KNAW Early Career Awards for three Leiden researchers
Three young researchers from Leiden have received an Early Career Award from KNAW for their innovative research. The award consists of the sum of 15,000 euros and an artwork.
This is the first time that the KNAW Early Career Awards [in Dutch] have been presented. In total, 12 researchers have received an award. The winners come from all the academic disciplines. What defines the research of the three winners from Leiden?
Berthe Jansen (1980), postdoc researcher in Tibetan Studies
An expert in Tibetan Studies, Jansen conducts research into the interplay between canon and secular law. She thus provides an innovative perspective on the relationship between religion and state in Tibet. With her knowledge of Tibetan, Sanskrit and Chinese, Jansen is able to shed light on what drives Tibetan society. This leads to completely new insights. Jansen already has an impressive international reputation. She was recently appointed Junior Professor of Tibetan Studies at Leipzig University. Her work also has an impact on the wider debate on Tibet in the world.
Stephanie Rap (1984), Assistant Professor of Child Law
Rap is a leading researcher in both the Netherlands and abroad in the field of child-friendly justice. She wants to find out how to make legal proceedings more accessible to children and adolescents. She has expanded her research to include youth care and the asylum procedure in order to gain a better understanding of child-friendly justice for young people in specific situations. She combines different research methods and uses empirical research to reveal how children’s rights work in practice. In recent years, Rap has channelled her efforts into using the insights from her research to develop training modules for professionals around the world.
Carolien Stolte (1983), University Lecturer in History
In the field of world history during the Cold War (1945-1960), Stolte has managed to shift the emphasis to the role of informal Afro-Asian networks. She was able to demonstrate the importance of these networks to both a wide academic audience and the general public. She not only has numerous publications on this to her name but has also set up a digital databank of Afro-Asian networks and developed a learning module on decolonisation and the Cold War for schools. In addition, she is often asked to speak about this topic in Dutch and international media.
A total of 12 winners were selected from four domains: Humanities; Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences and Law; Natural Sciences and Engineering; and Medical, Biomedical and Health Sciences. There are three winners in each domain. The KNAW Early Career Award consists of 15,000 euros, which is provided by the KNAW Academy Fund. The money may be spent at the discretion of the winners on their own research careers. The winners also receive the artwork ‘Extended Jewellery’ by Laura Klinkenberg.