On May 30, Queen Mathilde received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Hasselt, in the year when both the Queen and the University celebrate their 50th birthdays. With this doctorate, the University wished to emphasize the efforts Queen Mathilde makes for those who suffer from poverty and exlusion. Virologist Erika Vlieghe and environmental epidemiologist Jordi Sunyer also became the new honorary doctors of Hasselt University.