Masters Thesis Prize
Recognizing Early Excellence & Building Connections
Finding better treatments for Parkinson’s begins with curiosity. The Demoucelle Parkinson Charity (DPC) created the Master’s Thesis Prize to celebrate outstanding research at the very start of a scientific journey.
This prize is designed as a bridge. It recognizes the fresh perspectives that young graduates bring to the field and helps them to connect with the wider Parkinson’s research community. It is a first step, offering recognition today and opening doors for tomorrow.
Recognition at the start of a career is often the spark that turns a student’s curiosity into a lifelong professional contribution
Masters Thesis Prize
Alumni
Discover the work of our past prize winners and learn what motivated their research into Parkinson’s. These graduates represent the excellence and curiosity we seek to encourage every year.
Masters Thesis Prize
Thesis Prize 2025 :
Regulations & Application Procedure
The Demoucelle Parkinson Charity Thesis Prize will be awarded in 2026 for a thesis, dissertation or master’s thesis on a topic related to Parkinson’s disease.
The winner of the annual Thesis Prize will receive 1,000 euros.
The conditions for applying for the Thesis Prize are as follows:
The thesis was written by a graduating student at a Belgian college or university, for their first master’s degree.
The thesis is on a topic related to Parkinson’s disease
The thesis contains new experimental results collected by the candidate
The thesis was defended between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2026
The score achieved on the thesis was at least 15/20
Family members of Thesis Prize jury members and employees of the Demoucelle Parkinson Charity are excluded from participating.
Candidates must submit their entry to the Demoucelle Parkinson Charity between 1 June 2026 and no later than 31 August 2026
The entry must be completed online.
In order to be considered complete, a submission must include:
A completed online entry form (available on this web page from 1 June 2026)
A well- written and easily understandable English-language summary or abstract about the thesis of max. 1000 words (plus any illustrations, graphs, photos). This summary/ abstract should include the title of the thesis as well as the title of the master program. Please do not mention the applicant’s name or the university.
A digital version of the thesis in NL, FR or EN
Participants will receive confirmation of the successful receipt of their submission once the deadline has passed.
Maximum 5 candidates will be selected by the Thesis jury to advance to the second round.
These 5 candidates will be required to give a 5-minute pitch to the Thesis jury (expected date: end of September) on the basis of which the jury will decide on the award.
The Demoucelle Parkinson Charity asbl will appoint an independent jury to determine the award.
The decision will be made by a majority of votes. In the event of a tie, the chairman of the jury will decide.
The Thesis Jury has the right not to award a Thesis prize if the quality of the entries is judged to be insufficient. If the entries are of a particularly high quality, the Thesis Jury may decide to award two thesis prizes.
Theses will be judged on the basis of three criteria:
Scientific quality of the study;
The degree to which the study provides new insights;
The quality of the summary or abstract and (for the second round) the pitch.
The author is responsible for the content of the article and thesis.
The Demoucelle Parkinson Charity may use the submitted theses and articles for communication purposes, citing the source, subject to the author’s consent and his/her supervisor. Copyright is not transferred to the Demoucelle Parkinson Charity.
The Thesis Jury’s evaluation and deliberation is confidential and no feedback will be given to the candidates afterwards.
For questions, please contact: charity@demoucelle.com