First Valorisation Award for Alana Krix
Maastricht University is conferring its first Valorisation Award for the dissertation that had the greatest social impact during the 2014/15 academic year to Alana Krix. Krix received her PhD in February 2015 for her dissertation entitled, 'Obtaining Information from eyewitnesses: effects of retrieval support in eyewitness interviews'. The award consists of a €3,000 prize and a small statue and will be presented on 14 April.
Since 2014, all Maastricht PhD candidates have been asked to add a brief chapter on the valorisation value of their research. In other words: how does this research benefit society? Under the guidance and supervision of Rector Magnificus Luc Soete, an expert jury reviewed some 350 dissertation defences during the 2014/15 academic year.
Alana Krix was chosen as the winner because her research was both academically impressive and of great social relevance. Krix examined ways to improve reliability and eyewitness accounts in criminal cases. Her 'self-administered interview' was such an improvement on the conventional witness interview technique that it is currently being used by the Dutch police. The German police in Hessen launched a trial to determine whether they could do the same.
Close collaboration with the Dutch and German police departments is part of the reason why the jury found Krix's study so unique. Krix will receive the award, a joint initiative of UM and the Limburg University Fund/SWOL, on 14 April 2016 during the University Dinner.