Each year, a professorial review board, including the vice-chancellor of the University of Twente (UT), picks the best PhD thesis out of five nominees from each UT faculty. A prize is awarded for the thesis with the most outstanding academic quality that can be regarded as the start of a very promising academic career. In my case, the review board honoured especially: “the thesis’ exceptional grounding in diverse theoretical literatures, the creative and modern research design, mastery of various research methods, as well as the economic and societal impact of the research.” See: https://www.utwente.nl/nieuws/!/2016/11/17486/overijssel-phd-award-voor-desiree-van-dun