Conditions and Criteria

To find out more about the conditions and criteria for participating, please read here.

Conditions of Participation

Any student enrolled at Leiden University can submit their master's thesis until November 1st 2024. The thesis must have been completed in the previous academic year 2023-2024. 
There is no grade restriction, however LUGO reserves the right to add a criterion allowing submissions above a certain grade threshold for future editions of the award.
There is no restriction on the thesis topic, as long as it shows a sufficient link to sustainability.  
Confidential master's theses are acceptable if announced in advance. Candidate must be willing to share the title and (adjusted) abstract for publication in case of selection within the top 5. 
The top five candidates must be able to join physically or online on the date of the award ceremony.

The following criteria will be used to assess the theses: 

Social/Environmental Impact (40%): To what extent do the results of this thesis have the potential to create social/environmental impact?

Practical application (30%): To what extent can the results of the thesis be applied to real life settings?

Innovative & Creativity (10%): To what extent is the topic original, ground-breaking, and contributing to innovative ideas related to sustainability within the discipline(s)?

Sustainability of Research Conduct (10%): To what extent was the research carried out in a sustainable manner? This includes considerations like sustainable travel to research locations, eco-friendly lab practices, and other efforts to minimize the environmental impact of the research operations.

Quality (10%): Quality stands for readability, clarity, flow of argumentation and presentation. It is assessed based on the thoroughness of the design and research.