Maarten Rijkenbarg Award

The award was presented for the first time on 20 October at the Dumoulin barracks in Soesterberg. This is a prize that contributes to the development of a sense of integrity within the Ministry of Defense. Major General Oppelaar, NLDA commander, presented the Award to Irina Tziamali.
With her RMA thesis and Master's thesis, Irina has questioned old patterns with regard to gender and the armed forces, in order to help the organization further in the field of diversity, inclusion and integrity. The award is a token of appreciation from the Ministry of Defense.
Oppelaar described Irina as an example to many, inside and outside the armed forces. "Irina has shown moral courage, which stands for daring to stand for what you think is right and act accordingly. Much appreciation for your tenacity to continue to do what you believe in and to stand for what is important to you. With this you have made a contribution to social safety, professional attitude and integrity within and outside the Ministry of Defence".


Jan Gmelich Meijling Award

Second Lieutenant Irina Tziamali has won the Jan Gmelich Meijling (JGM) thesis prize with her research into 'Gender-related norms at the RMA'. Her research is important for improving deployment and innovation within the organization and has a lot of current social added value in the public domain. This left the strong competition behind. The prize is accompanied by a check for € 2500 for the winner.


Hein Sabelis Award

Every year, the dean of the FMW awards the best bachelor's thesis with the Hein Sabelis Award. The winner of the thesis prize was announced during the graduation ceremony on 23 July. Irina Tziamali (Military Business Administration) received an honorable mention with her thesis “I don't even recommend the RMA to my future daughter”. In her thesis, Tziamali studied the influence of gender-related normative images on the everyday informal education of cadets at the RMA.