The ribbon bears a text in the handwriting of Erasmus taken from a letter to Jean Carondelet written on 5 January 1523.

quod quisque potest in medium proferat nec alteri quisquam invideat qui pro sua virili suoque modo conatur publicis studiis utilitatis aliquid adiungere.

"[3] The award ceremony typically takes place at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, where the prize is presented by the patron of the Foundation (His Majesty the King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands as of 2015[update]).

These have included lectures, conferences, workshops, exhibitions, performances of dance, music and theatre, and other educational activities.

[4] However, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has awarded from 1988 yearly "Research Prizes" for exceptionally high quality PhD studies on the field of Law, Humanities, Social sciences.