A call for submissions is open from 1 June to 1 October each year. During this period students may submit their thesis through the NINO website. The competition is judged in November; the two winners are awarded the Thesis Prize at NINO’s Annual Meeting. The runners-up receive a certificate.
NINO Thesis Prizes 2026
Our jury will select the four best theses submitted in November 2026. At the NINO Annual Meeting in January 2027 (to be held in Nijmegen), two winners will be announced: one for the Bachelor Prize and one for the Master Prize.
Students in relevant fields have the opportunity to submit their thesis between 1 June and 1 October 2026. Don’t miss this chance to win this year’s prize for Best Bachelor or Master thesis on the Near East!
Conditions and regulations
The main conditions for participation are:
- You wrote your thesis at a Dutch university, where it was graded in the academic year 2025/2026.
- The topic of your research is within the scope of the NINO research areas: archaeology, history, languages, and cultures of Egypt, Levant, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Adjacent areas are considered under further conditions: see the regulations.
- Your thesis was officially graded an 8 or higher.
- Please mention if you are entering your thesis in another competition. If your thesis is awarded another prize before the NINO Prizes are awarded (January 2027), it will no longer be eligible for a NINO Thesis Prize.
- The document upload limit is 64 MB.
Full regulations for the NINO Thesis Prizes 2026 are available in Dutch (pdf) and in English (pdf).
Former prize winners
