The Impact Awards are part of the Amsterdam Science & Innovation Awards for the most innovative research-based idea from Amsterdam. All awards will be presented during a festive finale on Tuesday 17 June at NEMO Amsterdam.

The UvA laureates

Joyeeta Gupta, professor of Environment and Development in the Global South at the UvA, receives the Impact Award in the category Environment & Climate.

Gupta’s research focuses on climate justice, environmental management and sustainable development. Solutions to environmental and climate challenges are not straightforward due to the problematic relationship between North and South, rich and poor – both internationally and within the Netherlands itself. Gupta’s mission is to make consumers and producers aware of their emissions and their responsibility toward others around the world who suffer the consequences. Her impact was evident at the United Nations, where the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) integrated social justice into its environmental reporting for the first time in 2019. This led UNEP to address issues such as land and water grabbing and the broader health impacts of polluted water.

Tessa Roseboom, professor of Early Development and Health at the UvA and Future Generations Commissioner at Amsterdam UMC, receives the Impact Award in the category Society.

Roseboom conducts long-term research into the effects of the 1944-1945 Dutch Hunger Winter. She demonstrated that the environment in which a person develops – from a single fertilized egg into a complete human being – forms the foundation of life. This so-called 1000-day study provided the first direct evidence that (lack of) maternal nutrition during pregnancy affects the physical and mental health of her children and grandchildren. Based on her research, Roseboom advocates for investing in a good start to every human life. Internationally, she made an impact by contributing to the United Nations’ Declaration for Future Generations, which calls on member states to consider the effects of all decisions on the environments in which children grow up.

In addition to Gupta and Roseboom, Erik Sistermans, professor of Human Genetics at VU Amsterdam, will receive an Impact Award for the development and application of the NIPT (Non-Invasive Prenatal Test). Sistermans is the winner in the category Health. This year, there is a special fourth Award as part of the 750th anniversary of the city of Amsterdam. This goes to health scientist Jaap Seidell at VU Amsterdam for his great achievements for a healthier environment for children in Amsterdam.

Role models

‘An enormous amount of high-quality and innovative research is being done at our Amsterdam knowledge institutions’, says Marcel Kloosterman, Deputy Director of IXA UvA-HvA. ‘That is a broad basis for having a lot of impact on society. But that impact does not come naturally. For an Impact Award, we look at researchers who make extra efforts. They make long-term, active contributions to the actual use of insights and results from their research. To this end, they collaborate with public and/or private parties and organizations. We see this in all four laureates: through their efforts, society benefits from their insights and research results. This clearly makes them role models for other researchers within the knowledge institutions.’