My Academic History
Assistant professor at University of Twente (2020-present)
Two days a week I provide education in the Bachelor and Master of Psychology (currently mainly student bachelor and master thesis supervision, N = 10). The other two days a week I work on the BMS strategic vision of the resilience research theme by connecting scientists within the BMS faculty, the other UT faculties (i.e., EEMCS, ITC, ET and TNW), and outside the UT (e.g., TU Delft, Wageningen University, Eindhoven University, VU Amsterdam). Next step, is to create a resilience network with practitioners and policy-makers.
Consultant at Twynstra Gudde (2019)
In my position as consultant at Twynstra Gudde I integrated my knowledge from policy, science and practice to advise on projects in the safety domain. On the one hand I worked in an advisary role, e.g., on the safety of the harbour yards of Rotterdam for ProRail. On the other hand, I performed research into the quality of police reports, policing in rural areas, the use of open source intelligence by the police and the administrative tasks of investigation units of the police. These research projects were financed by the National Police, Police and Science and the Ministry of Justice and Security.
Scientific collaborator at the Ministry of Justice and Security (2018-2019)
As a scientific collaborator at the Ministry of Justice and Security I tried to build a bridge between policy and science on topics related to the police and safety regions. Consequently, I constantly worked back and forth between these two worlds: If we need answers to these questions for policy, how does that translate to exact research questions for science? If we have found these research outcomes, what does this mean for policy? In this year, I have worked on a wide variety of projects, e.g., ethnic profiling, the effectiveness of the FIOD team, updating the safety monitor, the strategic research agenda of the police and the use of science in policy making. I was responsible for WODC research, which consisted of fine-tuning research questions and monitoring research projects. Lastly, I have organized lunch meetings with relevant academics and practitioners for my colleagues and updated them on the latest research on the police and safety regions.
PhD student at University of Twente (3 years)
Topic: Communication error management in police-civlian interactions.
Supervisors: Prof. dr. Ellen Giebels and Prof. dr. Paul J. Taylor.
In my PhD project I focussed on the management of communication errors (e.g. using the wrong name, misrepresenting thoughts and feelings) of police officers in both suspect interviews and crisis negotiations. I explored what the consequences of erring are for both parties in the interaction. Besides, I assessed what can be done to effectively respond to the error (e.g. apologize, deny).
Graduate Training at Kurt Lewin Institute (3 years)
Since the start of my PhD, I wa a member of the Kurt Lewin Institute. The KLI is a centre for graduate training and its general objective is to stimulate and strengthen research in social psychology and its applications. I participated in courses, such as time-management, how to publish and review, how to write a grant proposal and how to present. Being a member, provides me with the opportunity to build a network of fellow PhD students and scientific staff in Social Psychology in the Netherlands.
Teaching at University of Twente (3 years)
During my PhD I have had the following experience with teaching:
- Group Dynamics and Interventions, Master PCRS (2014-2015)
- Guest lecturer Psychology and Crime, Master PCRS (2014-2017)
- Bachelor Thesis Supervision, Bachelor Psychology (2014-2016, N = 4)
- Master Thesis Supervision, Master PCRS (2016-2017, N = 1)
- Internship Supervision, Master PCRS (2017, N = 1)
Junior researcher at University of Twente (1 year)
Topic: The influence of the cultural dimension uncertainty avoidance on crisis negotiation.
Collaborators: Prof. dr. Ellen Giebels and prof. dr. Paul J. Taylor.
In this project we focused on the influence of the cultural dimension uncertainty avoidance on the used influence strategies of police negotiators. We investigated this in both Germany and the Netherlands, as citizens of these countries differ on their scores on uncertainty avoidance. That is, Germans are more uncertainty avoidant than the Dutch. Apart from doing research, I contributed to a training session on influence strategies in crisis negotiation. Please click here for the results of the project.
Assistant Researcher at Huddersfield University (1 month)
Topic: Witness statements of victims of human trafficking according to lawyers, probation officers and police officers.
Collaborator: Dr. Donna Youngs.
In this project we had to write a report on witness statements of human trafficking victims in the United Kingdom. Therefore, I analysed 12 interviews with people from the police, legal sector and victim support services. The job included the transcribation of the interviews, analysis of the data by using SPSS and the production of a summary of findings. This research was initiated by the Dutch government to perform a comparison between the English and Dutch manner of inducing information of witnesses. Please click here for the results (summary available in English).
Interviewer Prison Project at Leiden University (1 year)
As an interviewer I had to contact (ex-)prisoners via mobile phone, social media, lawyers, probation officers, etc., that had participated in this research in the past. Once the ex-prisoner was reached, he had to be convinced to take part in the study again and when performed successfully an appointment for an interview was planned. The interviews were designed in a structured manner and imported into the computer during the questioning. Please click here for more information on the project. Throughout this period I have received Interview training at Leiden University.
Master Thesis at Huddersfield University (5 months)
Topic: Targeting the victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in the Netherlands.
Supervisor: Dr. Maria Iouannou.
During my master project I explored the methods used to dominate victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in the Netherlands. Also, I investigated whether the background characteristics of the victim had any influence upon the chosen control method(s) by the offender. Lastly, the relationship between the type of prostitution (e.g. window prostitution, escort) and the used control methods was analyzed by using SPSS and HUDAP (to perform Smallest Space Analysis). The data originated from a database of police files of the National Crime Squad (developed by students and researchers, including myself). Please click here for the results.
Master Psychology and Investigation at Huddersfield University (cum laude, 1 year)
Underneath you will find a selection of the courses I took:
- Offender Spatial Activity
- Improving Legal Testimony and Evidences in Court and Investigations
- Clinical Forensic Psychology
- Methodologies for Investigative Psychology
Internship at National Crime Squad and Expertise Centrum of Human Trafficking and Human Smuggling (2 months)
Topic: Victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
During my internship I had to analyse different police files that focused on human trafficking for sexual exploitation in the Netherlands. Besides, I had to convert this information into data importable for Excel. Moreover, I presented the findings of my part of the project during a teambuilding day of different researchers, police officers and field workers of the National Crime Squad. Please click here for the complete report (only available in Dutch).
Bachelor Thesis at VU University (3 months)
Topic: Narratives of suspects in court.
During my bachelor project I analysed the narratives of suspects (e.g. denial, deceitful) during the session in court. Besides I tested whether these characteristics had any influence upon the assessment of the sentence by the judge. The data was gathered by observing and scoring the performed behaviour of suspects and judges in different court sessions.
Bachelor Criminology at VU University (3 years)
Underneath you will find a selection of the courses I took organized per year:
- Year 1: Introduction to Criminal Law, Introduction to Criminology, Introduction to Sociology, Statistics.
- Year 2: Introduction to Psychology, Law and Economics, Forensic Psychiatry, Substantive Criminal Law.
- Year 3: Transnational Organized Crime, Theoretical Criminology, Qualitative Research Methods of Criminology, Criminal Procedure Law.
- Extra: Minor Forensic Linguistics and English Academic Writing (at University of Amsterdam).