Tim Huijts, one of the Principal Investigators of project HiNEWS, has been awarded a prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize in recognition of his outstanding research. The prize is awarded by the Leverhulme Trust, a UK-based foundation which provides grants and scholarships for research and education. Philip Leverhulme Prizes recognize the achievement of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising. Each prize has a value of £100,000 which may be used over a two or three year period. Prize winners and guests will be invited to attend a celebratory awards dinner in London on the evening of Wednesday 14 March 2018.

For the 2017 competition, the award was conferred in the subject areas of biological sciences, history, law, mathematics and statistics, philosophy and theology as well as sociology and social policy, which is where Huijts stood out against other nominees. Tim Huijts’ main areas of research include health policy, sociology of health and health inequalities. In the Welfare States Futures Programme, he has used this valuable expertise to contribute significantly to the success of the HiNEWS project, which analyzes health inequalities in European welfare states.

“I am delighted to receive a Philip Leverhulme Prize. The prize will allow me to examine how people’s health is affected by having insecurity in their jobs, housing, and relationships. Many people now face insecurity, but it is not clear yet how dealing with different kinds of insecurity impacts health. Also, can policies on work and housing make insecurity less harmful for health? The Philip Leverhulme Prize allows me to examine this together with leading international scholars.” Tim Huijts, HiNEWS