforms, c. 1388–1517’ (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 2017).
2016 Dr. Eva Mol, ‘Egypt in material and mind. The use and perception of Aegyptiaca in Roman domestic contexts of Pompeii’ (Universiteit Leiden, 2015).
2014 Dr. Han Lamers, ‘Reinventing the Ancient Greeks: The self-representation of Byzantine scholars in Renaissance Italy’ (Universiteit Leiden, 2013).