Witteveen+Bos Thesis Prize 2024: Circular Design

We will be back in an expanded form in 2024 with the Witteveen+Bos Thesis Prize. Indeed, the prize has as many as two award winners in the upcoming edition. The best thesis for academic education as well as the best thesis for tertiary education.

Witteveen+Bos will award the Thesis Prize for the 3rd time in the autumn of 2024. Each edition focuses on one of Witteveen+Bos’ seven sustainable design principles. The prize is open to all students of universities and universities of applied sciences. With the prize, Witteveen+Bos aims to promote sustainable design among the new generation of consultants and engineers.

Circular Design

In 2024, the theme of the thesis prize is ‘Circular Design’. The ‘Circular Design’ principle is about making choices for current and future life cycles and closing chains by using the materials used in the design, and residual products and waste streams as raw materials. Circular Design limits the depletion of (fossil) resources and limits overall carbon emissions over the entire lifespan of a design.

The Thesis Prize is awarded to the university/college thesis that makes the best or most significant contribution and/or has the greatest impact in the (further) development of Witteveen+Bos’ sustainable design principle ‘Circular Design’ and which explicitly aligns with at least 1 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (UN).

The prize consists of a sum of money that can be used by the winner for elaborating on the sustainable design principle ‘Circular Design’. For instance, in the form of a (study) trip, course, conference, project development or further (talent) development. The winner will also be presented with the Witteveen+Bos Sustainable Design Trophy.

Criteria

The ‘Circular Design’ Thesis Prize submission deadline is on 15 September 2024. The winners will be announced in autumn 2024 during the official award ceremony of the Witteveen+Bos Thesis Prize.

The conditions for submission are as follows. The thesis:
- contributes to and/or has an impact on the (continued) development of Witteveen+Bos’ sustainable design principle ‘Circular Design’;
- explicitly aligns with 1 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (UN);
- is innovative;
- is socially relevant;
- is applicable;
- is published in the academic year of the award ceremony, 2023-2024;
- is submitted by 15 September 2024 via communications@witteveenbos.com.

The members of the independent jury will be announced later. The jury will in any case consist of experts from Witteveen+Bos and lecturers from both academic and tertiary education.

The Witteveen+Bos Thesis Prize was established in 2021 to mark our 75th anniversary. This initiative is the successor to the Jaap van der Graaf Prize, which was awarded annually to a student or researcher who published the best English-language paper on wastewater treatment that year.

Would you like more information about the Thesis Prize? Send us an email at communications@witteveenbos.com. This is also the email address for submission.