The committee deciding on the Excellence and Leadership Award has received many very worthy applications from students who were outstanding in many ways. The ultimate decision was difficult, and it was decided to award the prize not to one but to two students.
The winners of the 2026 EPS Excellence and Leadership Award are:
Dominique Robin van der Kolk
Dominique presents the strongest overall combination of academic excellence and sustained leadership. Academically, Dominique reports a perfect average while simultaneously working several jobs, and demonstrates additional initiative through language learning, the EPS leadership workshop and Forum 2000. The leadership record within EPS is particularly compelling: local coordination of student representatives in Kraków, organisation of the Dutch Embassy study visit, co-organisation of social activities, participation in EPS promotional work, and forthcoming responsibilities as Head of Editing for European Waves and Internal Communications Lead for the Social Media Team. This is complemented by substantial leadership outside EPS—as President of Dutch Worldwide Students, an ambassador promoting international education, an MUN trainer, and a co-organiser of the Breaking Barriers accessibility event.
EaL award for: Excellence, formal leadership, community-building and societal engagement reinforce one another.
María Zoila Tapia González
María stands out above all for the exceptional level of academic achievement and research leadership. During the year she published research, became a journal reviewer, presented at several international conferences, continued to lead two externally funded research projects and prepared an academic book for publication. Importantly, this impressive research profile is accompanied by concrete contributions to EPS: participation in the Social Media Team, production of promotional material, co-authorship for European Waves, organisation of cohort activities and support for incoming students. Her work also has a strong public-engagement dimension through heritage dissemination, accessible research activities and community engagement.
EaL award for: Academic excellence and external research impact, achievements are not purely individual but translate into contributions to EPS and wider society.
In lieu of the above the committee decided to divide the award, with 50 % going to Dominique and 50 % going to María Zoila .
Congratulations to the winners and thank all applicants for their participation!
