How is the selection of the final theses and projects organized?
Each institution selects its own most promising final projects. These projects advance to the Flemish level, where they compete for the Future Proef Award.
Per educational level - professional bachelor’s and master’s - each institution may nominate up to three final projects or theses. For master’s programmes in the arts, universities of applied sciences may nominate up to two projects.
An expert jury then evaluates all nominated projects and selects three winners per educational level. First prize winners receive €3,000. Second and third prize winners each receive €500.
Preselection at the institutional level
The selection process starts at your own university or university of applied sciences. Each institution organises the selection in its own way. Per educational level — professional bachelor’s and master’s — the jury may select up to three final projects as local winners. Institutions offering arts programmes may additionally select up to two projects from master’s programmes in the arts. Some institutions also celebrate their local winners through their own events.
For the 2027 edition, you can submit your final project until 8 October 2026. After that, institutions carry out their preselection. By the end of 2026, you will know whether you have been selected by your institution to proceed to the Flemish level.
Selection at the Flemish level
The competition becomes even more exciting at the Flemish level, where your project competes with those of students from other institutions. An independent jury evaluates the selected projects per educational level and carefully compares them.
The first selection is based on the submitted application forms (see “How to apply” for more information). In a next phase, the jury discusses a smaller number of projects in greater depth and selects the winners.
In April 2027, the winners of the fourth edition of the Future Proef Award will be announced during a festive award ceremony.
All finalists will be invited to this event in the course of March. From that moment on, they will have a chance to win one of the highly coveted awards.