Thesis Award 2025 and a new call for 2027

During the annual conference of the VSR in Rotterdam last month, the biannual Thesis Award was presented. The winning thesis was written by Marloes Streppel for the joint master’s programme of Ghent University and Erasmus University Rotterdam: the International Master’s in Advanced Research in Criminology.

Her thesis, Bordering on Denial: ‘A Critical Discourse Study of Frontex’s Response to Allegations of Human Rights Violations in the Aegean Sea between 2020 and 2024,’ critically examines how the European border and coast guard agency ‘Frontex’ responded to allegations of human rights violations in the Aegean Sea during that period. Marloes has succeeded to write a truly original thesis which contributes to existing Frontex and EU border management literature. Its novelty is based on the originality of the chosen methodology: a critical discourse study, supported by a robust theoretical framework, and with an open eye to limitations that come while writing a master’s thesis on a subject like this.

An honorable mention was awarded to Benjamin Kessler for his thesis at Leiden University, entitled ‘Navigating the Socio-Legal Dimension of Gender Identity: An Analysis of the Self-Determination Act in Germany and its Implications for Trans People.’

A big thank you to the jury Jonathan Bernaerts (University of Antwerp), Marc Simon Thomas (Utrecht University), and Iris Sportel (Radboud University) for their time, commitment, and dedication!

The jury report can be found on our website, where you will also find the new call for the Thesis Award 2027!