Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award
The Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award is annually awarded by the Dutch Physics Council. The award recognizes an outstanding PhD thesis in the field of physics, defended at a Dutch university in the previous year. The prize is open to nominations in any subfield of physics, and for theoretical as well as experimental work. The winner receives € 5,000 and is invited to present his/her research at the national NWO Physics conference in Veldhoven in January 2026. The Dutch Physics Council invites nominations for the 2025 Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award. For the 2025 prize the PhD degree must have been awarded in the period 1 September 2024 – 1 September 2025. Nominations are to be submitted electronically according to the Rules and instructions. The letter by the advisor should explicitly address the four assessment criteria. The submission deadline is 1 October 2025.
The jury for the 2025 Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award includes:
- Beatriz Noheda (RUG)
- Gerard Meijer (Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft)
- Gijsje Koenderink (TUD)
- Gloria Platero (Materials Science Institute of Madrid, at the CSIC)
- Roel Dullens (RU)
- Stan Bentvelsen (Nikhef, UvA)
Winners Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award
| Year | Winners | Honourable mention |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kevin Peters (AMOLF) | – |
| 2024 | Xiaofei Guo (UvA) | Rui Yang (UT) and Lukas Veldman (TUD) |
| 2023 | Jesse Slim (AMOLF/TU/e) | Vincent Debets (TU/e) |
| 2022 | Carmem Maia Gilardoni (RUG) | Andrea Cordaro (AMOLF) and Brian Moser (Nikhef) |
| 2021 | Anne Meeussen (AMOLF/LEI) | Guoji Zheng (QuTech/TUD), Melissa van Beekveld (RU/Nikhef) and Nico Hendrickx (QuTech/TUD) |
| 2020 | Koen Bastiaans (LEI) | Mario Avellaneda (AMOLF), Jorinde van de Vis (Nikhef) and Andreas Wallucks (TUD) |
Who were Ehrenfest and Afanassjewa?
Paul Ehrenfest (1880-1933) contributed to the foundations of quantum physics and was an inspiring teacher and mentor of a string of outstanding PhD students at Leiden University. Tatiana Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa (1876-1964), Paul’s companion in life and in science, contributed to the foundations of statistical physics. Together they made their home a place where students were encouraged to boldly explore new ideas.
Paul & Tatiana Ehrenfest. Credits: Martin J. Klein