WIPCAD Fellow Raffael Hanschmann recently won the Jan Brouwer thesis prize by the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen, KHMW) in the Netherlands. Beginning in 2015, the Jan Brouwer thesis prize, a 2,000 Euro endowment, is awarded for outstanding theses in the fields of philosophy and theology, linguistics and literary studies, history, jurisprudence, economics, social sciences, and humanities.
Raffael Hanschmann won the prize in the social sciences discipline for his thesis “The impact of the economic crisis on EU environmental policy-making – insights from discourse network analysis”, handed in at the Institute of Public Administration at Leiden University in 2014. The laudation for Mr. Hanschmann was held by jury member Prof. Dr. Aafke Komter (Erasmus University Rotterdam). In her speech, she stressed that the jury selected Mr. Hanschmann’s thesis unanimously due to the following five merits: First, a thorough literature review and an elaborate theoretical framework, allowing for meaningful analysis and interpretation; second, the original and high-quality dataset collected by Mr. Hanschmann, third, the methodological approach exemplified a smart combination of qualitative content analysis and quantitative structural analysis, fourth, an excellent command of the literature, expressed by an impressive ability to critically reflect on both theoretical and methodological discussions. Finally, the jury greatly appreciated the convincing writing style and the way the data were analysed and presented.
The award ceremony took place on 14 April 2015 at the historic Hodshon Huis in Haarlem, the residence of the KHMW. The event was opened by Alexander Rinnooy Kan, president of the KHMW. The awards were presented by Marlies Veldhuijzen van Zanten-Hyllner, Chairman of the Jan Brouwer Fund. Adriaan Pros, director of the KHMW and grandson of Jan Brouwer, held a personal and inspiring story about the donor of the prize. Founded in 1752, the KHMW is the oldest society of sciences in the Netherlands. Since its founding, the KHMW pursues the goal of promoting science and establishing ties between sciences and society. Today, the KHMW is under the patronage of King Willem-Alexander and, among manifold activities, manages several funds, such as the Jan Brouwer fund.
Jan Brouwer (1910 – 1983) came from a family of scholars: His father was an internationally-known geologist; his uncle, after whom he was named, a famous mathematician. At the age of 21 he studied mining engineering in Delft. After finishing his studies, Brouwer joined the Batavian Petroleum Company. He ended his active career as President of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in 1971. In the early 1980s, Brouwer donated a share of its assets for a fund for interdisciplinary scientific research in the Netherlands. Since 2003, the Jan Brouwer Fund is entrusted to the care of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences.
Raffael Hanschmann