Coordinator team

The centre is managed by its director, Professor Denny Borsboom, and four coordinators from each of the faculty’s domains: Dr Anne Kroon (Communication Science), Tessa Blanken (Psychology), Dr Suzanne Jak (Child Development and Education), Dilara Valeeva (Social Sciences). 

Professor Denny Borsboom (PhD, University of Amsterdam, 2003) is Director of the SoBeDSC. His research combines conceptual analysis, often based on insights taken from the philosophy of science, with the development of statistical techniques and practical methodologies that are designed to improve and expand the methodological framework in psychology. For example, in the past decade, Borsboom has focused on the development of techniques represent psychometric constructs as networks of interacting variables, which has led to the development of network psychometrics. His current research program is devoted to the development of techniques and methodologies that can aid psychologists in theory development.

Dr. Anne Kroon (PhD, University of Amsterdam, 2017) represents Communication Science. She is an assistant professor of Corporate Communication at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) at the University van Amsterdam. Computational social science techniques are at the forefront of Anne’s research and teaching. In her research, she focuses on (1) the role of algorithms in recruitment and hiring in shaping (unintended) biased recommendations, and (2) the content and consequences of (biased) representations of minorities in media content. In addition, Anne coordinates the development of two digital data infrastructure projects for the social sciences: Twi-XL and the Media Content Analysis Lab.  

Tessa Blanken (PhD, Vrije Universiteit, 2020) is an assistant professor in clinical methodology at the psychological methods group, department of Psychology at the UvA. Her research focuses on the role of sleep in well-being, where she integrates biology and behaviour through network science. In addition she leads the Human Behaviour Simulation Lab, a multidisciplinary team developing state-of-the-art methodologies to answer societal questions. Their current focus is on the potential for behavioural interventions in pandemic preparedness. 

Dr Suzanne Jak (PhD, University of Amsterdam, 2013) represents the department of Child Development and Education. She is assistant professor in the Methods and Statistics group of the Research Institute of Child Development and Education. Her research focusses on structural equation modelling in general, and specifically in combination with measurement invariance, multilevel data, or meta-analysis. The goal of Suzanne’s research is to make these technique better known and more user friendly for researchers who’s research might benefit from using these techniques, and to develop new methods where needed. She is currently working on developing meta-analytical structural equation models that optimally use all available relevant information, such as dependent effect sizes, mean structures, and raw data.

Dr Diliara Valeeva (PhD, University of Amsterdam, 2021) represents the Social Sciences. She is an Assistant Professor in Computational Social Science at the Political Science department of the UvA. Her research focusses on the role of business, finance, and elites in modern societies. Diliara uses social network analysis as her main methodological tool and relies on large and complex datasets. To understand social and economical systems, she also applies a range of computational methods such as text analysis, machine learning, regression analysis, event models, and simulations.