Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is proud of the following scientists, in alphabetical order:
Existential Challenges of Planetary Health
Professor of spiritual care and religious-humanistic meaning Hans Alma
The interdisciplinary field of Planetary Health studies the relationship between the health of humans and their (global) environment. Recognizing the interconnectedness of the health and well-being of all life on Earth, Alma studies how to facilitate the change of value and belief systems necessary for building a planetary healthy society. Through theoretical and empirical research, she studies how the academic profession of spiritual care (‘geestelijke verzorging’) can stimulate and support this transformation. Alma explores the uncertainties, fears, sources of inspiration of people that are affected differently by ecological crises, and what helps them to come to action perspectives.
Generating Generosity
Professor of Philanthropy René Bekkers
Rich people give considerably less to charities as a proportion of income and wealth than the poor. In the past 15 years the level of generosity of the Dutch population has declined by about 40%. At the same time, levels of wealth have increased. Are less generous persons more likely to become rich? Or does wealth make people less generous? We sort this out with administrative and survey data and conduct field experiments to enhance generosity.
The Effectiveness of Diversity and Inclusion Policies (TEDIP) in public organizations in higher education and in city administrations
Professor of Sociology Maurice Crul
Many public organizations develop Diversity & Inclusion policies aimed at ethnic diversity. Do these policies work? How effective D&I policies – and thus the entire organizations - are in realizing formulated goals is hardly researched. Crul will empirically test The Effectiveness of D&I Policies (TEDIP) for people with a migration background in universities and public administrations. He develops open-source qualitative and quantitative research instruments to identify organizational units that are successfully establishing a high level of representation in mid- and high-level functions and a high level of workplace inclusion and build an explanatory theoretical framework to promote evidence-based D&I policies.
GenAI@Work: Studying the Impacts of Generative AI on Knowledge Work, Management and Organizations
Professor of Knowledge and Organization Marleen Huysman
At GenAI@Work, we dive deep into organizations to understand how and why Generative AI tools influence knowledge work and management thereof. Using a process research approach with ethnography as the main method, we uncover the intended and unintended consequences when GenAI technologies are integrated in real-world settings. This understanding is vital for demystifying the current speculations, fears and hypes associated with GenAI and work.
Assessing and Improving School Assignment
Professor in policy evaluation Bas van der Klaauw
Some popular public schools cannot place all students who want to enroll. To assign students to the highly demanded places, the secondary schools in Amsterdam use a matching system based on state-of-the-art scientific knowledge. Despite that, students, parents, schools, and politicians are unhappy with the outcomes. Van der Klaauw studies how the matching system affects (long-run) academic and non-academic outcomes. Based on detailed institutional knowledge and rich register and survey data, this sheds light on the trade-off that the matching system implies between welfare, (un)equal learning gains, and diversity. This practical insight will help improving matching systems.
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What interruption does to selective attention
Professor of Experimental and Applied Psychology Christian Olivers
In daily life we’re being interrupted numerous times in what we’re doing. In addition to inefficiencies, this can actually lead to dangerous situations. Existing theories assume that interruptions are caused by memory lapses: People forget what they were doing. In this research Olivers focus on mechanisms of attention: Even if people remember what to do, a lack of attention may still lead to suboptimal performance. He will investigate if, and if so how, attention suffers from interruption.
Competitive allocation of limited rights by the government: a quest for a coherent legal framework
Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law Frank van Ommeren and professor of private law Chris Jansen
Governments grant rights to private entities, such as licences, subsidies, public contracts and public property. They do this in order to serve public interests. When these rights are limited, governments must grant them by means of competition. The legal framework is highly unclear as to why, when and how governments must do this. This is problematic, because scarcity is increasing in all kinds of areas of society. This research aims to develop an informative and coherent legal framework for the allocation of limited rights by the government.
Housing affordability and policy
Professor of Urban Economics Jos van Ommeren
Housing is the single most important commodity households consume. Van Ommeren aims to investigate the effects of different policies on housing affordability. He will gather data and provide a descriptive historical analysis on housing affordability for the Netherlands, Denmark and England. Then Van Ommeren will analyse the efficiency, effectiveness and distributional implications of various housing market policies aiming to improve housing affordability. In particular, he will concentrate on public housing, rent control, and urban renewal and supportive housing for the homeless.
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The development of infant-caregiver attachment: In vivo, in silico, in theory
Professor of orthopedagogy Carlo Schuengel and Pasco Fearon (University of Cambridge)
In their first year of life, babies develop trust in their caregivers. This trust enables them to explore their environment and learn. However, caregivers exhibit different levels of sensitive responsiveness, leading to various types of attachment relationships. The exact mechanisms and timing of these differences remain unknown. To measure attachment development, research conducted in the everyday home environment is essential. The researchers employ novel techniques for objective and long-term measurement. Based on this, they construct a testable model that interactively illuminates attachment development and explains variations in attachment relationships
Simulating globalisation in the Roman Empire. A multiscalar and multidimensional computational analysis of socio-economic dynamics in the Lower Rhine region (19 BCE – 275 CE)
Archeologist Philip Verhagen
The Roman Empire is an example of globalisation in Antiquity. For centuries, Rome dominated a large number of peoples over a huge area. But what did this mean for the inhabitants of the different regions, and how did they deal with it? In this project we investigate how globalization affected economic development in one of these regions, the Lower Rhine. We do this by using powerful computer simulations and new data sets. This will be used to investigate to what extent economic interdependence determined the resilience of society, and what other factors were at play.
SSH Open Competition L
The SSH Open Competition L funding instrument is open to research proposals with a research question and/or problem definition within the social sciences and humanities. Within this field the instrument has no further thematic limitations and in principle the applicant is free to choose the desired form of funding. The instrument is aimed at excellent disciplinary, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research. This certainly also includes fundamental scientific research.
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