BaMa 2026 - English Information
14th BaMa Symposium – April 1, 2026, in Papendal
This year, approximately 85 students participated in the BaMa symposium. There were roughly equal numbers of Bachelor’s and Master’s students, and many of our Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences were represented. The students were able to attend the plenary sessions of the KNVM Spring Meeting, featuring renowned speakers on Staphylococcus aureus cell division in disease and health and on the role of the human archaeome. During the breaks, they could visit the industry partners’ booths on the exhibition floor.
Following the official opening of the BaMa symposium by Dr. Girbe Buist, chair of the KNVM’s education section, nine enthusiastic students gave oral presentations on the results of their research projects, including minor projects, internships, and thesis assignments. The program was very varied, and the presentations were of an excellent standard. This year marked the fifth time the Mike Jetten Award was presented for the best Master’s thesis. The awards were presented by Prof. Mike Jetten himself to Josephine Bouman (MSc Biomedical Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen) for her thesis “Dengue virus NS4B promotes mitochondrial elongation in Aedes albopictus cells possibly via CDK1 downregulation,” Matthijs Hamstra (MSC Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, Utrecht University) for his thesis “Prevalence & Bactericidal Effects of Toxin-Antitoxin Systems,” and
Roos Weeda (MSc Human Biology, Radboud University Nijmegen) for her thesis “Characterizing apicoplast transporter proteins in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.”
This year marked the third time the Fanny Hesse Award was presented for the best Bachelor’s thesis. The winner was Bram Somsen (Life Sciences, Arnhem/Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences (HAN)) for his thesis “Thermostable mutants of Salmonella phage S16.”
During lunch, there was a lively crowd gathered around the 38 posters on display. It was wonderful for us as organizers to hear the many lively discussions taking place among the students. The poster prize (audience award) was won by Sanne Posthuma (Fontys), who is currently conducting her research at the Fontys research group Molecular Technologies for One Health. Her poster was titled ‘Unraveling the vaginome: the development of a targeted nanopore sequencing method for analysis and classification of the vaginome’. The six-member jury had the difficult task of selecting the winner of the best presentation. Daniel Wüthrich (Radboud University) won first prize with his presentation titled “Assessing the potential of metal-utilizing microorganisms to recycle metals from electronic wastes.” The prizes were received with enthusiasm.
Unfortunately, the Education Section had to say goodbye to Bas Zaat (Amsterdam AMC) this year, as he has reached retirement age. Bas has helped organize the BaMa Symposium no fewer than 14 times, starting with the very first one in 2011. The members of the Education Section are grateful to him for his active contributions to the many BaMa symposia and will certainly miss him.
We thank everyone for their contributions to this 14th edition and congratulate the winners of the best thesis, best presentation, and best poster.
We hope to organize another great BaMa symposium next year; see you in Papendal!
