Criteria and procedure Teacher awards

Student associations can recommend their teachers by sending in a portfolio. Per faculty, two teachers can be recommended, one for the Outstanding Teacher Award, and one for the Teacher Talent Award.

A teacher who won before, cannot be nominated.

The portfolio submitted by the student association portrays the recommended teacher from 3 perspectives: from that of the student, from the teacher him/herself and from his/her peers. The student association is responsible for assembling and submitting the portfolio. This portfolio consists of:

  • A detailed educational vision, written by the recommended teacher (max. 1 A4);
  • A short pitch and reasoned recommendation written by the student association, describing why this teacher is special (max. 2 A4);
  • Two letters of recommendation of fellow teachers, containing details of the way in which the teacher satisfies the criteria (max. 1 A4 per letter);
  • The cv of the teacher (max. 2 A4), outlining his/her educational career.

After an initial selection, the student associations of nominated candidates will be asked to provide a supplementary portfolio which contain at least two educational evaluations and material that characterise the nominated teacher (such as visuals, study guide, etc.).

The full procedure and criteria for 2025 can be found here (pdf). Want to send in a portfolio? Please use the format (pdf). If you have any specific questions for the English procedure, please email cat@uu.nl.

Deadline

The deadline for submitting recommendations is Friday 15 November, 12.00 noon. Recommendations can exclusively be submitted via email (cat@uu.nl). In the subject line, mention the name of the teacher, which category they are nominated for (Outstanding Teacher/Teacher Talent) and the name of the study association.

Jury

The jury is composed of teachers, including previous winners, and students of Utrecht University.

Members of the jury for the Teacher Awards 2024-2025 are:

  • Dr. Gery Nijenhuis, faculteit Geowetenschappen, (voorzitter) 
  • Dr. Alexei Karas, University College Roosevelt 
  • Dr. Serena Di Palma, faculteit Bètawetenschappen 
  • Prof. Dr. Niels Bovenschen, faculteit Geneeskunde 
  • Gerrit Verweij MSc, faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen 
  • Dr. Annemarie Spruijt, faculteit Diergeneeskunde 
  • Dr. Margot van den Berg, faculteit Geesteswetenschappen 
  • Dr. Sebastiaan Steenman, faculteit Recht, Economie, Bestuur en Organisatie 
  • Dr. Gerard van der Ree, University College Utrecht 
  • Emilie Kuiper, student-lid (faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen) 
  • Doortje Koldeweij, student-lid (University College Utrecht) 

More information

The Outstanding Teacher Awards are facilitated by the Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning. For more information, contact cat@uu.nl or call +31 30 253 6638.