The Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp and the Royal Belgian Zoological Society annually award a scientific award for the best Belgian master thesis presentation in Zoology. The Jacques Kets Award was first installed in 1953 by the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp to arouse the love for nature in young people and to encourage them to pursue a career in natural sciences.

The award was named after Jacques Kets, a naturalist and taxidermist from Antwerp who in 1843 became the first director of the newly established Antwerp Zoo. In 2007 the Jacques Kets Award was modified into a booster grant to give promising Masters students the opportunity to build upon their achievements, to stimulate them to pursue an academic career in zoology, and give them a head start in building a professional network.

Since this year, the presentation of the Jacques Kets Award is linked to the Biology Master Day.

.@ThomasLuypaert from @VUBrussel won our #JacquesKetsAward in November 2018. He explains what the award means to him, speaks about his research for his master's thesis in Papua New Guinea and encourages Master's students to register from 1 June 2019 ?https://t.co/EXCEtdx3LW

— ZOO Science (@ZOOscience_be) 8 januari 2019

Participate? 

The deadline for this year’s submissions has already passed. Keep an eye on ZOOscience.be if you want to take part next year. Next year applications may be submitted between 1 June and 30 September.