Marie-José van Tol appointed as new director of research school BCN

With great pleasure the Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN) announces the appointment of a new director, Prof. Marie-José van Tol. The previous director Prof. Robert Schoevers, who fulfilled this position for almost 9 years, is moving on to lead the new EU Horizon PsyPal project.

BCN is an interdisciplinary research school with its own PhD training programme encompassing five different faculties of the University of Groningen. Its last international peer review was extremely positive.

Van Tol was appointed in 2023 as a full professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry at the University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen. A hallmark of BCN interdisciplinarity, her research combines perspectives from cognitive neurosciences, psychiatry and clinical psychology for understanding the role brain functioning plays in the development, recovery, and recurrence of mood disorders. She has been an active member of BCN for 13 years. In the past five years, Van Tol was a member of the Young Academy of the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, and served as chair from 2022 till 2024. Recently she was appointed as chair of the steering committee of the Netherlands Brain Initiative (Nationaal Plan Hoofdzaken), a collaboration between Dutch Brain Foundation, MIND, ZonMw, NWO and Health~Holland.

At a symposium at 11 June, followed by a reception, Schoevers will present an overview of past and present of BCN and Van Tol will present her vision on the future of the research school. At the same time the very positive evaluation of BCNs qualities by an international peer review committee will be celebrated.