Einthoven dissertation prizes 2016

The dissertation prize is named after Willem Einthoven who was a pioneer in cardiovascular medicine and recorded a human ECG for the first time in 1902, for which he was awarded with the Nobel prize in 1924 [1]. This yearly event is an initiative of the Netherlands Heart Institute (NHI) and the Netherlands Society of Cardiology (NVVC) to select the best three cardiovascular theses published in the year 2016. The jury received a total of 19 PhD dissertations for selection. The ranking of the theses was based upon a combination of parameters that included the curriculum vitae of the candidate, the scientific originality of the PhD thesis as well as its relevance for the cardiovascular field. Moreover, several objective bibliometric parameters were used that included the number of articles in citation index journals, both in PubMed and the Web of Science (WOS), the number of citations in WOS, the Hirsch index and finally the contribution of the candidate as a first author. Based upon this evaluation the jury elected the following nominees: Lourens Robbers, Romy Franken and Michiel de Graaf. The members of the jury were Prof. P.A. Doevendans and Prof. D.J. Duncker (Netherlands Heart Institute), Prof. B.J.M. Mulder (NVVC), Prof. J.W. Deckers (Director CVOI) and Prof. M.J. Schalij (President Concilium Cardiologicum). The three candidates presented their PhD theses at the annual spring congress of the NVVC held at De Leeuwenhorst in Noordwijkerhout on 6–7 April 2017. We congratulate the laureates for their excellent scientific work and their presentations during the meeting.