Professor Judith Pollmann awarded the 2025 NWO Spinoza Prize#

Professor Judith Pollmann MAE, a historian at Leiden University and a AE member of the History & Archaeology Section since 2020, has been awarded the prestigious 2025 NWO Spinoza Prize. As the highest honor in Dutch academia, this award recognizes her groundbreaking research into early modern Dutch history and how communities managed social change.

Judith Pollmann (Leiden University) has been awarded the 2025 Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific honour in the Netherlands. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) bestows this prestigious award on researchers who have made exceptional contributions to their fields.

A professor of Early Modern Dutch History, Pollmann is recognised for her groundbreaking research into how individuals and communities in the early modern period navigated periods of intense social and religious upheaval. Her work offers fresh insight into the ways historical memory and identity were constructed in times of transformation. The award includes a €1.5 million grant to support Pollmann’s research.

About the Spinoza Prize#

The NWO Spinoza Prize is the highest award in Dutch academia for researchers who according to international standards belong to the absolutely best researchers worldwide. The recipients of the NWO Spinoza Prize do outstanding and groundbreaking research with broad effect. They are an inspiration for early-stage researchers. NWO invites selected persons to nominate candidates for this prize.

The prize is named after Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). Spinoza was an internationally renowned Dutch scientist and a clear example of freedom in research - a fitting representation for academic/scientific breakthroughs.

The History & Archaeology Section of AE congratulates Judith Pollmann, a member of its Section Board, on this outstanding achievement. #

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