On Thursday 6 November, the Brussels Studies Institute (BSI) presented the BSI Thesis Award for the ninth consecutive year during a ceremony at the King’s House (Museum of the City of Brussels). This annual prize rewards an outstanding master's thesis in which Brussels plays a central role. Fifteen master's theses were submitted for the 2025 edition, nine of which were shortlisted after an initial evaluation round. Ultimately, the jury decided to award three prizes. Two former students of the Master in Urban Studies (VUB-ULB) saw their Master thesis rewarded.
Lucas Lyko won the first prize with his master's thesis entitled 'Hunting in a Pack? An interrogation of the development of MaaS in Brussels through a normative claim to publicness and a focus on public transport', supervised by Wojciech Kębłowski. He produced a very mature study on 'Mobility as a Service' through an analysis of the development of the “Floya”-app in Brussels. He holds a convincing plea to conceive of mobility more in terms of 'publicness', which requires greater emphasis on public transport within mobility apps.
A few short passages from the jury reports:
"Lucas Lyko produced a mature and clear thesis, which is not only relevant to many Brussels researchers, but also very useful for Brussels’ policy on mobility, sustainability and social justice."
"This is an extremely thorough and well-written academic work, which could easily be reformatted for publication in a journal. The findings are relevant for Brussels, but are probably valid for similar cases all over the world."
The second prize went to Elliott Kyle Papazahariakis for his master's thesis entitled 'Concrete dreams: Migration, Construction Work and Agency in Brussels', supervised by René Kreichauf. His master's thesis provides insight into the experiences of non-European workers in the construction sector, who are approached as links in a system of 'racial capitalism'.
A short excerpt from the jury report:
"The thesis offers a fascinating (first) insight into the lives of Brussels residents who do not formally exist or at least do not formally work, but who maintain an essential part of the black/grey economy, namely the construction sector. The author approaches those involved as cogs in a construction sector that engages in 'racial capitalism'. Anyone who reads this master's thesis will have to admit that this is not only a very relevant topic, but also a very solid and interdisciplinary thesis, for which the student had to break down a number of barriers (language, shame, etc.) in order to reach some of the construction workers involved for an interview."
We would like to congratulate Lucas Lyko and Elliott Kyle Papazahariakis on their award-winning master's theses.