Veni grants for five UG researchers

Five UG researchers, Joost van de Brake, Daniel te Kaat, Susan Niessen, Charlotte Vrijen and Frank Klont, have been awarded Veni grants by NWO. The grants are in the fields of Social Sciences and Humanities (SGW) and Applied Sciences and Technology (TTW). Awards in the domains of Exact and Natural Sciences (ENW) and Health Research and Care Innovation (ZonMw) were already announced in December.

The following research proposals were awarded:

How to manage multiple team memberships

Dr Joost van de Brake, Faculty of Economics and Business

Many people work in multiple teams at the same time. Yet we know surprisingly little about the consequences of this work practice for employee wellbeing and performance. The proposed project examines why and when working in multiple teams has positive or negative effects. In doing so, I will not only look at the total number of teams in which a person is active, but also examine how these teams differ from each other.

Read more about Joost van de Brake

The Real Effects of Non-Conventional Monetary Policy: A New Portfolio Channel

Dr Daniel te Kaat, Faculty of Economics and Business

Following the global financial crisis, various central banks expanded their set of non-conventional monetary policy instruments. The academic literature studying the impact of these instruments on the real economy mainly focuses on the transmission via increased credit supply. However, to what extent and through which channels do these instruments affect economies with declining credit volumes, as in the case of the euro area post-2008? To answer this question, the proposed research studies unconventional monetary policy transmission outside the credit market through a household portfolio rebalancing channel.

Read more about Daniel te Kaat

Beyond black boxes and biases: Using simple and transparent algorithms to accomplish fair and valid assessment in organizations

Dr Susan Niessen, Faculty of Behavioural and social sciences

Information derived from psychological assessments is often interpreted intuitively, which results in suboptimal and biased decisions. I investigate if the use of simple, transparent algorithms results in more valid and fairer assessment. This project advances insights into test use by investigating how such algorithms can best be designed and used.

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The bright side of life: understanding the origins of optimism

Dr Charlotte Vrijen , Faculty of Behavioural and social sciences

Optimists are physically and mentally healthier and happier than pessimists. Where do individual differences in optimism come from? I investigate to what extent and how parents transmit their optimism to offspring. My studies increase understanding on the origins of optimism and may inform research on how to raise optimistic children.

Read more about Charlotte Vrijen

Exposure Analytics: molecular evidence of daily-life chemical exposures

Dr Frank Klont, Faculty of Science and Engineering

Humans are exposed to numerous chemicals every day, for example through our food, environment, and potential medical treatments. Exposures are typically studied using questionnaires thereby relying on how well we remember past exposures. This project aims to provide molecular evidence of exposures to better study their impact on health and disease.

Read more about Frank Klont