DACT Thesis Award

The DACT Thesis Award aims to bridge the gap between academia and the professional world of corporate treasurers. It showcases the talent of students from Dutch universities and encourages their interest in real-world financial and treasury-related challenges.

This contest promotes the treasury profession by encouraging academic interest and showcasing the excellence of future talents. Dissertations must be a personal contribution and completed before submission. A jury will award the prize based on the criteria highlighted below.

The top three students will have the opportunity to give a short pitch during the DACT Academy in November and will receive a valuable prize. The annual submission deadline is 15 July.

If you want to submit your thesis, please send us an email: [email protected]

You’ll find more details in this flyer, including the following highlights:

  • Why you/students should participate – including a financial incentive, visibility within the professional treasury community, potential publication opportunities, and career exposure.
  • Eligibility and rules – theses must be completed and graded before submission, and submitted while the student is still enrolled.
View the flyer Read the news article about the previous winner

Criteria DACT thesis award

Your work will be evaluated based on the following main criteria:

1. General Relevance

Your thesis must clearly relate to corporate treasury or corporate finance topics.
This is a Go/No-Go criterion – only relevant subjects will be considered for evaluation.

2. Compliance with Guidelines

  • A successful thesis follows the contest requirements, including:
  • A total length between 50 and 150 pages
  • A clear structure and executive summary
  • Full compliance with all submission guidelines

3. Form & Structure

We value the quality and precision of your writing and the relevance of your title.
The jury will assess:

  • Is the research question (problematic) clearly defined?
  • Is the thesis well organized, with a logical introduction, progression of ideas, and a conclusion that answers the research question?

4. Content & Originality

An outstanding thesis combines depth, innovation, and practical relevance.
The evaluation will focus on:

  • Originality and novelty of the topic
  • Quality of the literature review (comparison of theories, context, divergences, and convergences)
  • Clarity of the empirical study (hypotheses, models, outcomes, limitations, synthesis, recommendations)
  • The author’s personal contribution – clear opinions and conclusions beyond past research
  • Alignment with corporate treasurers’ priorities
  • Potential for concrete application or impact within the corporate treasury community

Jury DACT thesis award

CHAIR:

Yannick Gehin, board member DACT & Senior Treasury Director at Coty

JURY MEMBERS:

Marianne Bastiaanssen – van den Broek, treasurer at Elisabeth Tweesteden ziekenhuis

Pieter de Kiewit, Treasurer Search & partner member DACT

Patrick Kunz, Interim Treasurer/ owner Pecunia

Nadiia Matskevych, board member DACT & global controller Akzo Nobel

Stanley Myint, Associate Fellow, Saïd Business School University of Oxford

Simone Trapp, board member DACT & Structured Finance & Project Financing at BMW

Bart Verweij, Treasury Director at Airwallex