Victory in Europe Scholarships Awarded

VICTORIA, BC, November 10, 2015 – 11 students from The Netherlands have been awarded Victory in Europe Scholarships valued at $10,000 each for post-graduate study in British Columbia by the Irving K. Barber British Columbia Scholarship Society.

The students will be studying a wide variety of subjects ranging from industrial design and architecture to animal welfare and quantum physics.  They will be attending programs at the province’s three largest universities: Simon Fraser, University of Victoria, and the University of British Columbia.  (See below for list of recipients and disciplines).

Victory in Europe Scholarships were created in 2015 by the Province of British Columbia to commemorate the liberation of The Netherlands by Canadian troops 70 years ago at the height of the Second World War.  They are open to Dutch students who wish to complete part of their post-graduate education in British Columbia.  A similar set of scholarships was created by the Dutch government to permit BC students to attend universities in The Netherlands.

“There is a legacy of goodwill between the Netherlands and Canada that was forged during the unthinkable hardships of the Second World War,” B.C. Finance Minister Michael de Jong said. “These scholarships represent a continuation of that legacy and offer the potential for these students to build the kind of future for which so many fought and died.”

Gert Heijkoop, Consul General for the Netherlands in Vancouver, noted the similar scholarship program set up by the Dutch government and thanked the BC provincial government for its reciprocal gesture in creating the Victory in Europe program.

“70 years ago, mostly Canadian troops liberated the Netherlands, and the Dutch never forgot. When we prepared a program to commemorate and celebrate this event in 2015, we included 70 scholarships for Canadian students to go and study in the Netherlands as part of our thank you Canada campaign. Little did we expect that the BC government would reciprocate in-kind. Another reason to cherish the close relationship we have with Canada and the Canadians. On behalf of 17 million friends of Canada on the other side of the Atlantic, thank you.”

Hugh Gordon, chair of the Irving K. Barber B.C. Scholarship Society, acknowledged the great honour it was for the Society to commemorate the historic liberation of The Netherlands through the awarding of post-graduate scholarships and to celebrate the long-standing friendship that has existed between our two nations ever since.

“The Society is honoured to participate in these scholarships that support Dutch students pursuing graduate studies in British Columbia.  The Society recognizes the generosity of the Government of the Netherlands in providing scholarships for Canadian students to study in the Netherlands,” he said. “The liberation of Holland in 1945, primarily by the First Canadian Army, and the honour Canada had in hosting the Royal Family of the Netherlands during World War 2 have contributed greatly to the enduring fellowship between the peoples of Canada and the Netherlands.”

The Irving K. Barber B.C. Scholarship Society works with the Victoria Foundation to manage a series of scholarship and education award programs that support B.C. students attending public post-secondary institutions both throughout the province and outside the country. Since 2006, the society has awarded more than $7 million from six programs.

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Media contact:
Rory Grewar
Program Director, Irving K Barber BC Scholarship Society
1-844-478-4645, rgrewar@ikbbc.ca

Student Name	BC Institution	Program
Noortje de Weers	Simon Fraser University	Linguistics
Tijs Duel	Simon Fraser University	Industrial Design
Michelle Hagman	Simon Fraser University	Anthropology
Arthur Jakobs	University of British Columbia	Astronomy
Hugo Klarenberg	Simon Fraser University	Biomedical/Kinesiology/Aerospace Physiology
Stephan (Faan) Langelaan	University of Victoria	High Energy Physics
Veranika Lim	Simon Fraser University	Sustainability and Industrial Design
Doenja Oogjes	Simon Fraser University	Industrial Design
Anne-Marieke Smid	University of British Columbia	Animal Welfare
Anne Fleur Spaa	Simon Fraser University	Speculative Design
Tal van Daalen	University of British Columbia	Gravitational and Astroparticle Physics