Natalia Vtyurina winner Marina van Damme Grant 2024
On Thursday 10 October, Delft University Fund organised the 2024 Marina van Damme Grant Award Ceremony. Three female Delft alumni stood the chance to win the coveted grant of € 9,000,-. After three impressive pitches and a short jury meeting, Prof. Marina van Geenhuizen, chair of the jury, announced that it was Natalia Vtyurina for winning the 2024 Marina van Damme Award!
This prestigious award, named after TU Delft's first female PhD graduate, supports ambitious women in advancing their careers by funding their professional development. This year, we had the honour of recognising three exceptional nominees: Marjolijn Heslinga (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering), Natalia Vtyurina (Faculty of Applied Sciences) and Jessica Sun (Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management). The awarded prizes are intended to further develop the knowledge and research ambitions of these women, within or outside the Netherlands.
During the event, each nominee shared inspiring insights into their journey and future plans, highlighting their passion for pushing the boundaries of science and technology. It was a close competition, but ultimately, Natalia was awarded the top prize for her achievements. In addition, Marjolijn Heslinga was recognised as the runner-up for her contributions. The third price was granted to Jessica Sun.
Natalia is the winner and has been granted Marina van Damme award 2024 € 9,000-, Marjolijn received the runner-up prize worth € 2,500-, and the third price of €1,000,- was given tot Jessica Sun, those prices have been provided by alumnus Allerd Stikker via the Fortuna Fund and by Delft University Fund.
Van Geenhuizen, chair of the award jury: "We are incredibly impressed by all three presentations. It was extremely difficult to choose between the projects as they are very different and thus hard to compare. However, the innovative nature of the project, and our belief that it has the potential to make a long-term impact on society, led us to choose Natalia’s proposal."
Natalia: "Thank you very much for the trust and support you have shown for my proposal. Receiving this Marina van Damme Award convinces me that it will help me realise my ideas and make a crucial shift towards a career in government, and possibly later into political lobbying. I also firmly believe that if more highly educated women with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) background enter the political arena, they can set a positive example for others and elevate society towards becoming a more tolerant, balanced, and compassionate community.”
