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In 1998, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the training course for geodetic engineering at TU Delft, the Netherlands Geodetic Commission established the Prof. J.M. Tienstra Research Prize. The aim of the prize is to promote and make visible research in the Netherlands in the field of geo-information and geodesy. This also concerns related socially oriented research, provided that it falls within the area covered by the Commission. The prize has been awarded every two years since 2010; in the past usually during the GIN symposium.
The Netherlands Centre for Geodesy and Geo-Informatics (NCG) took over the initiative from the NCG-KNAW as of January 1, 2014. That year, the prize was presented during the GEOBUZZ conference (25 and 26 November 2014). As the NCG has been organizing an annual study day since 2016, the Prof. J.M. Tienstra Research Prize has become part of this, once every two years.
As of 2014, the prize consists of a tangible memento and a monetary award and is awarded to those who have conducted particularly meritorious research in the field of geo-information and geodesy in the Netherlands. The prize is not a lifetime achievement prize. When selecting the prize winner, preference will initially be given to young researchers for whom the prize can serve as an encouragement for further research.
Until 2018, Prof. Tienstra’s son, dr. Menno Tienstra, chaired the jury of the prize and, at his own request, last awarded this prize in 2018. In 2020, this task was alternately taken over by others.
2024 – dr. Hossein Aghababaei
The Jury only took the research into account that was performed in the Netherlands when Dr. Hossein Aghababaei joined the University of Twente as an assistant professor in 2020. This research is outstanding and it shows his commitment to advance geodesy and remote sensing. It concerns the advancement of understanding the Earth’s geomatic surface by means of SAR remote sensing, with a focus on SAR polarimetry (PolSAR) and tomographic imaging. He developed a new method to improve SAR signal quality for land deformation mapping, enabling the assessment of individual building structural health. At ITC, he also introduced deep learning methodologies tailored to polarimetric and tomographic SAR data, spearheading significant advancements in the SAR domain through the integration of AI techniques.
His research has a broad scientific embedding, spanning multiple domains of science. His research also has a strong societal embedding given the advanced environmental monitoring, notably in forest management and conservation.
Hossein Aghababaei is Assistant professor at the ITC Faculty of the University of Twente.
2022 – dr. Ling Chang
The relevance of Ling Chang’s work was already evident when she used the methods from her PhD research into Monitoring civil infrastructure using satellite radar interferometry in the analysis of the collapsed shopping center ‘t Loon in Heerlen. Her work has also been applied to monitoring railway beds and subsidence. This knowledge provides good visibility to the importance of geodesy for society and also shows how a technical subject such as InSAR can be directly used in practice. The quality of her work is evident from the judgment that her peers have for her many publications in high-quality journals. The originality of her work in the field of structural health monitoring with satellite InSAR is highly appreciated.
Ling Chang is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observtauon (ITC) at the University of Twente.
2020 – dr. Caroline Gevaert
The research work of Caroline Gevaert, who works at TU Twente, was unanimously appreciated by the jury as original, of excellent quality, and theoretically and practically very relevant research for the field of work of the NCG. The research as presented in her cum laude thesis “Unmanned aerial vehicle mapping for settlement upgrading” is of high quality, combines high technology with social issues and was carried out very independently. She continues on the path she started in her dissertation and her work is also highly regarded internationally.
2018 – dr. Cornelis Slobbe
Cornelis Slobbe’s research work was unanimously appreciated by the jury as original, excellent in quality, theoretically and practically very relevant research for geodesy. He continues on the path he started in his dissertation. He has obtained (STW) follow-up research, written many scientific publications and the results are very useful on both land and sea. Moreover, the results of his research are not limited to the Netherlands alone. His results are also used abroad, such as in Brazil.
2016 – dr. Martijn Meijers
The jury chairman indicated, among other things, that research into the generalization of geo-information is an important topic. The research work of Martijn Meijers, who works at TU Delft, was rated by the jury as being of excellent quality, well structured and clearly written. The fully automatic generalization of geo-information “on the fly” is an interesting topic. Here, Meijers continues the path he took in his dissertation.
2014 – dr. Roel Nicolai
Roel Nicolai, who works at Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. in Rijswijk, received the prof. J.M. Tienstra Research Prize for his dissertation “A critical review of the hypothesis of a medieval origin for portolan charts”. According to the jury, the research overturns existing theories, is very accessible, challenging and invites further research.
2012 – dr. Christiaan Lemmen
Chrit Lemmen is an assistant professor at the University of Twente (Faculty International Institute for Geo-Information Sciences and Earth Observation, ITC) and works as an international geodetic advisor at the Kadaster. Lemmen’s research work was appreciated by the jury as being of excellent quality and original. The ‘Land Administration Domain Model’ research has a strong relationship between science and practice. Lemmen has played a powerful role as initiator in the realisation of his research results.
2010 – dr. Bastiaan van Loenen
Bastiaan van Loenen works as a researcher at TU Delft (OTB Research Institute, Geo-information and land policy section). Bastiaan van Loenen has conducted research into modeling the development of geographic information infrastructures (GII) and the role of accessibility policy. Currently, his main research area is ‘reuse of government information’ and the ‘assessment of the success of geographic information infrastructures, including INSPIRE’. His research can best be described as internationally oriented administrative-legal research in the field of geo-information, where In addition to theory development, an eye for the reality of practice is central. Bastiaan van Loenen’s research work was appreciated by the jury as relevant and of an excellent level.
2004 – dr. Jantien Stoter
Jantien Stoter works as an assistant professor at TU Delft (GIS technology) and at the Cadastre. She obtained her PhD for research into 3-D Land Registries. Jantien Stoter’s research work was appreciated by the jury as original, relevant and of an excellent level. Her research includes structure and rules for databases, GIS front-ends and practical applications focused on 3-D. She examines the limitations of law, geo-information and technology. The groundbreaking nature of her research lies in finding technically and scientifically challenging solutions that can be used in practice.
1998 – ir. Niels Jonkman
In 1998, Niels F. Jonkman worked as an additional researcher at the Mathematical Geodesy and Point Determination section of the then Subfaculty of Geodesy at TU Delft. His research work concerns the use of satellites for positioning, both the American version, GPS, and the Russian one, GLONASS, and has been appreciated by the jury of the prize as original, relevant and of excellent level. Although Jonkman only graduated in 1997, he has already gained international experience and contacts through his work. The jury considers him to be a young and promising researcher and his current and, as the jury expects, future research work fully deserves the support that this prize can offer him.
Prof. J.M. Tienstra (1895-1951) was professor and rector magnificus of the Technical College in Delft (now TU Delft). From 1937 he was a member of the National Geodetic Commission (a predecessor of the current NCG). He was secretary of this committee in the period 1945-1947 and chairman from 1947 until his death in 1951.
Read more about Jacob Tienstra on the History page.