Sociologist Gert Stulp nominated for New Scientist Science Talent 2018

The 25 contenders for the title New Scientist Science Talent 2018 have been announced. You can now vote online and help decide who is the most talented young researcher in the Netherlands and Flanders. One such contender is Dr Gert Stulp , a postdoc at the University of Groningen, who was nominated for his research into Dutch people’s desire to have children.

Universities and knowledge institutions in the Netherlands and Flanders could nominate their talented researchers. From more than 50 entries, the editorial board of New Scientist selected a shortlist of 25. Voting is open until the end of Sunday 6 May. Then an expert jury led by Stan Gielen (Chair of NWO) will meet and mark the candidates on scientific impact, societal impact, originality of research and extent of popularization. The public and jury votes each count for 50% of the final mark. For more information on the talents and their research, see the profile pages, that of Dr Gert Stulp, for instance. You can vote on the voting page.

Population predictions

Why do some people desperately want a large family, whereas others prefer a life without children? Behavioural biologist and sociologist Gert Stulp seeks the answer to this question in the data of thousands of people. He looks not only at people’s environment and lifestyle but also at their genes. He can thus not just predict whether people want children, but also how many children actually will be born. His research yields surprising results. Information about the number of children that are likely to be born can improve population predictions. And these form the basis of policy in the field of pensions, housing and care. Dr Stulp’s research could also help individuals if he can discover why some people cannot have children and come up with solutions.

Fourth edition

This is the fourth year of the competition, which gives a platform to young scientists to show their research to a wider audience. Jim Jansen, editor-in-chief of New Scientist says, ‘This year we decided to open the competition to knowledge institutions other than the 18 universities in the Netherlands and Flanders. This makes the range of entries more varied than ever.’

Prize ceremony

The winner of the prize will be announced on 31 May 2018 during New Scientist Live in Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht. During the evening the five highest-scoring talents will present their research. The winner of the title New Scientist Science Talent 2018 wins prize money of EUR 2,500 donated by Rathenau Institute.