© Geert-Jan Bruins
Most PhD candidates are just happy when it’s all over. Especially writing the dissertation takes a lot out of a person. But then the booklet also requires a cover. That is sometimes tangible: not all covers are well thought out, let alone beautiful. But the cover is what catches the eye. And you only have one chance to make a first impression. Pleasing To encourage PhD candidates to give it some thought and make it pleasing to the eye, Resource started awarding the Cover Prize eleven years ago. The Cover Prize 2019 honours the most beautiful cover of all dissertations published in 2019. All in all, there are a couple fewer than the 285 from last year. With just over 300 theses, 2015 was a top year in terms of production.
Whoever draped their thesis in the prettiest cover is traditionally determined by the visitors to the online edition of Resource. To make choosing manageable, Resource’s science editorial team selected ten booklets. They assessed representation of content, originality, use of colour and lettering. The choice is subjective by definition.
Body heat
Every year, the editors are surprised by several covers that stand out for their creativity, but which are unusable for the Cover Prize. For example, we have seen 3D covers pass by a few times, accompanied by matching glasses. It’s fun, but the effect is lost online. This year, we have a special mention for Marco Santagiuliana, who managed a cover that responds to body heat. Inventive, but it’s impossible to convey online.
The choice is now yours, dear readers. You can vote until the first Sunday of the new year (5 January 2020). If you wish, you can elaborate on your choice of vote in the forum section at the bottom of the page. The results will be announced both online and in the magazine.
For practical reasons it is only possible to vote on the Dutch site:http://resource.wur.nl/nl/wetenschap/show/Stemmen-maar-Coverprijs-2019.htm