GeoThesisaward

Marc de Smidt Thesis Award

Registrations are closed. Ceremony: September 4, 15.30 on Utrecht Science Park.

The Marc de Smidt Thesis Award is a yearly event in which all students who completed a Masters program at the department of Human Geography and Planning can compete by submitting their thesis. For the next edition which will be held in September 2023, all students who finished their thesis in 2022 are eligible.

The thesis award is dedicated to Marc de Smidt, who was a renowned professor in economic geography and regional economic planning at our Faculty in the seventies and eighties of the previous century.

Prof. Marc de Smidt favored and advocated applied geographic research. He firmly believed that Human Geography and planning should contribute to solving societal problems and tackling societal issues.

By developing strong contacts with actors in both the private sector as well as policy circles, he achieved to improve the position of the department as an entity providing so-called contract research. This opened many job opportunities for numerous of our graduates in times of economic hardship. Prof. Marc de Smith went above and beyond to help his students find their way in the real world both during and after their studies.

As a result, in 1984 he was one of the co-founders of the Foundation for Applied Geographical Research (STOGO) in Utrecht. The main goal of this Foundation was to improve the labour market position of young human geographers and spatial planners.

To honour his memory and his work STOGO and Utrecht University have organized the yearly Marc de Smidt Master Thesis Award since 1994.