During the conference various prizes will be awarded. On Thursday April 8, 2021 the Vening Meinesz Prize 2020 ceremony shall be held. This ceremony should have been held at the NAC 2020, however, because of the COVID-19 situation, the ceremony was cancelled. On Friday April 9, 2021, the KNGMG will award its Escher- & Jelgersma Prizes to young talented earth scientists, whereas the Netherlands Journal of Geosciences will announce the NJG publication prize. Furthermore, the Athena Award 2020 ceremony will be held. The Athena Award rewards female researchers that stand out, and because of that are role models for others.
The NAC conferences (Nederlands Aardwetenschappelijk Congres) bring together all fields of research within the Earth Sciences. The NAC conferences aim to provide a true interdisciplinary forum for discussion and for young researchers to present their results in a way that is accessible to a broad audience. NAC 2021 will be organised and sponsored by the Domain Science of the Dutch Research Council NWO.