REmagine Senior Faculty Impact Award

The Dutch field of economics and business is in transition. The DEB transition themes — Sustainable Economy, Broad Prosperity, Digital Transformation, Healthy Society and Resilient Institutions — are not merely subjects of research and teaching: they are also reshaping research agendas, programmes, partnerships, and the very definition of scientific quality.

The Senior Faculty Impact Award is positioned as the national signal of that movement. The field recognises one senior scholar whose work concretely contributes to this transition, and thereby issues a collective statement by the Dutch deans about the kind of scientific leadership the DEB considers essential for the years ahead.

Position in the REmagine portfolio

The Senior Faculty Impact Award completes a set of three REmagine awards recognising excellence at three successive career stages — all presented together at the DEB Impact Forum:

• Impact promise — Master Theses Award: from 2026, the top three finalists per DEB transition theme receive a differentiated prize — €3,000 (winner), €1,500 (runner-up) and €500 (third place) — for 15 prize-winning finalists in total. Third edition.
• Impact praxis — PhD Award: 2 winners (1 Business / Management, 1 Economics), €5,000 each. First edition.
• Impact proof — Senior Faculty Impact Award: 1 winner, €10,000. First edition. The award has its own ceremonial moment within the DEB Impact Forum programme, befitting its senior character.

One indivisible award

Unlike the Master Theses Award (5 thematic winners) and the PhD Award (2 disciplinary tracks), the Senior Faculty Impact Award has one indivisible main prize. This is a deliberate choice: the signal of the award — a national recognition of senior impact leadership. In exceptionally close fields, the jury may optionally name one honorary mention, without additional prize money; this remains exceptional and never structural.

Eligibility

• Individual scholar at the level of Associate Professor (UHD), Full Professor, or equivalent senior position at a DEB faculty — or recently emeritus from a DEB faculty (within three years of 1 October 2026)
• At least 15 years of senior research experience in the business or economics domain; prorated where career interruptions are justified (care responsibilities, illness, late entry, part-time work)
• Body of work demonstrably addresses one or more of the five DEB transition themes
• Proof of realised impact — not merely impact potential — sustained across at least five consecutive years
• Maximum 1 nomination per DEB faculty — deliberately limited to protect the signal of the award
• Self-nomination is not permitted; nominations are submitted by the Faculty Dean in consultation with the Research Dean
• Team / duo nominations are possible, provided the motivation clearly sets out each member's contribution to the impact

Four evaluation dimensions

The jury assesses each nomination collegially against the dimensions, weighed in conjunction. There is no quantitative weighting — a strong candidate need not excel on all four, but must be convincing on several and distinctive overall.

1. Transition relevance and a welfare perspective — has the candidate, over a sustained period, contributed substantively to one or more of the DEB transition themes, from a recognisable broad-prosperity perspective? Does the candidate's oeuvre help shape the DEB transition agenda rather than touch it only tangentially?
2. Societal embedding and realised impact — has the candidate's work demonstrably influenced policy, practice, public debate, sector renewal or other societal domains — not just potential, but realised and sustained reach, anchored in institutions, programmes or structures that persist beyond the candidate's own activity?
3. Scientific authority and distinctiveness — does the candidate hold an authoritative position in the field through theoretical, methodological or empirical contributions recognised as distinctive by peers? Assessment looks at quality, originality and own-voice of the oeuvre (not bibliometric scores — DORA-aligned), and at international recognition within the discipline.
4. Generative working and role-model function — is the candidate a role model and catalyst for others — junior colleagues, PhD candidates, postdocs, and a new generation orienting toward transition and impact work? This can show in mentorship, in building centres or consortia, in public visibility, in media work, in policy advice, or in other forms of field-strengthening.

Process and 2026 timeline

1. June 2026 — Call opens; faculties begin pre-selection.
2. June — 1 October 2026 — Faculty pre-selection coordinated jointly by the Faculty Dean and Research Dean of each DEB faculty.
3. 1 October 2026 — Deadline for nominations; 8 – 12 nominations expected.
4. 2 — 31 October 2026 — Written evaluation by the full jury; shortlist of 2 – 3 candidates.
5. 1 — 7 November 2026 — Optional 30-minute video conversations with shortlisted candidates for further context.
6. 8 — 12 November 2026 — Final deliberation and winner selection by the jury.
7. 13 — 15 November 2026 — Winner notified confidentially; attendance confirmed.
8. 24 November 2026 — Public announcement and award ceremony at the DEB Impact Forum, with a dedicated ceremonial moment within the programme.

Jury composition — collegial, no chair

The Senior Faculty Impact Award has one jury of five members. No formal chair is appointed: on the basis of the members' collective seniority and authority, the jury operates collegially and decides by majority vote. This matches the practice in comparable scientific prizes where collegiality is preferred over hierarchical chairmanship.

The five members together cover the transition dynamic the award seeks to signal: national science-and-innovation policy, climate and sustainability governance in the public domain, leadership and organisational change, and the applied economics of labour, social security and pensions.

• Mirjam van Praag — Chair of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (AWTI); Professor of Entrepreneurship & Leadership; KNAW member
• Focco Vijselaar — Director-General, VNO-NCW
• Jolande Sap — Chair of the Supervisory Board, University of Amsterdam
• Janka Stoker — Professor of Leadership and Sustainability, Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University
• Daniël van Vuuren — Managing Director SEO Amsterdam Economics; Professor of Economics; Crown Member SER

See the jury page for full biographies.

The ceremony

The winner receives the award in person at the DEB Impact Forum on 24 November 2026, within a dedicated ceremonial moment in the programme — marked as the high point of the REmagine programme. The format: introduction by the DEB chair, an extended laudation (5 – 7 minutes) by a designated jury member, presentation of plaque, certificate and cheque, a word of thanks (~5 minutes) from the winner, and a photo moment. There are no pitches or presentations — the award is a recognition based on the written dossier, not a selection event.

After the ceremony

The winner receives an edited interview / article in a partner medium (NRC, FD, ESB), a video portrait for DEB channels and future-edition announcements, and an invitation to publish an opinion or explanatory piece via a DEB partner medium. The winner is also invited to join the REmagine alumni and talent network for periodic exchange across the Master, PhD and Senior Faculty cohorts.