Einthoven dissertation prizes 2015

For the 27th time in a row the Netherlands Heart Institute (NHI, formerly ICIN) and the Netherlands Society of Cardiology (NVVC) supported the competition for the three best cardiovascular PhD theses, published in the year 2015 [1–5]. The dissertation prize carries the name of one of the greatest Dutchmen in the history of cardiovascular medicine, Willem Einthoven, who in 1902 for the first time recorded the human ECG, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1924 [6]. This time the jury received a total of 19 PhD dissertations published in 2015. The jury members were very much impressed by the high scientific quality of the PhD fellows. The ultimate selection was based on a combination of several parameters: the curriculum vitae of the candidate, the scientific originality of the PhD thesis and its relevance for the cardiovascular field. In addition, several objective bibliometric parameters were used: 1) the number of articles in first-rate journals both in PubMed and the Web of Science (WOS), 2) the number of citations in WOS, 3) the Hirsch Index, and 4) the contribution as a first author (or shared first author). Based on a combination of these results, the jury finally selected three nominees: W.L. Verloop (University Medical Center Utrecht), T.P. van de Hoef (Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam), and P.F.A. Teunissen (VUMC, Amsterdam). The members of the jury were: P.A. Doevendans (Director NHI), D.J. Duncker (Director NHI), J.W. Deckers (Di-